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Damien: Omen II - 1978

The first time was only a warning.

• Director(s)
  Don Taylor 
  
  Writer(s)
  Harvey Bernhard (story)
  Stanley Mann  and
  Mike Hodges  (as Michael Hodges)
  
  Producer(s)
  Harvey Bernhard producer
  Joseph Lenzi associate producer
  Mace Neufeld associate producer
  Charles Orme co-producer
  
  Cast
  William Holden - Richard Thorn
  Lee Grant - Ann Thorn
  Jonathan Scott-Taylor - Damien Thorn
  Robert Foxworth - Paul Buher
  Nicholas Pryor - Dr. Charles Warren
  Lew Ayres - Bill Atherton
  Sylvia Sidney - Aunt Marion
  Lance Henriksen - Master Sergeant Daniel Neff
  Elizabeth Shepherd - Joan Hart
  Lucas Donat - Mark Thorn
  Allan Arbus - Pasarian
  Fritz Ford - Murray
  Meshach Taylor - Dr. Kane
  John J. Newcombe - Teddy
  John Charles Burns - Butler
  Paul Cook - Colonel
  Diane Daniels - Jane
  Robert E. Ingham - Teacher
  William B. Fosser - Minister
  Corney Morgan - Greenhouse Technician
  Russell P. Delia - Truck Driver
  Judith Dowd - Maid
  Thomas O. Erhart Jr. - Sergeant #1
  Sorin Serene Pricopie - Pasarian's Assistant
  Robert J. Jones Jr. - Tour Guide
  Rusdi Lane - Jim Gardner
  Charles Mountain - Burial Priest
  Cornelia Sanders - Young Girl
  Felix Shuman - Dr. Fiedler
  James Spinks - Technician #1
  Owen Sullivan - Byron
  William J. Whelehan - Security Guard
  Ian Hendry - Michael (uncredited)
  Gus Kaprales - Limo Driver (uncredited)
  Leo McKern - Karl Bugenhagen (uncredited)

• Review by Theo Robertson
• We Didn't Need A Sequel,
  

  I thought THE OMEN was a great horror movie , much better than the over-hyped THE EXORCIST . In fact I thought it was so good that there was no way the original needed a sequel and this movie proves it . It fails for three obvious reasons

  1 ) The audience know that Damien Thorn is the anti Christ hence we're one step ahead of all the characters in the movie unlike in the original where we were shocked by the plot revelations

  2) This possibly ties in with the first point . Several characters are aware of the fate of Damien's parents but are very blas about it all . In other words these characters seem impossibly stupid

  3) Damien Thorn is around 12 years old and very polite . Is there anything less menacing than a polite 12 year old child ?

  The problem with sequels is that if they play out in an entirely different manner then fans of the first movie will be alienated , if they play out in the same way ( As is the case of this one ) then you've got a very predictable movie . In other words it's a case of heads you lose , tails you don't win . Aside from a couple of novelty deaths ( One of which was recently remade as a beer commercial ) there's not much to recommend this movie . At least THE FINAL CONFLICT was entirely daft enough to be entertaining

• Damien: Omen II (1978)
  Review by Wayne Malin
  
  Doesn't improve with age,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  I saw this when it first came out in 1978. Even at the age of 16 I wasn't impressed. The only parts were the sometimes inventive murders that were in it. 25 years later it hasn't improved much.
  
  "The Omen" original was well-made, scary, inventive if totally unbelievable. It also had a grade-A cast and really worked. This sequel has a great cast also (Lee Grant, William Holden, Sylvia Sidney, Lew Ayres) working hard and doing their best...but it doesn't work. The deaths, while inventive, are pretty tame and sometimes downright laughable (when a woman is hit by a truck it is so obviously a dummy it's hysterical). The only death that was suspenseful and really worked was Ayres' death under ice. The script is basically pretty dull and a one-note rehash of the original. Jonathan Scott-Taylor really tries as Damien but he's defeated by the lines he has to say.
  
  All in all it's not horrible, but certainly not up to the original. Worth seeing if you're in the mood for a fairly slow, mindless, tame horror film. Also it is William Holdens only horror film.