Very similar to the original, but thats not a bad thing. Many of the scenes have a very fresh, new look to them which is what you would expect from a remake. They also add some scenes concerning world events towards the beginning to freshen up the story a bit. I also like the dream sequences that they added into the film that were not in the original. B

Almost identical to the original - which means it still had the same great story, and they replaced the solid original cast with a solid modern cast. It looked great, but the original had a lovely creepy look, too.

I enjoyed it, but it hardly seems neccessary.

(Unless, of course, they're just setting up for the Omen III remake with the whole nuclear war thing done up as a cgi/special effects extravaganza- that could be good...)

4 out of 5.

F

Between this and The Break-Up....I don't know what moviegoers did to deserve this stuff. Terrrible. Everyone else I saw it with thought so too, so this puppy is gonna die a quick death come 6/7. After Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix and this, John Moore should not be allowed behind a camera again.

What a terrible waste of Liev Schrieber.

Dude, two F's in two days...

I have a feeling you didn't want to see either of these much if you gave both of them an F, why did you bother?

2 F's in two days...no one's more surprised than me. Jesus, I'm not THAT much of a curmudgeon. But I can hardly think of two worse movies.

I went with some friends to see this. I've been sick, and it was something to get out of the house and do. But I actually kinda wanted to see The Break-Up, which seemed like it would be up my alley. Both are interminable.

Hopefully Cars and/or A Prairie Home Companion can wash the taste out of my mouth.

And it wasn't just me hating the Omen. This thing almost literally got laughed off the screen. You could sense the bile in the room when it ended.

Amusingly, we got interviewed by a local news crew on my way inside. They asked us about seeing the movie on 6/6/06 and the like, etc. I felt bad later, feeling as though I had inadvertedly promoted this fucking thing.

I get that feeling as well. Yoshue's becoming like a professional film critic

Front Slant no less.

I liked it a lot. It was very effective and spooky and the parts that make you jump are great, but it's the story that holds it together. It is ver similar to the original and it had me hooked about 2 minutes in.

7 1/2 out of 10

This was one hell of a fun scary movie. Not having seen the original so I can't compare the two, but this one had many "jump" scenes and one perfect decapitation that got the loudest applause from the crowd. I enjoyed this remake and I hope they continue with the sequels.

B

Agree. Parts of the movie reminded me of the Final Destination franchise. I hope it does well enough for a sequel. If the opening day is big enough...

This movie blew on all levels, right down to the kid they cast who was very uneffective when compared to the original kid who played Damien.. Clearly, a shot by shot remake with a few scenes thrown inb for shock effect, but really, this was an unnecessary movie that doesn't hold a candle to the Original OMEN.. Anyone who says otherwise is just WRONG.. I give this a "D" for DUMB..

Itwasafunmovie,Ilikedit.There'sbeenplentyofbetterhorrorfilmsthisyear,though,butthiswasstillfun.

Peoplewerelaughingafterallthescarescenes,though.ItwasexactlylikeTheGrudge.Andevery otherhorrormovieI'veseenrecently.Everyonelaughsnow,kindaruinsit.

Nervous laughter perhaps?

Nope,morelike"lolIcan'tbelieveIjustjumpedatthat,andOMGthatwomangrabbedthat dewd!!!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"forfiveminutes.

Yeah, it was fucking terrible.

D+

Full review later tonight.

Horror films are often the most obvious target for high-profile remakes. Over the past few years, it seems as if the market is dominated with them, and almost all of them continue to do well. Whether it was the smash success of ghost stories such as The Ring or reimagined slashers such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it seems obvious that audiences are hungry for more. The latest in the remake trend is this 2006 version of The Omen, the classic tale that follows the son of the devil. Poised with a brilliant marketing strategy, an ominous release date and a strong cast, it is a film that is ready to take over the box office. It is also a great film that has a lot to offer viewers who have not seen the original.

The story begins at a hospital in Rome, where Katherine Thorne (Julia Stiles) has just lost her baby. Before she finds out, her husband Robert (Liev Schrieber), a distinguished politician, agrees to take in another baby whose mother died in childbirth. Katherine has no idea that this occurs, and the couple goes on living their happy life and raising their newborn son, a boy they call Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick). Soon, after tragedy strikes, Robert becomes the U.S. Ambassador to the UK and the family is uprooted to this new destination. Many years pass and nothing suspicious occurs, until Damien's 6th birthday - June 6th, 2006. Soon, it becomes evident that Damien is changing, and he seems to only confide in the family's new nanny Mrs. Baylock (Mia Farrow) - a mysterious woman with a hidden agenda. As the couple begins to question the son they thought they knew, Robert enlists the help of a terrified priest (Pete Postlethewaite) and a suspicious photographer (David Thewlis) in order to discover the truth behind his child's devilish mannerisms.

The Omen is directed by John Moore, who helmed the disastrous Flight Of The Phoenix remake two short years ago. Thankfully, this is an infinitely better film and he does an utterly spectacular job. The visuals here are top-notch, beautiful to look at and incredibly haunting. Moore uses the lush locations to success and truly creates an unforgettable atmosphere. Many good scares are also crafted throughout the film, and he succeeds by appropriately building the tension in these moments. He also doesn't shy away from symbolism, evidenced by red being a prominent color throughout the film. This is the best horror direction since Marcus Nipsel's work on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. David Seltzer writes the screenplay for this remake, a great thing for the film considering the fact that he wrote the original as well. He allows a lot of time for character development but always manages to keep the audience engrossed in the story.

