The Omen
Rated: R for Violence
3.5 of 4 Stars
A-
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow, David Thewlis, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick
Directed by: John Moore
Produced by: Jeffrey Stott, Glenn Williamson, John Moore
Hell hath no fury like Damien’s scorn. Contrary to what many might believe. The Omen is not
another Exorcist or Hellraiser kind of movie. The Omen is not satanic and does not glorify Satan.
The Omen is not even a horror movie. It is made in the genre of Alfred Hitchcock and is strictly a
psychological thrill.
I have heard so many people in the church come out and say “oh, I would never see that movie, it’s
horrible”, however they have no idea what the movie is about. I know that I am going to get a lot of
flack from those who believe that doing a movie based on the Anti Christ is totally wrong; however
my review hopes to shed some understanding on what the movie is saying.
The Omen is the remake of the Gregory Peck movie of the same name. Many believe that the first
Omen should never have been remade this time around because it was such a great movie. The
first Omen was a very clean and sharp movie with lots of chills and thrills. In many respect this is
made shot for shot, with the exception of some very major differences of which I will talk about
later. The Omen is the story about the culmination of events that lead up to the reign of the Anti
Christ. The story beings when signs and wonders around the world start to take place, and the
Catholic Church finally figures out what is happening. There is a boy who is born, in which manner
I will not reveal, however there is cut and dry evidence that he is the Anti Christ who bears the 666
under his hair. When Damien (the Anti Christ) is born, he is given to an American diplomat and his
wife who recently lost their son at birth, the very same hour. The date of their births were June,
6th, 2006. Years later when the boy is 5, the secrets of the Anti Christ which were suppressed
begin to come clear and an attempt to warn the family is on the rise. Damien is protected by a
nanny that is innocently hired by the family, who actually works for the devil, by the hounds of Hell
and by a path that is made clear by Satan himself. The ultimate goal, allowing Damien to live and
to get as close to political power as possible at a young age, so his true destiny can be fulfilled.
What really shocked me about the movie was that it was relatively biblically based and was not a
glorification of Satan, but rather a movie that alerts the viewer that Satan is real and shows an
example of how he could come about. There are a couple of errors in theology, and they take
liberty with how the Anti Christ is born, however nothing that distracts from the Word of God. One
of the things in the beginning that was kind of funny was that they called the Tribulation,
Armageddon. It was an innocent mistake and not really a big deal. They also use the Catholic
Church as the vehicle that discovers the signs and wonders that culminate to the end times. Which
I think is totally fine. Catholics has always been Hollywood example of Christianity, therefore it only
makes sense in this circumstance as well. It would not be very common to use a Baptist or
Charismatic and would not be accepted by the mainstream viewer. Lastly, for the sake of storyline
they attempt to kill the Anti Christ and reading scripture, we know that he cannot be killed until the
Lord calls the time. These are really non-issues when it comes to intent of the movie.
I loved the fact that when the hard times started happening in the life of the diplomat, he eventually
gets into the word for the answers. People throughout the movie are searching and trying to
discover the truth. Instead of looking to the DiVinci Code for truth, they go the Bible. I loved the
fact that the Catholic’s are not made to be nut jobs, but really the people who read the Bible and
interpret the end times as correctly as possible. The movie gives its own version on how the Anti
Christ is going to be raised and come about, but the path they create is not an impossible one. I
also loved the fact that they went into detail to show how much Satan himself has to play in the life
of the Anti Christ, opening doors and creating paths, protecting his apprentice to take the lead on
Earth. This movie shows how effective the Devil can be and how turning a blind eye to something
of this magnitude is terrible.
I took a couple, who are very good friends of mine to this movie and who are also very grounded in
the word. My friend’s wife, who was with us, actually did not want to go, but she decided to at the
last moment. I took them because I actually want to make sure that I am not compromised even
one bit in my perception when it comes to a movie dealing with biblical messages or theological
history. I know that anyone who is watching a movie, can justify it because of enjoyment, even it is
wrong. However in this case, both of the people I went with were totally shocked. They actually
said that this was more of a Christian movie than anything. This was backed up by the anger and
banter of the crowd who was attending the screening. I heard comments like “I wanted a horror, not
to be preached at.”, “That movie sucked, it there was no blood”, and so on. People were honestly
angry because the movie was too preachy. The other critics hated it because they felt it was
boring and just a bad remake.
The part that I liked about this version as well, as opposed to its predecessor, is the fact that they
made serious points to make sure the audience saw that main characters were people who were
really searching the Bible for the answer. They made points of showing reverence to the Lord.
