The Omen (2006)

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: When a politician's wife births a stillborn baby, he decides that he will try to save the situation by adopting another infant and telling his wife that it's their own. Unfortunately this child is a child like no other, and as people begin to die strange deaths, as odd things begin to happen in his wake, his father begins to realize that perhaps there is something wrong with the boy, perhaps (as a local priest keeps insisting) he may be of the devil.

Scariness factor: The original is scarier.

Gross-Out Factor: So-so. There's definitely disturbing imagery, but it's not over-the-top gross.



Complaints: What was the point? With remakes of good horror films, this is almost always my overriding complaint. That being said, one of the definite areas of disappointment was the young boy--he is not nearly as creepy in the original. Here, however, is where I 'fess up that I started to doze midway through the movie, so I missed some integral scenes (such as the death of the journalist, which was a scene I always loved in the original), so I can't in all fairness criticize the movie too much, since I missed some of it.

High Points: Why this movie was made (as with most remakes of good horror-flicks), I have no clue. The original is, of course, a horror classic, and it's in my list of Top 5 Favorite Horror films. *BUT* all that being said and done, this movie was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. As I mentioned above, I *did* doze during this movie, but I *can* say that it was better than expected. I still don't see why they wasted their time MAKING it, but if the original didn't exist, this one could at least entertain you for two hours. Definitely the high-point (and scene-stealer) of the movie is Mia Farrow. She is *impressively* creepy as the nanny--nearly as good (if not better) than the original nanny.



Overall: Since I dozed during part of this movie, I can't in all fairness grade it. But I *can* reaffirm that it wasn't NEARLY as bad as I thought it would be. So perhaps it would be worth picking up sometime if you're bored. Then again, if you're trying to choose between renting the remake or rewatching the original, always choose the latter. It is, of course, a classic.

Grade: N/A