William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor

Several years after the mysterious events that claimed the life of the U.S. Ambassador and his wife, the now teenaged and militarily enrolled Damien Thorne is slowly being made aware of his unholy her...( read more  read more... )itage and horrific destiny. Woe is he (including anyone in Damien's adoptive family and his classmates) who suspects the truth or gets in his way. While not as unrelentingly frightening as its blockbuster predecessor, this more-than-competent sequel to The Omen raises some interesting questions about the nature of free will (can the antichrist deny his birthright?) before falling into a gory series of increasingly outlandish deaths, the best of which is a terrifyingly protracted scene beneath the ice of a frozen lake. Jerry Goldsmith (who won an Oscar for his work on the first film in the series) contributes another marvelously foreboding score. --Andrew Wright

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57% liked it

45,910 ratings

Critics

43% liked it

21 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Don Taylor

Release Date: June 9, 1978

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DVD Release Date: September 4, 2001

Stats: 1,004 reviews

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  • September 29, 2009
    Probably the second best sequel ever made after the Godfather II. Almost as good as the original, this is a great continuation of the story of Damien, the anti-Christ. Damien is easily one of the scariest characters in film, Satan during puberty, now that's a scary thought eh!
  • October 8, 2008
    It's not a terrible film. It may win the award for most frustrating film though. The problem faced is that the audience knows Damien is the son of the devil, so it hardly makes for exciting entertainment watching more people discover this and then try and convince other people. O...( read more)f course those that find out soon die in horrible ways. It's a tedious retread with a few moments of suspense. The places the film should have succeeded are those of Damien dealing with being the son of Satan. However he simply cries "WHY ME?" Then soon gets over it and uses his powers to devastating effect. This could have been comparable to Michael Corleone's rise to power, instead Damien becomes more hilarious the more evil he tries to be.
  • October 6, 2008
    Seven years later, young Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) is living with adoptive uncle William Holden and aunt Lee Grant, as well as his cousin (Lucas Donat) from Holden's previous marriage. The fatalities in Damien: Omen II are all certainly absurd, but there is no denying their...( read more) ability to deliver in the end. Some of them even come close to rivaling the beheading of the photographer in the original. Contributing to these fantastic death sequences even further is the outstanding score from Jerry Goldsmith. Damien: Omen II provides ample breathing room for the Damien character to further grow and the performance of Jonathan Scott-Taylor is what truly allows Damien to shed his childhood innocence and develop seething teenage angst.
  • August 12, 2008
    more intense viewing from another omen team. in this 2nd installment we see damien finding out the truth about himself, struggling with it and then finally accepting it. it's kind of a character study of the devils son? you get to know him better... damn, the scene where him and ...( read more)his friend mark are in the snow just after mark's found out about damien....man, even the devil's son has a little compassion? very memorable scene. you almost think it'd be worth trying to reason with him. almost. william holden is good in his genre but he's no gregory peck which is why the father figure role faulters slightly. the quick ending doesn't help either. still very much worth watching as a follow up to the first
  • June 27, 2008
    For such are false apostles. Deceitful workers whom lie and transform themselves to look like real apostles of Christ. II Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 13.


    When Richard Donner crafted the prolific 1976 horror film The Omen it was met with a generally strong r

    ...( read more)esponse from the critics, and enjoyed a profitable sum at the box office. The Omen was fundamentally a bunch of religious mumbo jumbo (based on the Book of Revelations) mixed with stellar acting, effective horror scenes and an interesting screenplay. The film was in particular and artistic triumph - boasting eye-catching production design and fascinating satanic images. Through my eyes the film was underwhelming, but interesting viewing nonetheless. The studio's decision to green-light a sequel was not an artistic choice...it's simply another question of how much money a sequel can reel in for the greedy studio heads.

    Richard Donner was entrenched in his commitment to direct Superman when the script for Damien: The Omen II was busily being penned. Donner had no interest in returning for this instalment, and he would have no reason to return: the cliffhanger for the first film works because of the sense of never-ending terror. Hence, the audience are left to draw their own conclusions. Unfortunately with such a meaty cliffhanger and room for a sequel, the studio doesn't take the interpretation option: instead they select the sequel option as it means more money for them.

    Damien: The Omen II opens a few days after the first film concluded. The purpose of the opening is to depict a dialogue scene that basically recaps the ending of the first film, and begin things with a bang. Fast-forward seven years and we find adolescent, 13-year-old Damien Thorn (Scott-Taylor) who's currently living with other relatives: Uncle Richard (Holden), Auntie Ann (Grant) and his cousin Mark (Donat). Damien has become a surprisingly successful young man considering what happened to him several years earlier. As the film opens, Damien and Mark are being sent to military school. This sequel is mainly concerned with Damien, the Antichrist, coming to terms with his unholy heritage and horrific destiny. Like the first film, the current guardians of the son of Satan begin suspecting things after freak occurrences that result in people getting maliciously killed or brutally injured. The stage is set for another fruitless string of events as people work to eliminate the satanic influences that are prominent in Damien's unhuman body.

    Of course, we all know that more sequels are to come and hence the string of events all appear to be for absolutely nothing! Because of the nature of the film's conclusion, this whole second instalment is completely unnecessary and lacks most of the charm of the original. Also, now that other sequels to the film exist, we can predict what the outcome will be like. Let's see...the next film stars Damien and has no prime characters from this film included. Begin your theorising!

    Damien: The Omen II has a few interesting aspects that redeem this theoretically useless sequel. The film poses a few interesting questions in relation to the Antichrist and his discovery of his heritage. The dialogue ably sets up the film for the initial few scenes before falling back into clichéd territory. That is, people who rant truthfully about Damien are going to be killed pretty soon. It doesn't take long for the outlandish and exceedingly gory death scenes to kick in. Composer Jerry Goldsmith contributes a foreboding score that establishes a terrifying atmosphere. Unfortunately, like most horror movies, this is a case of aiming for as much gore as possible instead of scares. There are a few effective horror scenes, but overall an insufficient amount. One of the film's most notable features is a few creative deaths like drowning under the ice, sliced in half, etc. This is reminiscent of the famous beheading scene featured in its precedessor.

    Overall, Damien: The Omen II is an unnecessary sequel that lacks a certain charm. William Holden is the only veteran actor to find in the cast and, similar to Gregory Peck in the first film, comes off as dull and unexciting. This sequel may be useless, but it is competently made and occasionally is very spine-chilling despite some shortcomings in the screenplay.
  • November 21, 2009
    I liked the music of the film. It complements the atmosphere of the movie!!
  • November 15, 2009
    This sequel falls flat.
  • October 28, 2009
    Damien Thorn is now a teenager and is creating more Satanic Havoc on earth. Not as good as the first film but it´s still okay and features plenty of shocks and tension.
  • October 11, 2009
    Not bad,tho its another dated movie now...Its the first Horror movie that i saw at the cinema....
  • October 3, 2009
    a must see, watch it right after the first Omen film if you can take it, very scarry and creepy.

Comments


  • delhigirl2k3
    April 8, 2007
    Damien Omen II is a gud movie and d cast is gud 2.

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Damien: Omen II Trivia


  • Just got this question. How many Omen movies were made? Correct answer 4 However there were 5 Omen movies made. The Omen 1976 Damien: Omen II 1978 Omen III: The final Conflict 1981 Omen IV: The Awakening 1991 The Omen Remake 2006  Answer »
  • I stabbed my husband to death in a 1936 Hitchcock thriller. I played the antichrist's aunt in Damien: Omen II, as well as Adam and Barbara's 'case-worker' in Beetle Juice. Who am I?  Answer »

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