The Omen (2006): A few brief notes

Last night my friends and I had a wine and cheese and horror movie party. We had dinner, had some drinks, and watched some horror movies.

The first movie we watched was “The Omen,” the one that came out on 06/06/06. It pretty much follows the story of the first one, only takes place in 2006 intead of the mid-70’s, which would make sense since it’s a “remake.”

One of the reasons that I am such a horror fan is that it takes me away from reality, and allows me to forget everything in a freaky strange world where people have problems much bigger than mine (beacuse being tied up in famly drama bullshit is much less disconcerting when you compare it with being the parents of a little Satan). I was a bit bothered, and was momentarily prevented from going to my…uhhh…happy place(?) beacause of the filmmakers’ decision to use footage from the WTC collapse, the Columbia disaster, and the Thailand tidal wave to set the foundation for Damien’s coming. It seemed a bit out of place and awkward to me, plus the constant profiteering from these disaters makes me sick, although that’s a topic for another post.

Unfortunately, as creepy and suspenseful as the first Omen was, this one failed to capture the feeling and suspense of the original. I have slowly come to the conclusion that the horror of the ’70’s is unbeatable when it comes to overall feeling, mainly because of the low budget nature of the effects and that ’70’s film quality that just seems so homemade and freaky.

The Omen was not bad, but just didn’t capture the magic of the first. The bottom line is if you really want to check out The Omen, rent the first one.