Damien: Omen II ***½ (1978, William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Lew Ayres, Sylvia Sidney, Lance Henriksen) – Classic Movie Review 559

Director Don Taylor’s 1978 sequel to the 1976 hit The Omen is set seven years later. Wealthy Chicago dweller Richard Thorn (William Holden) starts to suspects that his young nephew and foster son Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor), now a troubled 13-year-old boy sent off for discipline at an American military academy, is the Antichrist with diabolical powers who kills everyone who gets in his way.

Then along comes Damien’s nasty foster mother and aunt Ann (Lee Grant) to tell the boy that he is, indeed, Satan’s spawn! When he discovers his true identity, Damien does what any good Antichrist would and embarks on a plan to dominate the world.

Plenty of blood, grisly deaths, shock and scares, cleverly done effects (including slicing a man in two) and a particularly nasty raven are on the gory menu in this gripping, macabre second film in the classic horror trilogy. It’s not quite as classy or original as part 1 but it works its evil spell entertainingly well.

Damien’s enemies are destroyed at regular, 15-minute intervals and in an ingenious number of ways – death by elevator, raven, iron and ice. But Damien remains above suspicion, until the canny Richard Thorn starts to rumble him. A chillingly eerie and impressively evil-seeming Scott-Taylor is perfect as Damien, while posh actors Holden and Grant seamlessly provide the kind of distinguished, expert star support you’d expect.

The series finale sequel Omen III: The Final Conflict followed in 1981, a fourth episode Omen IV: The Awakening appeared in 1991 and Hollywood remade the 1976 original, The Omen, in 2006.

Scott-Taylor was chosen as Damien based after his performance as Ronnie Winslow in The Winslow Boy (1977) on British TV. His blond hair was dyed dark brown for the role of Damien. He acted through the 80s but he’s now a lawyer based in the UK.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 559

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