Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Powerful

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Sure, the hidden secret of the story was far-fetched, but little Asia Viera as Delia was magnificent. Such expressive, spiteful eyes. She didn't say anything as she wreaked havoc on detractors. Her venom was justly spent on some wretched characters. I felt sorry for her - she didn't ask to be born that way. Unlike Damien (Omen II and III) she didn't attract a following of flatterers who choose to side with evil. A little coven of "Delians" would have been tasty. There is a strange attraction to evil that few films successfully exploit. When Delia came to enjoy her powers, the film missed out on fully illuminating them. I'd like to see a grown-up Delia taking care of her little brother the Antichrist. Maybe some juicy sibling rivalry...

After adopting a girl from an orphanage, a woman soon comes to believe something's wrong with her daughter and when a slew of accidents finally has her convinced she tries to stop her demented plans.This was a decent enough if slightly flawed effort in the series. One of the few surprising parts to this one is the rather enjoyable pacing that manages to really make this more entertaining than it really should be as there's some really fun times to be had here. The relentless pacing used to build up how she's not quite right, from the clawing and constant screaming around every other adult to the reactions at the horse show and how she starts at others to unnerve them into falling for her evil plans makes this whole first half quite fun by really enhancing how vicious she really is, providing this with a great set-up which allows this an incredibly fast and frantic pace. That makes the later action scenes from the parking-lot encounter and the trouble at the fairgrounds when it all foes up in flames seem not only like fun spectacle scenes as well as being completely logical in the course of the film given all the logical build-up it's already done. These scenes in the later half don't have the same impact as the build-up has already set this up and instead rely more on spectacle where the attack in the revival tent or the construction-yard mishap which really helps to make for grander set-ups than the others in the film. This helps to overcome the few notable flaws in here, from the film really offering way too many of the same scenes here being the main one to get over. It consists way too often of having her simply stare at someone and then something happens to them, and now nobody realizes this as she's always at the center of the controversy makes no sense as for how that would be possible. As well, this one really can't escape the fact that this feels so much like the original with a gender swap that follows so many plot- points, themes and ideas form the first one that the film really carries itself in that factor. That is the biggest elements working against and holding this one down.Rated Unrated/R: Violence and violence towards children.

Although I have given this the same rating as I did for 'Omen III: The Final Conflict' (1981), that is purely for two reasons: the use (or re- use, really) of Jerry Goldsmith's fine scores from both 'The Omen' (1976) and 'The Final Conflict', and one of the film's better death scenes, which closely recalls the runaway train of 'Damien: Omen II' (1978), reminding us that there is something left of the spirit of Damien Thorn.And that is one of the problems here. Only one fleeting reference is made to the anti-hero of the previous 'Omen' films and the mother character, Karen York (played by Faye Grant) even dares to ask who he was! Wasn't Damien supposed to be a vital figure in both politics and business a mere ten years before? A man aiming for a seat in the Senate and, from there, the Presidency? A key captain of industry and, like his adoptive forefathers, a key adviser to the President of the United States? She is a lawyer, after all, and you'd think that a lawyer would do something like read a newspaper once in a while...It is implied (although never confirmed) that the new Antichrist, a girl named Delia York (played quite well by Asia Vieira) is the daughter that Damien had with that pesky journalist, Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow) from the previous film, and it would, at least, have mildly improved things somewhat to have Harrow reappear or at least get something of a mention. It might even have been a bit of a fun turn-around for the actress to get a Joan Hart-style role here, even if she did ultimately bite the dust!Dominique Othenin-Girard started work on this film, having recently directed the unoriginal, but still okay 'Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers' (1989). He left the film during production (again, probably because of artistic differences) and was hurriedly replaced by Jorge Montesi. Being a TV movie at a time when TV movies weren't really anything to shout about anyway, you can't really tell the difference between the work done by the directors. The action sequences (such as the aforementioned death scene) were directed by the so-called 'Devil's Godfather' and 'Omen' producer, Harvey Bernhard. Basically, this is a remake of the original film, albeit with a few twists and turns along the way. Mainly, the major change is that, while the mother in the original film (Lee Remick) was treated like she would fall apart at any moment, Faye Grant is the investigator here. The idiotic husband, Gene York (Michael Woods), whilst constantly busy on Capitol Hill, has little to do other than give her and Delia the occasional hug and berate Karen for being neurotic. But, in places, Faye Grant's acting is very wooden and obvious, such as when she tells Delia that "That's just not true!" But Damien's lackeys demean her just as much as Damien himself mistreated Lisa Harrow in the previous film.Well known TV actors Michael Lerner, Don S. Davis and Madison Mason get quite good roles, with Lerner holding the true charisma here as a former crooked cop turned shady private investigator who is hired by Karen York to dig deeper into Delia's history. The film even gets a brief, but reasonably effective version of both Holly and Mrs. Baylock from the original film but, as said, they appear far too briefly and too weirdly to make any true impact on the audience. Other performances are very overdone, especially the nun who gives the Yorks their new baby (Megan Leitch).One good scene is an early sequence in which Karen and Delia are playing and run across a 'heroic' Rottweiler -- a more plausible introduction for man's best friend into the Yorks' household than in the original 'Omen'! Quite simply, Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) should have fired the Baylock woman (Billie Whitelaw) on the spot for constantly dragging that demonic mutt back into the house!Die-hard fans of the 'Omen' franchise may want to give this one a go, but it literally is a film for a rainy day when there is nothing better to do! Harvey Bernhard and Stanley Mann had penned an adaptation of Gordon McGill's 'Omen IV: Armageddon 2000' back in 1983, but it was rejected for this trashy, uninspired TV movie. In comparison, Bernhard's and Mann's script is godly and suspenseful, with a great look back over the 'Omen' films, and attempts to repair the damage done to the running plot of the franchise in 'The Final Conflict'.Inverted crosses galore, the aforementioned retread of Goldsmith's score (shockingly mouthed by some demonic carol singers in one scene, ewww!!!), and that one death scene make this intermittently interesting but, if 'The Final Conflict' saw the 'Omen' series run out of steam, then this one left it dead and buried, with only other remakes left to make audiences remember the glory days of the original!

