An
American ambassador named Robert Thorn
(Liev Schreiber) and his wife Katherine
(Julia Stiles) are raising a son they
accepted at the time of the death of
their first and only child, whom they
named Damien (Seamus Davey Fitzpatrick)
and who the priests are convinced that is
the antichrist, the devil himself's son;
as he was born of a 'jackal' which of
course the parents are not told till too
late.
While on Damien's 5th Birthday and while
they are celebrating and having a big
party for him near a cathedral during
which Damien's nanny sacrificed herself
by hanging herself as she jumped off the
roof of the catherdral.
Katherine, the mother starts to realise
that Damien is behaving very strangely
after he attacks her viciously while they
are driving to Sunday church and then
their new nanny, a Mrs. Baylock (Mia
Farrow), behaves very strangely around
him and them.
Deadly incidents also begin to occur with
priests who were involved with the
initial baby switch. Robert finds out
that Katherine is again pregnant but she
wants an abortion due to the strange
behaviour of 'her son' Damien.
She does not want to raise another child
if he is an example of her parenting
skills. Damien will do anything to
inherit the riches of the ambassador
Robert, which includes the attempt to
kill both Katherine and Robert with the
help of Mrs. Baylock, the devil's apostle
there to serve him.
We spot beginnings with priests having a discussion as well as seeing fiitage of tragic moments like the 911 incident as this seemed to fit in okay since alot of these moments can easily be considered the devil's work.
Nice focused moment on the ideal husband Robert Thorn in a hospital waiting for his firstborn which looked well done as well as good heartwarming moments when him and his wife Katherine together with the baby which looked convincingly peaceful.
There's a great effective and suspenseful situation with someone in a limo and suddenly a gasoline truck accidentally crashing into this vehicle when it was backing up with good camera shots on the gasoline spilling in this vehicle as well as someone tossing a cigarette stub lighting the gas on fire as this for sure leaves a good cringing moment. This all offered great timing of so called deadly accidents.
A nice setting in a park with Katherine pushing Demien in a swing as this looked good and still as well as her trying to look for him and we see a river which leaves a sinking feeling he could've drowned as well as Damien trying to scare her like a typical little kid would do to try and play hide and seek. This was done almost exactly like the original but it still looked well done and effective.
Then we have the birthday party scene that of course was used in this remake in which we spot Damien's nanny staring right at this child and we spot a dog which is a different breed than a rottweiler as it looked like a german sheppard staring at her. Next up we see her on a rooftop of a building calling towards Damien before hanging herself as this didn't look as effective as in the original and seeming like a typical remake scene but yet things do look mildly cringing when she breaks her neck after she hangs herself as this brief scene looked powerful to watch.
Effective moment when Father Brennan pays a visit to Robert's work and warning him about his son Damien as although this also was used in the original it was done in a different setting as well as making this person seem a bit crazier as well as good timing on Robert thinking this guy's nuts which works in just as good.
Nice mysterious moment when Mrs. Baylock comes in and eager to meet Damien as of course this was almost exactly like we spotted in the original but it was well focused and still well done too. As well as showing her eagerness. Plus a nice camera shot on Damien staring at her as this looked a little spooky and a bit dark too.
Another effective moment is when Katherine insists on Mrs. Baylock to have Damien ready to go to church and she tries to prevent him from going saying he's not feeling well as the conversations back and fourth looked impressive on the two of them not seeing eye to eye.
Then we have the moment when Damien acts violent when the drive near the church it looks intense but seeming like a scene in a typical remake that doesn't work in as much.
A perfectly drawn in original scene when we have Katherine in a bathtub and realising on what happened to her wrist in a bathtub as well as spotting Damien there wearing a mask and then a scene that really made me jump which looked great as it takes you by surprise big time.
Another perfect scene late at night when Robert goes into Damien's bedroom and a cringing moment when a rottweiler is standing there with it's teeth clenaching towards him and being pitted against this dog as well as a good calming moment with Mrs. Baylock calming the dog down as well as their conversations together with him being stern towards her as this works in well even if we've seen this in the original.
Another well done situation is when Katherine goes down to the kitchen and spots Damien making a snack when she tries to pleasantly ask him something and he ignores her which leaves a nice upsetting moment that this child wants nothing to do with her.
Good strong moment when Father Brennan tries to talk to Robert near an underpass during a thunderstorm as to what Damien is going to do as well as Robert getting stern with him and storming away as this looked impressive. Also good shots on Brennan trying to escape the storm that's chasing after him as well as a well lit shot on his death scene which should please many horror fans such as myself.
