The Omen [2006] [DVD]

The original Omen is an excellent film - endlessly re-watchable, tense, atmospheric and brilliantly acted (surely the person who has left a review saying the original was poorly acted mis-typed...?)

This film, like so many other pointless recent remakes like The Wicker Man, just illustrates the paucity of talent and creativity in Hollywood. Who possibly thought that a scene-by-scene remake of a classic 70s film would be a good idea? It would seem the only reason for this remake was to make the beheading scene much more explicit and gory. Which completely misses the point of the original - it didn't rely on gore, it relied on psychological terror and atmosphere to generate chills. This film is utterly bereft of any of the qualities that made the original. In fact, this is a perfect example of modern film-making (and TV production too) - flash, slick visuals with lots of deep shadows and colourful splashes and the odd jump cut and editing flourish. But the story is empty, the direction unengaging, and the acting is wooden.

Gregory Peck was one of America's greatest actors. Lee Remick was an excellent actress (also see her performance in the under-rated 70s horror thriller, The Medusa Touch). Together they are compelling and believable as the Thorns. Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles cannot hold a candle to either original actor. They are so flat and unbelievable it is shocking. But this highlights another key problem with modern Hollywood - everyone's pretty, but no-one is remotely interesting or convincing.

The cast list looks impressive, but no-one is memorable or believable other than perhaps Thewlis, though even he cannot achieve anything like the performance of David Warner.

This film is important in some ways - it perfectly underscores the decline of Hollywood over the last decade.

Whilst waiting for this DVD to come out, I fell into the trap of listening to the hype, new special effects, better story line and so on.

Having just watched the film I can tell you that it is so like the original that I see very little point in then making this version.

In 1976 I did what all should do, and read the book first, it was gripping and I loved it. I then watched the movie, was a little dissapointed but not everything in a book can be represented on the big screen.

I had great hopes for this new version as the one factor that tied ALL three Omen films together was.....the special effects. They were state of the art, and original, but this new version only has one very minor new angle on the effects it offers.

Lets hope if they remake the other Two films, that there is someone in the production team that has a little more imagination and can truly bring these films up to date

When I first heard The Omen was being re-made, I was horrified - it was my favourite book as a child, and the original film was so perfectly done that I was sure the new attempt would be a terrible disppointment. However, when I watched it, I was shocked to find that it was really well done. The acting is far superior to that of the original, the direction was far more up-to-date (naturally), with far better effects. The new film attempted to update the film, linking recent political events with the prophecies involved, which verged on tacky in places, but the fact that the setting is so much more modern makes it an easier film to watch. It remained fairly true to the book, without being a straightforward copy of the original; indeed, it does deserve to be considered an individual film in its own right. This film is a must-see to any true fans of the story, and definitely a wonderful film to watch for any horror fan who hasn't seen the original and enjoys a strong storyline with a well-built-up atmosphere.