I would first like to say I mainly wrote this review because I feel a great unjustice is being done here by reviewers by many 2 star reviews. People basically use the star rating system without thinking too much. A one star movie, I have never even encountered a movie that was so bad in every aspect it deserved one star. I was also a bit surprised this movie has the overall same score as The Exorcist II, which I really consider the most unnecessary and silly movie ever (and still would not be a 1 star rating).Now, on to the movie, like I said, don't believe the negative hype. It is an entertaining standard thriller movie. None of The Omen movies should ever be considered a horror movie, there's no real horror to it, the scariest thing about them to me always was the psychological thriller it had to be on the parents, who slightly start to believe their child is so evil, they are willing to kill it themselves. The torment of wondering whether you are crazy was always more scary than some freak accidents or a child staring to me. I'll admit, I'm missing that in this movie. The mother figure here seems to already hate her child at age 2, but that could just be my impression.I also see that many people hate Antichrist Delia, and I don't know exactly why. I like her just as much as the character of Damien, and the fact she already knows she's better than everybody else and Satan's on her side makes her a very nice character to me. I understand why people prefer Damien though, he was more classic, he was that started it all. Just like Michael Jackson's This Is It would have been a great show, it could never live up to the Dangerous tour, since that was him at his high, and it was all still new to people than and a big hype. Just like Damien Thorne is the child that started it all, it is impossible to like another Antichrist child except for him. I liked Delia's attitude towards people though, if someone bullies her, she'll beat him with her lunch box (thank you for that tip Marilyn Manson) and make him turn out to be the bad guy. This not only shows her violent nature, but also her manipulative one.Now, there were some bad things in this movie too, don't get me wrong. The New Age Nanny deserved to die IMO, and even worse than she did. The psychic fair was so silly, it deserved the "Carrie treatment" Delia gave it. Grotesque as that fire might have been, I did like the imagery of her walking out there, with part of the planet being a blazing fire. It reminded me of Damien in Omen II, leaving the Thorn museum which was burning behind him.Now, at the very end, that's where it all goes wrong. It seems Delia is not the Antichrist, but she was carrying her twin, the real Antichrist, which was transplanted later in her mother's womb without mom knowing it. Yeah, that's what threw many people off I think, they should have just let Delia be the Antichrist, and her mother finding out that truth for real is just as scary as this useless plot twist.Delia also got a "devil nanny" at the end, who should protect her, but since she appeared so late in the movie, she's rather useless. She gets shot in her second scene, refuses to bleed after a bullet going through her, and tumbles down the stairs. Why was this nanny in here, they might as well have used the "protective dog" which returns every Omen movie for this scene rather than quickly drag a new nanny in here.Overall, this movie is OK, if you like religious horror you'll like this movie probably. If you're expecting gore or scares, you won't like this one, it lacks a bit in this compartment. The acting is only mediocre here, only Delia impressed me, but she seems to be hated on here, so maybe I'm wrong. If you don't know what to do one evening, download this movie, kick back, make some popcorn and watch it without thinking too deeply. Remember, overthinking and over-analyzing will ruin almost every movie, sometimes it's just entertainment.