Theology, motherfucker.
So Peck goes a bit mad and tries to off the child with some elaborate cutlery. Funny how most of these folks what might agree with Mr. Peck are also Pro-Life and all that. A child has a right to life, and so on. Unless he's the Antichrist, of course. That goes without saying.
Anyhow, this Omen II - I Was A Teenage Antichrist doesn't bother with much of the globe-trotting or detecting or any of that malarkey, and instead concerns itself with a bit of the old political intrigue and conspiracies and something to do with an archaeology expedition and some graffiti.
Gregory Peck's character was killed at the end of the first one, and died as a result, and so instead we get this William Holden cat, himself no stranger to old Diablo, having hitherto starred in not only The Devil's Brigade, but also Satan Never Sleeps. You'd think with all this history in demonology he wouldn't have a bit of trouble identifying this Damien youngster as The Son Of Satan What Will Kill The World, but no, it takes folks being cut in half with elevator cables and other folks being rammed with trains before he catches on.
Lance Hendrickson, so memorable in Almost Dark and Alien Part 2 - The Pluralizing, here shows up as a shady military type who seems to know all about Damien's goat-headed ancestry. Other folks seem to know all about it too, and tell Damien that now he's hit puberty, it's time to put away childish things and all that stuff. You'd imagine this meant he was going to start listening to Nick Drake and reading books about Collective Apathy, but no, instead he gets all uppity and starts killing folks what refuse to bow down to his maniacal notions.
And really, why shouldn't he?
As Penn And Teller recently pointed out in their ever-delightful Bullshit!, if God has said that these things are to happen and an antichrist is to rise and so on and so forth, then who the hell are you to try and fuck up his plans? That's the kinda thinkin' what leads to folks gettin' hit by trucks on account of crow's picking their eyes out.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
You forgot to mention, in the commentary to "Near Darkish" Lance Hendrickson drove around in character, picked up hitchhikers, and then really didn't say what happened with them.
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Yeah. What was he doing with those youngsters i wonder?
"oh, aren't you bishop from the Alien Part 2?"
"yeah. i see you got an acoustic guitar there."
"uh-huh"
"ever seen Henry?"
I want answers man. He thinks he can go and make Aliens Fight Predators and no-ones gonna remember those shallow graves by the roadside.
3 - Chris Kent
I have always had a fond place in my heart for this sequel to The Omen.......Is this as bad as the sequel to The Exorcist? No, but only because The Exorcist 2 had Richard Burton and as everyone knew back in the 1970s, to make a truly bad film one must first begin with Richard Burton - please refer to The Medusa Touch for additional evidence.....
I love the scene in Omen II when Damien and his school prof have a "war" of knowledge.......Damien would have made a great contestant on Jeopardy......the elevator-where-the-doctor-who-knows-too-much-and-thus-gets-cut-in-half scene was also a real lulu......
But what truly sets The Omen II apart is Lee Grant.....if ever a woman was more perfectly suited as the stepmom of Satan, I just can't think of one.....this fiery broad has always looked rather possessed anyway, and killing her off was a terrible choice by the producers.......Rather than Sam Neill in that horrible Omen 3 flick, we could have had an entirely new franchise spinoff starring Lee Grant - Satan's Stepmom - Heaven Help Us!. I certainly would have spent my hard-earned dollar to see that.....
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Chris, that sounds like a winner right there. Stans Stepmom indeed. lol. as for the knowledge-showdown, i actually meant to include that in the review. That was a classic right there. I actually have a soft spot for all 3 omen flicks (fuck that Awakening. that SO doesn't count)being raised with them and so on. It was fun seeing this again, although the 1st one is the, y'know, "respectable" entry in the series. As for part 3 - I Dated The Antichrist, i can't remember a lot about it, but do recall being quite scared as a youngster by that visitation by christ at the end. I also seem to remember aparticularly unpleasant bout with an iron, and old sam doin his I Hate You Is What to a staue of Jesus.
Finally, Exotrcist II, whilst a pile of utter rancid toss, had a least ONE good scene, the dream sequence with the mosquitos flying about and so on. That was very impressive as i recall.
Thanks for the coments, pals.
5 - Chris Kent
There is something about horror film sequels......my personal favorite being Amityville 3D......Any horror film producer with the perverse audacity to cast Tony Roberts as the lead is residing on a plateau the rest of us could only hope to dream about......
6 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Good god man! Amityville 3D. The very thought. As far as The Duke is concerned, Amytiville II - The Possession is the damn pinnacle of the franchise and no mistake. That right there was a damn psychadelic masterpiece of bizarre head-fuckery. It had incest, it had weird exorcist rip-offs, and it had a guy blowin the hell out of his family in an amazing shadow-drenched massacre. Could have done without the whole "screwing-his-sister-with-the-gun" carry on before he shot her though. I mean, really, satan, what kind of sick fuck are you anyway?
7 - Chris Kent
I walked out of Amityville Horror bored to tears - the only true monster in that film was Margot Kidder in nighty...the horror, the horror.....
I walked out of Amityville II in serious need of therapy - which I suppose means it was damn good. Any film with James Olson as a priest and Burt Young in a dirty undershirt is certainly in tune with horrifying imagery.....Amityville II delivers the goods, and I guess it's about time we rightfully place this horror sequel on the mountain it deserves, resting comfortably next to Piranha 2 - The Spawning, Demon Seed and the greatest unheralded horror masterpiece in history - Spielberg's Always.