I didn't mind the first Omen picture. Despite the flaws in internal logic, (why is it that Satan can only kill the people who spill their guts about Damien after they've blabbed?). It's also worth watching Billie Whitelaw and Gregory Peck in damn near anything.
Damien: Omen II is a terrible drag by contrast. Every five minutes someone finds out that Damien is the Anti-Christ, then dies in some messy way. It takes William Holden's character an incredible amount of time to notice the corpses piling up around the teen ager, (during which we have to go through the irritating I'm Trying to Convince You scenes that are standard issue in these kinds of movies. They always end with something like, "If you don't do something, I will." The character uttering this line has to die, of course). By the time he gets religion it is so obviously too late that the ending is a fait accompli.
It would have been more interesting if they'd stuck to something the script gestured towards for a second. Damien finds out he's the Anti-Christ and that he's destined to do all sorts of horrible things and he runs screaming, terrified of what prophecy demands he become. It would have been an ironic twist if Damien were a good person who discovered that it was his ultimate, irresistible fate to be evil. That conflict could have had real drama and a meaning beyond the slaughter.
Instead, Damien went and committed the worst movie sin; the sin of boredom.
Damien: Omen II is a terrible drag by contrast. Every five minutes someone finds out that Damien is the Anti-Christ, then dies in some messy way. It takes William Holden's character an incredible amount of time to notice the corpses piling up around the teen ager, (during which we have to go through the irritating I'm Trying to Convince You scenes that are standard issue in these kinds of movies. They always end with something like, "If you don't do something, I will." The character uttering this line has to die, of course). By the time he gets religion it is so obviously too late that the ending is a fait accompli.
It would have been more interesting if they'd stuck to something the script gestured towards for a second. Damien finds out he's the Anti-Christ and that he's destined to do all sorts of horrible things and he runs screaming, terrified of what prophecy demands he become. It would have been an ironic twist if Damien were a good person who discovered that it was his ultimate, irresistible fate to be evil. That conflict could have had real drama and a meaning beyond the slaughter.
Instead, Damien went and committed the worst movie sin; the sin of boredom.