WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
As promised a couple of months ago, my second The Omen article. I was genuinely concerned when writing this that it was going to turn out that these films were actually based on a book (one I would consider reading mind) making the article pointless. However, this wasn’t the case so here it is, the comparison between The Omen 1976 and 2006.
The Opening
In the original film, we start with the arrival of baby Damien – coinciding with the death of the Thorn’s baby. However, the events of the opening scene for the remake are only referenced in the original – the flaming star falling to Earth for example. In the remake on the other hand – we open with the discovery of the comet and the realization of Armageddon before Robert Thorn is informed of his child’s death and offered Damien in his place. I honestly thought that from this scene onwards it was going to be a scene-for-scene remake but thankfully I was wrong. Now, that’s not saying that it isn’t in places but it does it’s best to avoid looking obvious.
Damien Knows
No one ever actually says it, but there is something throughout the original film that says Damien knows exactly who or what he is. Like the smile when he first meets Mrs Baylock or the one right at the end of the film when he’s holding the hand of the First Lady. I think in places, the remake puts more emphasis on this as instead of the sly little smiles – he openly mentions at the zoo that the animals are afraid. On that subject, the remake actually has Damien speaking a lot more than he does in the original film.
All a Little Final Destination
I was thinking this from the moment they killed the Ambassador to London, the sequence of events leading to the fire all felt very Final Destination and I just put that down to when the film was made. However I feel it gets much worse. Much like the original film – Jennings shows Thorn the photo he took of Father Brennan that mirrors the way he ultimately dies but this is the only photo used in that version. In the remake on the other hand, Jennings starts with pictures of the nanny and shadows looking like a rope. Along with this, he shows Thorn a photo taken of himself in the mirror. I just think that they took the idea a little too far and it slightly takes away from the shock when Jennings dies.
Death Scenes
I discussed homages in my previous article regarding The First Omen and how they would make more sense in a remake rather than a prequel and that is completely true. For example, instead of killing their nanny with fire like in the original film as an offer of love for Damien – instead they set fire to the Ambassador to London in order to get Thorn the much needed promotion. Having said that, they still replicate Holly’s death scene at Damien’s 5th birthday. The deaths of Father Brennan, Jennings and Robert Thorn however are practically identical.
They do slightly modernize the death of Katherine as instead of strangling her and Katherine falling out of the window on to an ambulance – Mrs Baylock injects an air bubble into her IV tube. What’s even more sinister is the fact that she takes Damien along with her – leaning even more into the idea that Damien knows exactly who he is.
A Change in Breed
In the original film, all the way through the Hellhound is represented by the use of a Rottweiler – all the way from Holly’s death to Robert locking the dog in the basement to keep it away from Damien. This helps the belief that it is the same dog all the way through. However, in the remake – the dog that influences the nanny to kill herself at the birthday party is a black German Sheppard but the Hellhound protecting Damien is a Rottweiler. The inconsistency here makes you wonder what the original dog was as there is no mention that Hellhounds can shapeshift.
Katherine’s Fears
In the original film, only a remark is made that Katherine wishes to have an abortion because she is afraid for their child’s safety following Damien’s behaviour in the car en route to the wedding. There is no discussion further of her being afraid of Damien, even after she falls. Now, that is not to say that the pregnancy doesn’t feature in the remake but before this she openly states following the zoo experience that she feels there is something wrong with him and has at least two dreams where she sees Damien trying to kill her.
In Conclusion
I honestly think the remake is a good adaption of the original film, however because of the use of tools similar to Final Destination, I feel like it takes away from the suspense of the whole thing, making the original a much better film. Additionally, having watched them back to back – the acting by Julia Stiles and Leiv Schriber in the remake just doesn’t feel as strong as that of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick.
