Damien: Omen II
Encyclopedia
Damien: Omen II, is a 1978 American horror film
directed by Don Taylor
, starring William Holden
, Lee Grant
, and Jonathan Scott-Taylor
. The film was the second installment in The Omen series
, set seven years after the first film
, and was followed by a third installment, Omen III: The Final Conflict
, in 1981.
This was Lew Ayres
' final film role and the film debut of Meshach Taylor
. The official tagline of the film is "The First Time Was Only a Warning." Leo McKern
reprises his role as Carl Bugenhagen from the original film; he is the only cast member of the series to appear in more than one installment.
) asks his friend Michael Morgan (Ian Hendry
) to deliver a box to the guardian of Thorn's young son, Damien
. He reveals that Damien is the Antichrist
and that the box contains a warning and the means to kill Damien. As Morgan is unconvinced, Bugenhagen takes him to the ruin of Yigael's wall, showing him an ancient depiction of the Antichrist with Damien's face. Morgan is convinced, but the two are buried alive as a tunnel collapses.
Seven years later, 12-year old Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor
) is living with his uncle, industrialist Richard Thorn (William Holden
) and his wife, Ann (Lee Grant
). He gets along well with his cousin Mark (Lucas Donat
), Richard's son, with whom he is enrolled in a military academy. However, he is despised by Aunt Marion (Sylvia Sidney
), who favors Mark and thinks Damien a bad influence, even threatening to cut Richard out of her will if he does not separate the two boys. The same night, the appearance of a raven wakes her and causes a fatal heart attack.
Through a friend, Dr. Charles Warren (Nicholas Pryor
), who is the curator of the Thorn Museum, Richard is introduced to journalist Joan Hart (Elizabeth Shephard
). She was a colleague of Keith Jennings (David Warner
) from the previous film. Having seen Yigael's Wall, she draws a link to all the deaths that surrounded Damien, including Jennings's. She tries to warn Richard, but he throws her out. After a confrontation with Warren and Ann Thorn at the Thorn Museum, she becomes unsure as to whether Damien's face matches the painting on Yigael's Wall. Hart goes to meet Damien at his school, but, when she sees his face, she drives off in a panic. On the road, her car's engine mysteriously dies. She is attacked by a raven, which pecks her eyes out. It flies away and she is run over by a passing truck.
At Thorn Industries, manager Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth
) suggests expanding the company's operations into agriculture; however, the project is shelved by senior manager Bill Atherton (Lew Ayres
), who calls Buher's intention of buying up land in the process immoral. At Mark's birthday, Buher introduces himself to Damien, invites him to see the plant, and also speaks of his approaching initiation. Buher seemingly makes up with Atherton, who drowns after falling through the ice at a hockey game the following day. A shocked Richard leaves on vacation. As Richard agreed to the agriculture project in principle and left him in charge of the company, Buher then initiates the plans on his own.
Meanwhile, at the academy, Damien's new commander, Sgt. Neff (Lance Henriksen
), takes the boy under his wing and warns him not to draw any attention to himself until the right moment. He also points him to Revelation, chapter 13
, in which Damien reads about the beast. Finding its number, 666
, scarred onto his scalp, he flees the Academy grounds in a terrified panic, distraught at being chosen as the vehicle for Satan's will.
Another Thorn employee, David Pasarian (Allan Arbus
), alerts Buher that some people were murdered after having refused to sell their land. Before Pasarian can inform Richard the next day, his is the victim of a fatal accident at work. He and his assistant are killed by toxic fumes released from machinery that mysteriously exploded. The accident injures Damien's class, who were visiting the plant. Damien alone is unharmed, but is taken to the hospital as a precaution. A doctor (Meshach Taylor
) discovers that Damien's blood cell structure resembles that of a jackal, but, before he can report this, he is cut in half by a falling elevator cable.
