The Final Conflict

A fairly good end to the trilogy, although it's a shame the threatened armaggeddon never comes off (as in the later novels). Sam Neill puts in a good performance as the Devil's son and is surrounded by decent character actors. However, how Jerry Goldsmith didn't win an Oscar for the score, I will never know. It's absolutely amazing and proves music really can improve a film (just imagine a score-less Psycho, for example).

So far, I've given the "Omen" films straight eights, which is interesting. It's incredibly rare to find a sequel, much less the SECOND sequel, to be so good. The idea of the final ending of Damien Thorn was quite creative, and I'm very impressed with actor Sam Niel's accomplishment in fulfilling this part as Damien. It's most impressive, and, personally, I think the ending is rather... not as dramatic as it could have been. I think they ended it all too quickly, but all-in-all, the film is great. This series certainly hasn't lost it's touch, I'll admit. I suppose it's also very upsetting in places, since Damien is now an adult, in change of the Ambassador position after all this time, but even so, the film is very powerful, and very moving. Once again, the "Omen" series flourishes.

The now adult Antichrist (Sam Neill) plots to eliminate his future divine opponent while a cabal of monks plot to stop him. This movie has the distinction of being Sam Neill's first American film, as well as Hazel Court's final film appearance (albeit a cameo and uncredited). While I wish Court had more screen time, what better debut than as the son of the Devil? If I am not mistaken, this movie sort of brought the idea of horror sequels into the modern age. Universal had plenty of secrets to its films, but there was never a "Dracula II" or "Mummy III". While "Friday the 13th" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" are now past ten sequels, "Omen" was the first to get a third film. And a very, very good one at that, with the same feel as the original and the important plot point of the return of Christ. (We will just ignore the fourth film in the series...)

Sam Neill and Lisa Harrow, both New Zealanders star in Omen 3, and soon afterwards they got married in real-life. There are some scary moments in this, but really the first two Omen movies really set up the fear factor for sure. I wonder how Sam Neil, a New Zealander, would have pronounced Six Six Six, the number of the beast. One scene that is so memorable is when the monks got trapped underground to a deathly fate. How did they eventually die? Starvation?

Damien Thorn (Sam Neill) is now 32 years old and powerfully wealthy. He is appointed US Ambassador to Great Britain like his father. A celestial alignment proclaims the second coming of Christ. Damien organizes to kill all the baby boys born at the alignment. In the meanwhile, a group of priests attempt to kill Damien with the only weapon capable of the task: the 7 knives of Megiddo. This is the third movie of the series and guess what, the style isn't there anymore. There isn't one memorable scene in this movie. The biggest draw is the acting skills of Sam Neill. He shows that he has power and the presence to be the antichrist. Other than him, there isn't anything there. He's very compelling as the evil Damien, but there is a lot of unreasonableness going on here. It seems that the cops would notice something is going on. And it seems that the priests should be better armed. I know only the knives can kill Damien but having guns would be very useful.

In the first two Omen films, we were presented with a boy learning to adjust to his unusual personality and his future position in the destiny of the cosmos, but in this last film, Damien is in complete control as he prepares mankind for a " paradise of pain. " Sam Neill exudes a aura of amoral humanity, befriending a female reporter and her son while he seeks to defeat God; One very good sequence has Damien describing man as being naturally evil, claiming that God seeks to keep man from becoming truly innocent. Even though the atmosphere bounces from materialistic to spiritual, the film still gets a powerful message about corporations and their link to politics to the audience. Again, Sam Neill shows us a flawed, but arrogant man-beast, who pushes his way through without a backward glance. With such a performance, it is no wonder that Sam Neill is a great actor.