They made points to show the audience that believers were not nuts and they made an over all
effort to really dull down the violence.
This movie does have some killing and death scenes. It is not a movie for kids at all. It is downright
scary when you think about it from a Biblical aspect. However if you are not a Christian, then you
will be bored out of your mind. The reality aspect is really what made this movie effective. I am not
one of those Extremist that go out there and say that the 666 is going to be something to watch out
for, because it could be anywhere. I think that Christian’s who think that the 666 is going to be a
sneaky number have to check their theology. As this movie said, you will know when you are taking
it, as did some of the people who were directly involved in the hiding of the secret. The mark is
going to be something people will voluntarily take because it saves their butt from tribulation, not
because they are deceived into it. It’s not going to be something that you say “oh crap, my dog just
got a chip under his skin for tracking purposes, maybe that is the 666”. Its not going to be a GPS,
its not going to be credit card, and do not worry, if you have a 666 on the bottom of your cereal
box, you are not going to hell. YOU WILL KNOW and it will be evident, if it is presented.
The acting in this movie is excellent, with the exception of Damien. This movie is not so much about
Damien, but he is still kind of boring in his role. I think that the old Damien was much better.
However Julia Stiles and Liv Schreiber are both great in their roles, as are the priest and the
photographers. The music score is awesome, creating a sense of fright around every corner as
the great Alfred Hitchcock did so well. This movie is better than the first and I strongly recommend
that you see this movie. Just so you know, part 2 and 3 are pretty dumb movies, however at the
end of Omen 3, Jesus does come back and take out the Anti Christ.
This movie is far better than Left Behind and will certainly reach more Non-Christians. You can
probably tell that I am a POST tribber, however this movie is for Pre, Post, Mid, and even Pan.
Warning to Parents: This movie is clean and there are only 2 bad words in the whole movie. There
are some very scary scenes and there are a few death scenes that are pretty intense. However
not over the top as a horror movie would do, but rather done as tastily as possible, with less blood
and more music. There is one scene where you see a head get cut off, but it is so quick and there
is not a lot of blood. Just to let you know something a Muslim friend told me. When the guy does
get his head cut off, he is in Israel and when the device finally swings in the area of his head, the
sign in the background says “Barber Shop” in the window in Jordanian Language. That is kind of a
humorous note.
Rated: R for Violence
3.5 of 4 Stars
A-
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow, David Thewlis, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick
Directed by: John Moore
Produced by: Jeffrey Stott, Glenn Williamson, John Moore
Hell hath no fury like Damien’s scorn. Contrary to what many might believe. The Omen is not
another Exorcist or Hellraiser kind of movie. The Omen is not satanic and does not glorify Satan.
The Omen is not even a horror movie. It is made in the genre of Alfred Hitchcock and is strictly a
psychological thrill.
I have heard so many people in the church come out and say “oh, I would never see that movie, it’s
horrible”, however they have no idea what the movie is about. I know that I am going to get a lot of
flack from those who believe that doing a movie based on the Anti Christ is totally wrong; however
my review hopes to shed some understanding on what the movie is saying.
The Omen is the remake of the Gregory Peck movie of the same name. Many believe that the first
Omen should never have been remade this time around because it was such a great movie. The
first Omen was a very clean and sharp movie with lots of chills and thrills. In many respect this is
made shot for shot, with the exception of some very major differences of which I will talk about
later. The Omen is the story about the culmination of events that lead up to the reign of the Anti
Christ. The story beings when signs and wonders around the world start to take place, and the
Catholic Church finally figures out what is happening. There is a boy who is born, in which manner
I will not reveal, however there is cut and dry evidence that he is the Anti Christ who bears the 666
under his hair. When Damien (the Anti Christ) is born, he is given to an American diplomat and his
wife who recently lost their son at birth, the very same hour. The date of their births were June,
6th, 2006. Years later when the boy is 5, the secrets of the Anti Christ which were suppressed
begin to come clear and an attempt to warn the family is on the rise. Damien is protected by a
nanny that is innocently hired by the family, who actually works for the devil, by the hounds of Hell
and by a path that is made clear by Satan himself. The ultimate goal, allowing Damien to live and
to get as close to political power as possible at a young age, so his true destiny can be fulfilled.