Meanwhile, Bugenhagen's box has been found in the ruins and delivered to the Thorn Museum. Dr. Warren opens it and finds the Seven Daggers of Meggido, the only weapons able to kill Damien, along with a letter explaining that Damien is the Antichrist. Warren rushes to inform Richard, who angrily refuses to believe it and throws him out. The next day, Richard confronts Anne with the letter, but she convinces him that it is preposterous.
Mark, who overheard Richard's altercation with Warren, confronts Damien, who first reluctantly and then proudly admits to being the Devil's son. Damien tries to convince Mark that he truly cares for him as his brother and asks Mark to join him, but Mark refuses. Damien kills Mark by introducing an aneurysm
into his brain.
Shaken by his son's death, Richard follows Warren's invitation to New York. A half-crazed Warren takes him to Yigael's Wall, stored in a cargo carrier, on which a horrified Richard sees Damien's image. Seconds later, a switching locomotive impales Charles and crushes him against the carriage, destroying the wall and convincing Richard beyond doubt that Damien is the Antichrist.
Upon his return, Richard has Damien picked up from a ceremony at the academy and argues with Ann about him. When they find the daggers in Warren's office in the Thorn Museum, Ann uses them to kill Richard, proclaiming that she "always belonged to him". Ann is then engulfed by a fire, caused by Damien who overheard the altercation from outside. Damien, now heir to Thorn Industries, exits the museum and is picked up by a driver as the fire department arrives.
, who wrote the first film's screenplay, was asked by the producers to write the second. Seltzer refused as he had no interest in writing sequels. Years later, Seltzer commented that had he written the story for the second Omen, he would have set it the day after the first movie, with Damien a child living in The White House. With Seltzer turning down Omen II, producer Harvey Bernhard
duly outlined the story himself, and Stanley Mann
was hired to write the screenplay.
After Bernhard had finished writing the story outline and was given the green light to start the production, the first person he contacted was Jerry Goldsmith
because of the composer's busy schedule. Bernhard also felt that Goldsmith's music for The Omen was the highest point of that movie, and that without Goldsmith's music, the sequel would not be successful. Goldsmith's Omen II score uses similar motifs to his original Omen score, but for the most part, Goldsmith avoided re-using the same musical cues. In fact, the first movie's famous "Ave Satani" theme is used only partially, just before the closing credits begin. Goldsmith composed a largely different main title theme for Omen II, albeit one that utilises Latin phrases as "Ave Satani" had done. Goldsmith's Omen II score allows eerie choral effects and unusual electronic sound designs to take precedence over the piano and gothic chanting.
Richard Donner
, director of the first Omen movie, was not available to direct the second, as he was busy working on Superman. British film director Mike Hodges
was hired to helm the movie. During production, the producers believed that Hodges' methods were too slow, and so they fired him and replaced him with Don Taylor, who had a reputation for finishing films on time and under budget. However, the few scenes Hodges directed (some of the footage at the factory and at the military academy, all of the early archaeology
scenes, and the dinner where Aunt Marion shows her concern about Damien) remained in the completed film, for which Hodges retains a story credit. In recent interviews, Hodges has commented sanguinely on his experiences working on Omen II.
Ray Berwick (1914 - 1990) trained and handled the crows used for several scenes in the film. Live birds and a crow-puppet were used for the attack on photojournalist Joan Hart. Berwick also trained the avian actors in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
(1963).
and was largely filmed in downtown Chicago. The "Thorn Industries" building was actually Chicago's city hall. Another scene took place at Graceland Cemetery
. Scenes set at a New York City
freight area were also shot in Chicago, with the CBOT Tower
and the Willis Tower visible in the background.
Other locations included Lake Forest Academy
's campus, which was used as the Thorn Mansion, the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy
's Geneva Lake
campus, which was used for the military academy, with real Geneva Lake students portraying most of the academy cadets, and Catfish Lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin
for the skating scene, with local children playing the skaters. The Thorn Museum aka Field Museum of Natural History
was also used in, several, scenes throughout the film including some of the movie's final minutes.
bassist and frontman, Steve Harris
, to write "The Number of the Beast
" four years after the film's release, in 1982.
