Review of The Omen (2006) by Craig H — 17 Feb 2013

Richard Donner's original 'The Omen' was as groundbreaking as his 'Superman' movie. It was horrific in so many ways and yet it was a master class in filmmaking.

June 6th 2006 was the release date set for the remake aka 06/06/06 - '666' mark of the devil, get it? That seems to be the only reason anyone at 20th Century Fox thought remaking a horror classic was a good idea. Anyways...

You know the story and to be honest nothing much has changed, in fact it seems like they used the same script as the original, thinking perhaps they would not go far wrong and in some senses they don't but in others it's painfully obvious this was a really bad idea.

Julia Stiles is very much mis cast here, she does not play the part with any charm, and she looks slightly bored throughout. Shame as she is pivotal to the story.

Liev Schreiber fares slightly better but he is very emotionless throughout but carries the film a lot better than Stiles. He is helped by the great David Thewlis who plays the photographer who finds clues to the goings on in his photographs. Thewlis plays his part well and believably and is probably the best actor on the piece. Mia Farrow is pretty dull throughout her small role...

So what about young Damien himself? Well he's not in the same league as the original but he's damn close, but he's just a little too cutesy to be scary, never the less he's good.

The film is good in a lot of areas... The cinematography is amazing. The colour palette is beautiful and the reds that director John Moore uses to denote evil while over done add a richness to the tones of the film.

Speaking of director John Moore his direction here is a little choppy in places but in terms of his direction of the camera and the films look he pulls off something perhaps a little bit more artistic than the original which is to be credited. His choice of using Prague or whatever European country to double as London is a really bad move, it's painfully obvious it isn't London, and it's clear when they can't be bothered to use the actual location they aren't actually bothered about the film.

If you've not seen the original see it before watching this, it's better in so many ways than this. However give this a try, David Thewlis, the cinematography and the general update of the proceedings do give this remake a little bit of charm and is actually one of the better remakes out there.

If the film proves one thing it's that children can be right evil little shits, that's something that hasn't changed between the original and the remake.