The Omen (2006) Review

In the case of this tepid horror remake, the numbers 6-6-6 add up to 18 reasons why the second half of the film fails miserably to do justice to what came before.

Less than the sum of its tagline © 20th Century Fox

At a recent L.A. press screening event for The Omen, reporters were patiently awaiting the arrival of director John Moore to discuss the film they had all just seen. Then came word from 20th Century Fox publicists that the filmmaker had thrown out his back in the parking lot just moments before, and would therefore be unable to attend the catered meet and greet.

While those in attendance were sympathetic to Moore's plight, they also couldn't help but remark that this turn of events had all the earmarks of an action willed from afar by the dastardly Damien. And when the specter of a chiropractor is scarier than any of the evil stares thrown about by Hollywood's latest anti-Christ (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), you know a horror film is in trouble.

That's because after a fairly decent first half, during which Moore and 1976 original screenwriter David Seltzer ratchet up the tension with their faithful new look version of every parent's worst nightmare, they throw it all away in the second half by way of the increasingly absurd depiction of protagonist Liev Schreiber's actions. And that's even before the ludicrously staged ending, which had journalists' tongues wagging after the screening as an early candidate for the most poorly conceived of 2006.

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