(and The Final Conflict
), Jerry Goldsmith
's score was recorded in the US, with the soundtrack album re-recorded in Britain for financial reasons. Lionel Newman
conducted both the film and album versions; Varese Sarabande
later released an expanded CD including both (the film soundtrack is listed from track 11 onwards).
, Omen III: The Final Conflict
.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Don Taylor
Don Taylor (actor)
Don Taylor was an American movie actor and director best known for his performances in 1950s classics like Stalag 17 and Father of the Bride and the 1948 film noir The Naked City...
, starring William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
, Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
, and Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Jonathan Scott-Taylor is a Brazil-born English former actor.He was born in São Paulo, Brazil to English parents; his father was a consultant for the fishery industry in Brazil at the time. Scott-Taylor started going to drama school at age 11. He played the character of Jim Hawkins in a stage...
. The film was the second installment in The Omen series
The Omen (film series)
The Omen film series is a horror film franchise created in the 1970s. The story was originally written by David Seltzer, who chose not to continue the series after the first novel. The second novel and screenplay were then written by Joseph Howard, and the third by Gordon McGill...
, set seven years after the first film
The Omen
An original score for the film, including the movie's theme song Ave Satani, was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant...
, and was followed by a third installment, Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict is a 1981 British/American horror film directed by Graham Baker and the third installment in The Omen series...
, in 1981.
This was Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
' final film role and the film debut of Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the sitcom Designing Women. He also had a major role on the sitcom Dave's World, playing Sheldon Baylor, and appeared in Buffalo Bill.-Personal life:Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
. The official tagline of the film is "The First Time Was Only a Warning." Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
reprises his role as Carl Bugenhagen from the original film; he is the only cast member of the series to appear in more than one installment.
Plot
A week after the burial of Robert and Katherine Thorn, archeologist Carl Bugenhagen (Leo McKernLeo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
) asks his friend Michael Morgan (Ian Hendry
Ian Hendry
Ian Hendry was an English film and television actor. He is best known for his work on several British TV series of the early 1960s such as The Avengers, and for his roles in 1970s films such as Get Carter .-Career:Hendry was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and educated at Culford School...
) to deliver a box to the guardian of Thorn's young son, Damien
Damien Thorn
Damien Thorn is the main fictional character and the main antagonist in The Omen series. He is the Antichrist and the son of the Devil. The character has been portrayed by Harvey Stephens, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Sam Neill, and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick...
. He reveals that Damien is the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
and that the box contains a warning and the means to kill Damien. As Morgan is unconvinced, Bugenhagen takes him to the ruin of Yigael's wall, showing him an ancient depiction of the Antichrist with Damien's face. Morgan is convinced, but the two are buried alive as a tunnel collapses.
Seven years later, 12-year old Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Jonathan Scott-Taylor is a Brazil-born English former actor.He was born in São Paulo, Brazil to English parents; his father was a consultant for the fishery industry in Brazil at the time. Scott-Taylor started going to drama school at age 11. He played the character of Jim Hawkins in a stage...
) is living with his uncle, industrialist Richard Thorn (William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
) and his wife, Ann (Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
). He gets along well with his cousin Mark (Lucas Donat
Lucas Donat
Lucas Donat, born 18 December 1962 in Toronto, Canada, to renowned actors Michael Learned and Peter Donat. In 1978 he played Mark Thorn in the film Damien: Omen II. He is co-founder and CEO of Donat/Wald Co., the advertising agency responsible for the highly successful eHarmony commercials that...
), Richard's son, with whom he is enrolled in a military academy. However, he is despised by Aunt Marion (Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s appearing in numerous crime dramas.-Early life:...
), who favors Mark and thinks Damien a bad influence, even threatening to cut Richard out of her will if he does not separate the two boys. The same night, the appearance of a raven wakes her and causes a fatal heart attack.
Through a friend, Dr. Charles Warren (Nicholas Pryor
Nicholas Pryor
Nicholas Pryor is an American film and television actor.Pryor was born Nicholas David Probst in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothy and J. Stanley Probst, a pharmaceutical manufacturer....