The film also boasts a remarkable cast, which really drives the film's success. Julia Stiles is great as Katherine, delivering an understated performance with believability and emotion. The audience really comes to identify with her character and the struggle she goes through seems very understandable. She is charismatic as always and surprisingly never seems distracting when playing a mother. Liev Schrieber is very good as well, giving his character a lot of depth and making him very sympathetic. He has proven himself as a very capable lead and this is just another stepping stone in his strong career. Mia Farrow is great here and seems to be having a lot of fun as the demented nanny. She steals many of her scenes and is appropriately creepy and menacing. David Thewlis is solid here and does well as one of Robert's few confidantes. Unfortunately, actors such as Michael Gambon and Pete Postlethewaite aren't given too much to do aside from looking around frantically. Both do alright with the roles, but nothing too noteworthy. Another letdown comes in the form of Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Damien. He has approximately four lines in the entire film, so the majority of the time he is shooting ominous glares at others. At times it can be incredibly creepy, but sometimes it feels incredibly odd and almost laughable. Thankfully, this doesn't detract much from the tension that the film builds upon.

Overall, this is a great horror film that offers many thrills and surprises along the way. Boasting some outstanding direction and a great cast of talented thespians, this is another excellent remake that is easily worth checking out. Highly recommended.

8/10 (A-)

Okay, so I'll start with the most obvious (and biggest) problem with the film...

I'm okay with remakes if they bring something new to the table. If they put a new twist on the film, or recreate it completely, I'm all for it. What I can't stand on the other hand, are remakes that are exact carbon copies of their predecessor. And that's what The Omen remake is. It IS the original film, just with a bigger budget and some new Hollywood gloss. If you've seen even parts of the original, you'll likely be bored out of your mind with this film, just like I was. It's so frustrating to watch a film when you are constantly ten steps ahead of it. It happens with predictable thrillers, and it happened here. I spent most of the runtime just waiting for the film to match the beats I was expecting. The film seriously plays like the studio didn't even bother with a new script. Just dust the old one off from the vault and shoot away! The only thing new brought to the table are a handful of nightmare sequences that attempt to be scary but are infact more humorous than anything else. They are so ineptly directed and edited that you can't help but chuckle.

The second problem I had with the film, and I touched on this above, is the atrocious directing. I'm not familiar with John Moore's previous work, but if this is anything like it, I'll be staying far away. Not only do we get a serious dose of the dreaded and extremely amateurish shaky cam (buy a fucking tripod with your $60 million dollar budget), but every scene that has the potential to be creepy (the zoo scene, for example) is totally and completely botched by MTV editing and terrible camera angels. Moore is saved from looking like a complete hack by the film's stellar art direction and set design. Several scenes look much better than they would otherwise.

The third problem, and this was a biggie, too, was how dead serious the film played everything. I knew what I was getting into once I saw the images of the twin towers flash on screen. Seriously, people, this is a fucking Omen movie. This is supposed to be fun. Everything is so dour and gloomy. There's no fucking life in the film. The cast (other than Mia Farrow who seemed to be the only one aware of the film she signed onto) is partly to blame for this, too. Both Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles play like they're in some Shakespearean tragedy, which brings on some truly unintentionally hilarious moments in the context of the film.

Speaking of the cast, who the fuck thought Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick would make a good Damien? This kid has two facial expressions - bored and constipated.

Seriously, I've already written enough about this. I'm not giving it an F because the art direction and set design truly are great, Mia Farrow is fun, and there is one good scene (the hospital).

D+

A couple of more things that I've been stewing on...

Who told the filmmakers it'd be a good idea to completely ignore the last thirty years of genre filmmaking? The "photographs revealing death" plot device has been so played out, and the death scenes found here have been done better by a B-level horror franchise. Just beause it was in the original, doesn't mean it had to be in the remake. Think up something new.

Who's idea was it to replace the brilliant Omen theme with a generic thriller score? They keep everything from the original but that?!?!?

AMEN.. That kid they got to play Damien in this has to be one of the worst choices and doesn't hold a candle to the kid in the original.... The kid in the original played it like he was legitimately cute, but also had the mischevious down real well and that little glitter in his eye when he did something, when he smiled and the camera hit his face just right made him look remarkably evil.. It kind of reminded me of the look those kids gave in "Village of the Damned"..

...which is how it was in the original Omen...

Exactly, this is supposed to dour and gloomy. It's about the friggin Anti-Christ!

I liked it a lot. I didn't love it, but it is very very effective. It scared me in some parts and the story itself kept me rivetted. I'm not sure what makeshift was expecting, but i f you have seen the original, it's not exactly Ernest Goes To Camp.

I regret giving up sleep to see this with friends, I agree with makeshitf. I saw the orginal and foudn this film boring, the direction uninspiring...it was a total mess.

This is why I never go see horror movies, its been so long since I saw one in the theater that I liked.

I think the direction was quite well done and Moore knows how to illicit a scare from his material. I think you guys are being a little harsh on the film. Your perogative.

90% of the people I went with weren't scared, they ahd no scene the orginal but they predicted with amazing accuracy whe these scares were coming. I had the luxury of prediction on top of a decent memory of the orginal. I just found myself bored throughout the film, and its not that long.