Damien: Omen II

Damien: Omen II (1978)

Runtime: 106 minutes

Directed by: Don Taylor/Mike Hodges

Starring: William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Nicholas Pryor

From: 20th Century Fox

This is a film that by horror movie sequel standards, is perhaps great. By the usual standard, it is not bad: 

I only saw one movie yesterday but I figured it was time for me to see the first sequel to a film that is one of the better horror flicks of the 70's. This isn't as good as that movie and in fact is on the preposterous side, yet manages to provide enough entertainment where I can give this a decent rating. The fact that this was a huge inspiration for the Final Destination franchise played a part in my enjoyment.

William Holden and Lee Grant provided the star power that Gregory Peck and Lee Remick did in the first time; they are the uncle and aunt of Damien Thorn; after the original's ending, Damien goes to live with them and he lives a privileged life. He and his cousin go to a military school. Meanwhile, Thorn Industries dabbles in many things, including improved agriculture techniques; one key person in power wishes to buy land across the world so they can make a profit by planting those crops in areas experiencing the worst famine. That subplot does not mean too much in the end but the entire scenario sounds sadly entirely believable in the world we currently live in.

The movie's story is not the best and many things about this pales in comparison to the original: the plot, the suspense, the terror, etc. Yet it is always watchable and by the standards of horror movie sequels, I can't really complain. The performance by Jonathan Scott-Taylor (Damien) was fine. What a variety of people in this film: the great Lance Henriksen, Lew Ayres, Silvia Sidney, and Meshach Taylor all in the same film. Plus, Jerry Goldsmith delivered as much of a bombastic film score as he did in the original, except that this had more electronic sounds; otherwise there's plenty of choir chanting you get to hear.

The most memorable aspect: the deaths you get to see in the film. For those that love the Final Destination franchise, you'll also love some of the kills you get to see here, as a few are rather elaborate and over the top. One involves a raven & a giant vehicle; another has Taylor in his place of employment that is especially ludicrous and it about made me howl with laughter but it was certainly something I'll never forget. Such moments helped make this movie tolerable despite the various story flaws.