), who is the curator of the Thorn Museum, Richard is introduced to journalist Joan Hart (Elizabeth Shephard
Elizabeth Shepherd
Elizabeth Shepherd is an English character actress whose work has spanned the stage and both the big and small screens. Her surname has been alternately billed as "Shephard" and "Sheppard"....
). She was a colleague of Keith Jennings (David Warner
David Warner
David Warner may refer to:* Dave Warner, or David Robert Warner, Australian author, rock musician and screenwriter* David Warner , British actor* David Warner , Australian cricketer* David Bruce Warner, South African alpine skier...
) from the previous film. Having seen Yigael's Wall, she draws a link to all the deaths that surrounded Damien, including Jennings's. She tries to warn Richard, but he throws her out. After a confrontation with Warren and Ann Thorn at the Thorn Museum, she becomes unsure as to whether Damien's face matches the painting on Yigael's Wall. Hart goes to meet Damien at his school, but, when she sees his face, she drives off in a panic. On the road, her car's engine mysteriously dies. She is attacked by a raven, which pecks her eyes out. It flies away and she is run over by a passing truck.
At Thorn Industries, manager Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth
Robert Foxworth
Robert Heath Foxworth is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life and career:Foxworth was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Erna Beth , a writer, and John Howard Foxworth, a roofing contractor...
) suggests expanding the company's operations into agriculture; however, the project is shelved by senior manager Bill Atherton (Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
), who calls Buher's intention of buying up land in the process immoral. At Mark's birthday, Buher introduces himself to Damien, invites him to see the plant, and also speaks of his approaching initiation. Buher seemingly makes up with Atherton, who drowns after falling through the ice at a hockey game the following day. A shocked Richard leaves on vacation. As Richard agreed to the agriculture project in principle and left him in charge of the company, Buher then initiates the plans on his own.
Meanwhile, at the academy, Damien's new commander, Sgt. Neff (Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
), takes the boy under his wing and warns him not to draw any attention to himself until the right moment. He also points him to Revelation, chapter 13
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, in which Damien reads about the beast. Finding its number, 666
Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
, scarred onto his scalp, he flees the Academy grounds in a terrified panic, distraught at being chosen as the vehicle for Satan's will.
Another Thorn employee, David Pasarian (Allan Arbus
Allan Arbus
Allan Arbus is an American actor notable for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the television series M*A*S*H.-Early life:...
), alerts Buher that some people were murdered after having refused to sell their land. Before Pasarian can inform Richard the next day, his is the victim of a fatal accident at work. He and his assistant are killed by toxic fumes released from machinery that mysteriously exploded. The accident injures Damien's class, who were visiting the plant. Damien alone is unharmed, but is taken to the hospital as a precaution. A doctor (Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the sitcom Designing Women. He also had a major role on the sitcom Dave's World, playing Sheldon Baylor, and appeared in Buffalo Bill.-Personal life:Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
) discovers that Damien's blood cell structure resembles that of a jackal, but, before he can report this, he is cut in half by a falling elevator cable.
Meanwhile, Bugenhagen's box has been found in the ruins and delivered to the Thorn Museum. Dr. Warren opens it and finds the Seven Daggers of Meggido, the only weapons able to kill Damien, along with a letter explaining that Damien is the Antichrist. Warren rushes to inform Richard, who angrily refuses to believe it and throws him out. The next day, Richard confronts Anne with the letter, but she convinces him that it is preposterous.
Mark, who overheard Richard's altercation with Warren, confronts Damien, who first reluctantly and then proudly admits to being the Devil's son. Damien tries to convince Mark that he truly cares for him as his brother and asks Mark to join him, but Mark refuses. Damien kills Mark by introducing an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
into his brain.
Shaken by his son's death, Richard follows Warren's invitation to New York. A half-crazed Warren takes him to Yigael's Wall, stored in a cargo carrier, on which a horrified Richard sees Damien's image. Seconds later, a switching locomotive impales Charles and crushes him against the carriage, destroying the wall and convincing Richard beyond doubt that Damien is the Antichrist.
