Tag Line : The terror continues

Well it seemed the producers obviously thought there was a bit more mileage to be had out of the Omen series yet, and so some 10 years after the so-called "Final Conflict" came "Omen 4 : The Awakening", about another demonic child.

In this, an American Politician (Michael Woods) and his wife Faye (Karen Grant) decide to adopt a young child. But it isn't too long before they realise young Delia isn't all she seems.

Kids at her school who she doesn't get on with start dieing in mysterious ways, a trip to a local fun fair turns into disaster as the whole thing burns down and blows up around them and the child minder gets pushed out of the window by Delia's pet Rottweiller (what is it with these creepy kids and Rottweillers?).

Hiring a private investigator (Michael Lerner) to find out who the child's parents really were, it turns out the girls father is none other than the late Damien Thorn. But no sooner has he disclosed this information, than he meets an untimely end with a wrecking ball after taking a short cut across a construction site.

Knowing what her adopted daughter is, will Faye actually stop her demonic child? And if this is set sometime after "Omen 3", what about the re-birth of Christ that supposed to have happened in that film, and why didn't we hear about Damien having another child somewhere else before now? Originally made as a US TV movie and released direct-to-video elsewhere, Omen 4 is essentially a reworking of the original and as such holds little interest to anyone other than die hard fans of the series.

Overall marks : 3.5/10.

Other Information.

• Alternate tag line "They said it was over. They were wrong".

• The film was originally intended as a US TV movie, however it did receive a limited theatrical release in France and a few other countries in mainland Europe. Elsewhere it was released direct-to-video.

• Karen York previously played Juliette the resistance leader in sci-fi series "V".

• Author Gordon McGill had written his own follow up novels to the Final Conflict,  "Omen 4 : Aramgeddon"  and "Omen 5 : Abomination" in which Damien had an illegitimate son who carries on his work, however the producers chose to ignore these and script their own sequel.

• Originally Dominique Othenin-Girard, who directed "Halloween 5", was hired to direct. However he quit halfway through filming. The producers subsequently hired US TV director Jorge Montesi to complete the film.

• The original US version that played on the TV networks was apparently 6mins shorter, which trimmed down some of the death scenes and truncated some dialogue. The version released in Europe on video/DVD was the complete uncut directors version. The version released later on US DVD and video was also uncut.

• Don Davis, who plays the York's friend Jake, went on to play General Hammond in the popular US TV series "Stargate".

• The part of Earl, the Private Detective, was played by notable US TV and B-movie actor Michael Lerner. He's probably best known for playing The Mayor in the 1998 "Godzilla" film.

• In the original script Delia's mother was meant to be the female reporter from "Final Conflict", however this was dropped from the finished film.

Cast & Crew.

Buy the UK DVD.

Buy the UK DVD box set (6 discs).

Buy the UK DVD

Buy the UK DVD box set (6 discs).

Buy the US DVD

Buy the US DVD box-set (6 discs).

Notes on affiliate sites.
 

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