Damien: Omen II (1978)

   
Directed by: Don Taylor & Mike Hodges

Written by:
Stanley Mann & Mike Hodges

Produced & Story by:
Harvey Bernhard

Starring:

William Holden .... Richard Thorn
Lee Grant .... Ann Thorn
Jonathan Scott-Taylor .... Damien Thorn
Robert Foxworth .... Paul Buhler
Nicholas Pryor .... Dr. Charles Warren
Lucas Donat .... Mark Thorn
Lew Ayres .... Bill Atherton

Special Appearances:

Sylvia Sidney .... Aunt Marion
Lance Henriksen .... Master Sergeant Daniel Neff
Elizabeth Shepherd .... Joan Hart

Release Date: Theatrical: June 9, 1978

 

 

 

 

 

Rating:

 

Years after the tragic deaths of Ambassador Thorn and his wife, the anti-christ Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) is now a teenager living with his other relatives in Chicago.

Damien and his cousin Mark (Lucas Donat) are sent to the Thorn Military Academy school but certain people who learned the history of Damien tries to warn the family about Damien but however, they end up being killed by certain causes when a black raven is near them.

Eventually the people at the Academy start to drop like flies as well from horrible accidents when a black raven is near.

After Damien reads the bible about the devil and the encoding on his head this freaks him out but knows he's on a mission to do the devil's deeds as more deadly accidents happen to people who try to figure out who Damien really is.

 

During the beginning of this film you may think to yourself it's a typical just above average sequel to a classic horror film but it really picks up. There's perfect moments spotting Damien now as a young teenage kid who is deceivingly charming and innocent especially towards his adopted relatives who decided to parent him as well as a nicely focused moment involving Aunt Marion being concerned about stuff as well as trying to tell Richard and Ann to maybe transfer their son Mark to a different boarding school suggesting that Damien is a bad influence which leaves a clue that she knows he is the antichrist. It draws to your attention a great deal. Some nice strong and intense moments with this happening as well.
Great effective situations with Marion i her bed and then a raven landing on her bed and perfect close up shots on the raven's eyes towards her looking scared and starting to have a heart attack as this looked fairly intense while watching this moment happening.
Perfect moment with a school bully being pitted between Mark and Damien as this gives you a good feeling that Damien himself will use his satanic powers on this jerk as there's perfect close up eye shots on the two of them as this leads way to knowing that something is going to happen which looked well done.
More perfect intense moments with a supporting character Joan Hart trying to warn Richard about Damien as well which also looked powerful and memorable. Also a perfectly disturbing moment later on what happens to her with a raven attacking her although the attack scene's needed a bit of improvement but yet finding out the results of her looked gruesome as well as we see a speeding truck charging towards her as this makes you cringe big time. However when we spot her being run over it looked rather a little fake.
A nicely focused discussion between Paul Buhrer and Damien having a nice still discussion as this was well done by what they were talking about and showing a nice calm moment here.
A perfect focused situation with people ice skating and it leaves a feeling that someone's going to fall in as well as spotting the raven nearby. This does happen with good camera shots on someone falling in but yet doesn't look terrifying enough. However gives a perfect feeling with someone trapped under ice and suffocating. So a good psychological feel regardless to what we see here.
Another real effective moment is when the school kids are introduced to a power plant warehouse as things seem to look nice, still and pleasant with the instructor showing them around and the calm moments breaks big time when something explodes which is a nice jumping moment for sure as well as seeing some of the results which are nice camera shots revealing the mist surrounding this. A nice horror shot for sure.
Nice moment when Damien slowly discovers on who he is after being heard talked about and seeing his frusterations which was a good add on to the story making you wonder if he really wants to be evil.
A perfect moment with someone in an elevator as it quickly drops which keeps you in suspense wondering if this fellow will die and then the elevator pauses which almost leaves that relief and then suddenly something else happens which often is the case in a horror film as this looked perfectly gruesome while we spot the results which can please fans of horror violence.
Great suspenseful situations with both Richard and Charles Warren in a train yard trying to find some missing pieces on Damien as the antichrist especially on them trying to move away from things that can prevent a deadly accident as this almost seems to be on what the makers of Final Destination borrowed from when we watch all of this happening.
Great camera shots on a train unloading boxcars as well as seeing a track switching by itself and charging towards one of these people which looked perfectly terrorising and packed with action and suspense.
Nice setting at a prom with Damien sitting someone and some beautiful teenage girls swarming him which showed nice timing on some pretties around someone who uses his evil powers to tempt them to be around him.
Perfect intense situation with Mark running away from Damien in the snowy forest as well as him trying to tell him to stay away from him and Damien trying to reason with him as this keeps you watching closely and carefully wondering if Damien will use his deadly powers on him if he doesn't reason with him. This situation looked perfectly dramatic and strongly done.
Great quarreling moment between Richard and Ann about Damien as well as Damien eavesdropping and an unexpected terrifying moment prevented by Ann which catches you by surprise offering great timing.
Bottom line is that It's nice to see Damien as an older person and doing regular activities too plus being able to talk as well. The film is very adventurous as you wonder what Damien's going to do next. However, alot of the moments seem like a remake from the first film when the people try to stop Damien by putting an end to his life.