Upon his return, Richard has Damien picked up from a ceremony at the academy and argues with Ann about him. When they find the daggers in Warren's office in the Thorn Museum, Ann uses them to kill Richard, proclaiming that she "always belonged to him". Ann is then engulfed by a fire, caused by Damien who overheard the altercation from outside. Damien, now heir to Thorn Industries, exits the museum and is picked up by a driver as the fire department arrives.
Cast
- William HoldenWilliam HoldenWilliam Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
as Richard Thorn - Lee GrantLee GrantLee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
as Ann Thorn - Jonathan Scott-TaylorJonathan Scott-TaylorJonathan Scott-Taylor is a Brazil-born English former actor.He was born in São Paulo, Brazil to English parents; his father was a consultant for the fishery industry in Brazil at the time. Scott-Taylor started going to drama school at age 11. He played the character of Jim Hawkins in a stage...
as Damien Thorn - Robert FoxworthRobert FoxworthRobert Heath Foxworth is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life and career:Foxworth was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Erna Beth , a writer, and John Howard Foxworth, a roofing contractor...
as Paul Buher - Nicholas PryorNicholas PryorNicholas Pryor is an American film and television actor.Pryor was born Nicholas David Probst in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothy and J. Stanley Probst, a pharmaceutical manufacturer....
as Dr. Charles Warren - Lew AyresLew AyresLew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
as Bill Atherton - Sylvia SidneySylvia SidneySylvia Sidney was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s appearing in numerous crime dramas.-Early life:...
as Aunt Marion - Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
as Sergeant Daniel Neff - Elizabeth ShephardElizabeth ShepherdElizabeth Shepherd is an English character actress whose work has spanned the stage and both the big and small screens. Her surname has been alternately billed as "Shephard" and "Sheppard"....
as Joan Hart - Lucas DonatLucas DonatLucas Donat, born 18 December 1962 in Toronto, Canada, to renowned actors Michael Learned and Peter Donat. In 1978 he played Mark Thorn in the film Damien: Omen II. He is co-founder and CEO of Donat/Wald Co., the advertising agency responsible for the highly successful eHarmony commercials that...
as Mark Thorn - Allan ArbusAllan ArbusAllan Arbus is an American actor notable for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the television series M*A*S*H.-Early life:...
as David Pasarian - Meshach TaylorMeshach TaylorMeshach Taylor is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the sitcom Designing Women. He also had a major role on the sitcom Dave's World, playing Sheldon Baylor, and appeared in Buffalo Bill.-Personal life:Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
as Dr. Kane - Leo McKernLeo McKernReginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
(uncredited) as Carl Bugenhagen - Ian HendryIan HendryIan Hendry was an English film and television actor. He is best known for his work on several British TV series of the early 1960s such as The Avengers, and for his roles in 1970s films such as Get Carter .-Career:Hendry was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and educated at Culford School...
(uncredited) as Michael Morgan
Crew
David SeltzerDavid Seltzer
David Seltzer is an American screenwriter, producer and director, perhaps best known for writing The Omen , and Bird on a Wire , starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn...
, who wrote the first film's screenplay, was asked by the producers to write the second. Seltzer refused as he had no interest in writing sequels. Years later, Seltzer commented that had he written the story for the second Omen, he would have set it the day after the first movie, with Damien a child living in The White House. With Seltzer turning down Omen II, producer Harvey Bernhard
Harvey Bernhard
Harvey Bernhard is a film producer. Two of the more notable films he produced are The Omen and The Goonies.-External links:...
duly outlined the story himself, and Stanley Mann
Stanley Mann
Stanley Mann is a Canadian-born film and television writer. He began his writing career in 1951, and was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the 1965 film The Collector, based on the John Fowles novel of the same title. In 1957 he penned an adaptation of Death of a Salesman for television...
was hired to write the screenplay.