What really shocked me about the movie was that it was relatively biblically based and was not a
glorification of Satan, but rather a movie that alerts the viewer that Satan is real and shows an
example of how he could come about. There are a couple of errors in theology, and they take
liberty with how the Anti Christ is born, however nothing that distracts from the Word of God. One
of the things in the beginning that was kind of funny was that they called the Tribulation,
Armageddon. It was an innocent mistake and not really a big deal. They also use the Catholic
Church as the vehicle that discovers the signs and wonders that culminate to the end times. Which
I think is totally fine. Catholics has always been Hollywood example of Christianity, therefore it only
makes sense in this circumstance as well. It would not be very common to use a Baptist or
Charismatic and would not be accepted by the mainstream viewer. Lastly, for the sake of storyline
they attempt to kill the Anti Christ and reading scripture, we know that he cannot be killed until the
Lord calls the time. These are really non-issues when it comes to intent of the movie.
I loved the fact that when the hard times started happening in the life of the diplomat, he eventually
gets into the word for the answers. People throughout the movie are searching and trying to
discover the truth. Instead of looking to the DiVinci Code for truth, they go the Bible. I loved the
fact that the Catholic’s are not made to be nut jobs, but really the people who read the Bible and
interpret the end times as correctly as possible. The movie gives its own version on how the Anti
Christ is going to be raised and come about, but the path they create is not an impossible one. I
also loved the fact that they went into detail to show how much Satan himself has to play in the life
of the Anti Christ, opening doors and creating paths, protecting his apprentice to take the lead on
Earth. This movie shows how effective the Devil can be and how turning a blind eye to something
of this magnitude is terrible.
I took a couple, who are very good friends of mine to this movie and who are also very grounded in
the word. My friend’s wife, who was with us, actually did not want to go, but she decided to at the
last moment. I took them because I actually want to make sure that I am not compromised even
one bit in my perception when it comes to a movie dealing with biblical messages or theological
history. I know that anyone who is watching a movie, can justify it because of enjoyment, even it is
wrong. However in this case, both of the people I went with were totally shocked. They actually
said that this was more of a Christian movie than anything. This was backed up by the anger and
banter of the crowd who was attending the screening. I heard comments like “I wanted a horror, not
to be preached at.”, “That movie sucked, it there was no blood”, and so on. People were honestly
angry because the movie was too preachy. The other critics hated it because they felt it was
boring and just a bad remake.
The part that I liked about this version as well, as opposed to its predecessor, is the fact that they
made serious points to make sure the audience saw that main characters were people who were
really searching the Bible for the answer. They made points of showing reverence to the Lord.
They made points to show the audience that believers were not nuts and they made an over all
effort to really dull down the violence.
This movie does have some killing and death scenes. It is not a movie for kids at all. It is downright
scary when you think about it from a Biblical aspect. However if you are not a Christian, then you
will be bored out of your mind. The reality aspect is really what made this movie effective. I am not
one of those Extremist that go out there and say that the 666 is going to be something to watch out
for, because it could be anywhere. I think that Christian’s who think that the 666 is going to be a
sneaky number have to check their theology. As this movie said, you will know when you are taking
it, as did some of the people who were directly involved in the hiding of the secret. The mark is
going to be something people will voluntarily take because it saves their butt from tribulation, not
because they are deceived into it. It’s not going to be something that you say “oh crap, my dog just
got a chip under his skin for tracking purposes, maybe that is the 666”. Its not going to be a GPS,
its not going to be credit card, and do not worry, if you have a 666 on the bottom of your cereal
box, you are not going to hell. YOU WILL KNOW and it will be evident, if it is presented.
The acting in this movie is excellent, with the exception of Damien. This movie is not so much about
Damien, but he is still kind of boring in his role. I think that the old Damien was much better.
However Julia Stiles and Liv Schreiber are both great in their roles, as are the priest and the
photographers. The music score is awesome, creating a sense of fright around every corner as
the great Alfred Hitchcock did so well. This movie is better than the first and I strongly recommend
that you see this movie. Just so you know, part 2 and 3 are pretty dumb movies, however at the
end of Omen 3, Jesus does come back and take out the Anti Christ.
This movie is far better than Left Behind and will certainly reach more Non-Christians. You can
probably tell that I am a POST tribber, however this movie is for Pre, Post, Mid, and even Pan.
Warning to Parents: This movie is clean and there are only 2 bad words in the whole movie. There
are some very scary scenes and there are a few death scenes that are pretty intense. However
not over the top as a horror movie would do, but rather done as tastily as possible, with less blood
and more music. There is one scene where you see a head get cut off, but it is so quick and there
is not a lot of blood. Just to let you know something a Muslim friend told me. When the guy does
get his head cut off, he is in Israel and when the device finally swings in the area of his head, the
sign in the background says “Barber Shop” in the window in Jordanian Language. That is kind of a
humorous note.
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