The acting is quite good. William Holden (Richard Thorn) was marvellous in his work as someone whom is as strict as nails along with drawing a cross a perfect seriousness in his personality. He was powerful with his gruff, stern and tough behavior and drew across nicely within his aggressions too which is memorable in his performance throughout the piece of this story. Also adds a nice versatality with his fearsome attitude as well as acting almost insane too. He was for sure a polished up character actor.
Lee Grant (Ann Thorn) seemed to do well with her well alerted attitude by acting upset or concerned about stuff. She shows alot of great energy in her role as the wife and delivers her lines quite well. Also offers a great wickedness later on near the end of her performance with her icy speaking. Yes she delivered her part nice and clear.
We have Jonathan Scott-Taylor (Damien Thorn) stepping in to play the role as he very much resembles the previous child actor playing him. A good job he does at so playing a deceiving innocent young teenage boy and is good at being evil when he does something. He offers alot of great spunk and charisma while doing all of this and not letting an ounce of energy drop. Also does well with his upsetting emotions on when he discovers on who he is and does well crying out his frusterations too. Also seemed to do well trying to convince someone else and tempt them with having a deceivingly innocent attitude. Plus has a good expressionless attitude when he does an evil deed. Yes he studied this part very well.
Robert Foxworth (Paul Buhler) had a real effective supporting role as he comes across very sharp with his discussions towards others as well as really making things seem realistic with his concerned attitude too about what is happening. He also had the right looks for this role so he was a perfect fit.
Nicholas Pryor (Dr. Charles Warren) really brought his role to a hype acting larger than life with his paranoid features and emotions. He for sure was perfect by acting wildly scared and crazy for what is happening and acting uncontrollable with his emotional personality as well as someone who would jump easily to anything that would make him cringe. I really liked his role and he can be fondly remembered for it.
Lucas Donat (Mark Thorn) was also great as Damien's innocent cousin and shows a great role in his part and a natural character actor too. He for sure comes across as a typical clean cut boy next door type with a helpless attitude. He was perfectly dynamic later on in his performance after discovering whom his onscreen cousin really is and goes in a nice intense frenzy which also looked good and natural.
Sylvia Sidney (Aunt Marion) was memorable in her brief supporting role as she does a convincing job by acting overly concerned and protective about one of her onscreen nephews as well as showing good upsetting reactions. She does a nice job trying to act persistent on her concerned behavior too. She draws everything with a punch and does a nice job reacting as if she was dying of a heart attack near the end of her performance.
Elizabeth Shepherd (Joan Hart) was perfectly annoying as one of the people trying to warn the family and really getting convincingly anxious as doing so. However she sometimes gets a little carried away and too over the top at times. Yet does a great job screaming out intensely when she's attacked by a raven as well as reacting well to what happened to her too.

A woman's eyes are plucked out by ravens.
A professor is cut in half by a wire from an elevator.

Jerry Goldsmith composed the music again for this one. However, his music sounds a little cheesier but he does use some of the same material from the first flick. The music eventually sounds good and sharp while the story moves along as well as some powerful chanting too. Plus we hear some nice hissing chantings which sounds genuinely creepy especially during someone in an elevator and all goes wrong. There's nice orchestral playing in other parts of the story too with nice drum poundings. So there was alot to choose from later on with various sounds which works in perfectly midway.

Richard Thorn: Ann, give me the daggers!
Ann Thorn: [stabs him with the daggers] There are your daggers!
Richard Thorn: Ann?
Ann Thorn: I've always belonged to him!
[Richard falls dead as Ann lets out a primal scream]
Ann Thorn: Damien!