Perfect dysfunctional moment showing today's technology as this time Damien is playing a video game and Katherine being disturbed by this as well as her telling Robert that she's pregnany and wants an abortion not wanting more kids which looked effective that Damien is putting her through hell which also worked in nicely and grabbing your attention too.
Nicely focused moment on Mrs. Baylock feeding Damien strawberries showing nicely still camera shots as well as getting his little mobile with him strolling along the hallway with good close up shots and then a moment when Katherine is watering a plant and he bumps into her which of course was the memorable scene to the original classic but it looks cringing when she falls and seeing how far down she goes. At the same time it wasn't as focused or disturbing like in the original.
Perfect disturbing moment when Mrs. Baylock visits Katherine in the hospital and uses her blood preserver and injects poison in it with this venom slowly moving down as well as a great moment on Katherine crying and acting helpless as this is hard to watch and seeing her slowly about to be poisones to death. Meanwhile this happens a nicely focused situation when Damien gets a security guard to stare at him and making him not move. A perfect demonic moment that we spot here.
A scene that was used before spotting a blind preacher writing something seemed nothing special in this remake but how this character looked was spookier.
Also a good snowy setting when both Robert and Keith Jennings dig up some graves to look for clues with a nice shot on a skeletal baby corse showing its skull shot as well as great surprising attacks by rottweilers attacking them as this looked fast acting and making you wonder if they will escape this terror on the dogs as this was powerful to watch.
Then we have Robert being as quiet as possible going itno his home to plan on killing Damien asleep as this of course was done in the original but makes you watch more carefully wondering if he will make any noises since he almost knocks over a glass and catches it in time as I nearly gasped seeing this moment happen. Then the bizarre moments happen when Mrs. Baylock tries to attack him as this was fast paced but it seemed a little too much at times m aking it look too much like today's standards with the suspense rushing in and not as old fashioned terrors as I prefer the older types of situations like this moment happening.
Bottom line is that this is an excellent
remake of the 1976 classic with the same
writer and director involved in the film.
It at times gets a little slow when the
character Robert travels to Italy to do
some discovering on Damien as it takes a
little too long but the other scenes are
great and it will make you jump at times.
Hopefully the sequels will see the light
of day like in the original.
The acting is
good. Liev Schreiber (Robert
Thorn) shows a perfect serious business like attitude as the family man and offering a good sharp behavior. He also does well acting blunt or stern in other spots and making this totally realistic looking. Plus shows a nice happiness in other spots when uplifting moments happen. Plus shows great intense energy when the suspense piles up around him and seems to be right on the ball with his alerted behavior.
Julia Stiles (Katherine Thorn) seemed to bring her part into the story in a nice decent fashion in which she shows some love and happiness on her newborn. Also does well speaking softly and motherly later on as well as offering a good scolding attitude in another scene which she made this moment believeable. Plus shows a good upsetting and emotional attitude later on after confessing her pregnancy acting like a perfect basket case. Plus does well with her weak attitude while in the hopital getting upset after what is going to happen to her. Seemed to study her role in a fair fashion.
Mia Farrow (Mrs. Baylock) also does well with her
creepy performance as Damien's caretaker
working under his powers. She shows the beginning of her performance truly deceiving like as someone whom is calm and eager and showing a creepy charm to her personality. Also shows off a mild wicked behavior too which shines off nicely. Plus does great springing into action near the end of her performance by acting like a madwoman. She loved to portray this role for sure.
Pete
Postlethwaite (Father
Brennan) had the perfect looks and appeal to his role showing a great tense type of behavior when stressing out on what he has to say. He for sure came across believeable whom is misunderstood as a crazed religious fanatic. He drew across greatly in his supporting role and shows off a ton of great pizzaz.
Child actor Seamus Davey
Fitzpatrick (Damien) really brings his
character to life showing no
expressions but a cold look on his face
which makes his role very frightening. He shows a great silent type of behavior and had a more dark asppeal compared to the original former child actor from the original.
A sharp metal
object from the top of the cathedral
comes down during a storm and stabs a
priest through the heart.
A guy in Italy is decapitated during an
accident and it looks fairly graphic.
Marco Beltrami
was marvellous with his classical
composing making his music very strong
and powerful with the scenes of the movie
itself. We hear loud trombone and violin music as well as ther adventreous echoey drumbeats which sounds extremely powerful. Also hear the odd sad piano music for the scene's that were needed to be that way. Jerry Goldsmith's themes from the
original film were reused for this remake
too with the chanting sounds as this worked in nicely.
Father
Brennan: I was at the hospital, Mr.
Thorn, the night your son was born.
Robert Thorn: What do you know
about my son?
Father Brennan: Everything.
Katherine
Thorn: Don't let him kill me. |
