childrenwithknives

I must admit I really enjoyed this remake of the original 'Omen' for numerous reasons. Primarily this is one of those films that really works where the majority of remakes of prior films are ultimately dreadful, as has been evident with so many movies. We pretty much would all agree that remakes rarely even equal the original. In the case of 'The Omen 6.6.06', the result is truly unique. The film works well on virtually every level even though this remake rarely dwells far from the material of the original script. One would think that this very fact might have well doomed this remake to a complete waste of time, money, and celluloid. But here are just few reasons I think this film works and works well.

The sets are always impressive as is the art direction through out this movie. The supporting musical score is rich with texture and mood through the entire movie without ever going in the direction of predictable or cheesy. The score is also never over bearing for even a second. I also found it interesting to see that scenes when violent moments take place, the film makers chose to take the direction of down playing the gore and possibly topping the original with predictable and silly over the top blood and carnage. As well as these observations, I felt the film was surprisingly well cast and acted. When first being introduced to the various characters my first feeling was- "Oh boy- here we go. This guy just doesn't fit this role". Well as character development continued I am happy to say I was wrong about this perception, especially in the case of Pete Postlewaite's interpretation of the tormented priest. A superb and better than average actor nicely fit into this role. As did Mia Farrow in her part. I was happy to see a classic veteran actor like Farrow finally having the chance to play an evil character. The only side note about her part is not so much the part it's self but realizing that she is still breathtakingly beautiful despite her elder age, and even the less than appealing makeup, clothing, and hair design couldn't hide that fact. There are some superbly shot dream sequences that add a little more scare factor to the film that were not present in the original movie. All in all I felt that there were moments of the original that make it somehow better than this version, and at the same time there was plenty here in this outing that I frankely felt topped the original. And let's face it, the original isn't always perfect either, especially in the earlier character setups of the film. There is an almost "aw-shucks" kind of mood to some of the early portions of the original and I found myself saying "God how cheesy". Moments such as the interrelative sequences between Gregory Peck and lee Remmick after they move into their new English home. It does get a bit hokey at times- let's face it. And the supporting lighter spirited music at times almost gives those scenes an 'As the world turns' sort of flavor. Another example of this is when Damien is wandering outside with his parents and he disappears. When they find him and realize he's OK the music nearly ruins that scene, it's downright silly. Beyond this though the original is a superb horror classic, and after all it was made a pretty long time ago, so it get's a pass for the few and far between weaker moments. So basically I feel that this remake is a solid movie with a great deal of detail, creepiness, and style. it's worth seeing and I think it's much better than many horror movies made over the past 20 years.

Both Ebert and Roeper gave this movie a thumbs up? Now I really enjoyed 'House of 1000 corpses'. Sig Haig's antics even in the DVD's menu's is worth the price of the DVD alone. Truly hilarious!. Then the film it's self was down right terrifying at times, and creepy as hell. I expected the same with 'The Devil's Rejects'. what i got was frankly very disappointing. The whole thing takes place in the day and in the desert regions, so it comes off as more of a crazed killer action movie somewhat and not the least bit scary. There are some good effects here and there and one gory scene that is so well executed it looks as real as real can get. Some of the imagery of death are pretty convincing too. But I felt the film is simply uneven and tends to at moments look like amateurish film making, the kind that normally goes straight to the video rack. Now I have to admit I never liked 'White Zombie', but agree that they added a little something new to the mainstream of music in the mid 90's that seemed refreshing yet darkly unique.But having been deeply involved in the underground goth scene myself since 1993 bands doing the kind of music white zombie was doing were everywhere, so hearing their music in the goth context sounded like nothing new. It shows that all it takes a bunch of visual gimmicks to make you famous and people swallow it so easily. Visually Rob's 'White Zombie' looked very different from anything most people in the normal world had seen before. But to people like me most of the bands ideas were ripped off from other long established goth and industrial bands. So to me white zombie was a big yawn. So the same thing with Rob Zombie's solo work. His talent is obviously good and for mainstream America it seemed to be cutting edge. But there were already hundreds of bands out there for nearly a decade doing the same kind of music and usually it was better. Zombie was just lucky he used the visual gimmicks to get somewhere just as Marilyn Manson did. Both he and Manson are smart. They both know that all you need is a gimmick and people by the millions just swallow it like a nest of hungry birds. So I not just feel but know Rob Zombie is very smart, but is also pretty much over rated. I admire his courage to move into other technical talents. And it started to look like he could very well be a top notch director as'House of 1000 corpses' shows he has more talent as a director and writer than anyone could have ever expected. I didn't think that film was anything really special, but it was a pretty well made horror film and got the job done. But 'The Devil's Rejects' just didn't deliver what I was looking for. It was cool to hear some classic songs in the soundtrack, and often they fit in just right while other tracks simply didn't fit. The final sequence is well shot, but the whole affair left me saying. "God is that it? I'm sorry but this movie sucked." I'm no stranger to Horror and crazy Characters. I love Tarantino movies. But horror movies often suck now days. few really scare me at all. But this movie isn't a horror film at all. It's not awful, but 5 minutes after I watched it I forgot all about it and felt it had nothing worth remembering in it.