DAMIEN: OMEN II (1978)
Article 4381 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-1-2013
Directed by Don Taylor and Mike Hodges
Featuring William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Country: USA
What it is: Antichrist sequel

Damien is now 13 years old. Those who know the truth about him or threaten him die horribly.

To be blunt, I don’t care for this movie. But then, I didn’t really care that much for the original, either, and often for the same reasons; I expect a more profound and subtler evil from the Antichrist than concocting elaborately bizarre ways for people to die. Nor does this movie have the same level of star power as the original, which was for me the best thing about that movie. I also get very tired of this movie’s most common modus operandi, which is to keep introducing new characters whose sole purpose is to somehow be a threat to Damien and thus give targets for those elaborately bizarre ways to die. The most interesting thing about this movie is that it tries to set up a situation in which Damien is supposedly unaware of his true identity or destiny; unfortunately, these scenes are some of the most unconvincing in the movie, and they’re hard to swallow when he spends so much time glowering evilly on those who are fated to die in elaborately bizarre ways. Ultimately, despite the fact that Damien is several years older, this movie really does little else but repeat the previous movie. I’m afraid I simply can’t call myself a fan of this franchise.