After Bernhard had finished writing the story outline and was given the green light to start the production, the first person he contacted was Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
because of the composer's busy schedule. Bernhard also felt that Goldsmith's music for The Omen was the highest point of that movie, and that without Goldsmith's music, the sequel would not be successful. Goldsmith's Omen II score uses similar motifs to his original Omen score, but for the most part, Goldsmith avoided re-using the same musical cues. In fact, the first movie's famous "Ave Satani" theme is used only partially, just before the closing credits begin. Goldsmith composed a largely different main title theme for Omen II, albeit one that utilises Latin phrases as "Ave Satani" had done. Goldsmith's Omen II score allows eerie choral effects and unusual electronic sound designs to take precedence over the piano and gothic chanting.
Richard Donner
Richard Donner
Richard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer.The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
, director of the first Omen movie, was not available to direct the second, as he was busy working on Superman. British film director Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges is an English screenwriter, film director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include Get Carter, Pulp, The Terminal Man and Black Rainbow; as director his films include Flash Gordon, Croupier and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead...
was hired to helm the movie. During production, the producers believed that Hodges' methods were too slow, and so they fired him and replaced him with Don Taylor, who had a reputation for finishing films on time and under budget. However, the few scenes Hodges directed (some of the footage at the factory and at the military academy, all of the early archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
scenes, and the dinner where Aunt Marion shows her concern about Damien) remained in the completed film, for which Hodges retains a story credit. In recent interviews, Hodges has commented sanguinely on his experiences working on Omen II.
Casting
Academy Award-winning veteran actor William Holden was the original choice to star as Robert Thorn in the first Omen, but turned it down as he did not want to star in a picture about the devil. Gregory Peck was selected as his replacement. The Omen went on to become a huge hit and Holden made sure he did not turn down the part of protagonist Richard Thorn in the sequel. Lee Grant, another Oscar-winner, was a fan of the first Omen and accepted enthusiastically the role of female protagonist-later-turncoat Ann Thorn.Ray Berwick (1914 - 1990) trained and handled the crows used for several scenes in the film. Live birds and a crow-puppet were used for the attack on photojournalist Joan Hart. Berwick also trained the avian actors in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
The Birds (film)
The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...
(1963).
Locations
The movie was mainly set in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and was largely filmed in downtown Chicago. The "Thorn Industries" building was actually Chicago's city hall. Another scene took place at Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...
. Scenes set at a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
freight area were also shot in Chicago, with the CBOT Tower
Chicago Board of Trade
The Chicago Board of Trade , established in 1848, is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. More than 50 different options and futures contracts are traded by over 3,600 CBOT members through open outcry and eTrading. Volumes at the exchange in 2003 were a record breaking 454 million...
and the Willis Tower visible in the background.
Other locations included Lake Forest Academy
Lake Forest Academy
Lake Forest Academy is a college preparatory boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12 located on the North Shore in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States. As of the 2008-2009 school year, students at Lake Forest Academy come from 20 states and 28 countries. The current Head of School is Dr....
's campus, which was used as the Thorn Mansion, the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy
Northwestern Military and Naval Academy
Northwestern Military Academy was a high school in Linn, Wisconsin which was founded by Harlan Page Davidson. Originally located in Highland Park, Illinois, the school was relocated to the town of Linn, Wisconsin on the south shore of Geneva Lake near the city of Lake Geneva in 1915 and was...
's Geneva Lake
Geneva Lake
Geneva Lake is a body of freshwater in southeastern Wisconsin in Walworth county. On its shores are the city of Lake Geneva, and the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake, and Williams Bay....
campus, which was used for the military academy, with real Geneva Lake students portraying most of the academy cadets, and Catfish Lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin
Eagle River, Wisconsin
Eagle River is a city in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,443 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Vilas County. The city is known for being a popular "Northwoods" vacation town...
for the skating scene, with local children playing the skaters. The Thorn Museum aka Field Museum of Natural History
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...
was also used in, several, scenes throughout the film including some of the movie's final minutes.
- See motion picture credits from Twentieth-Century Fox.
Legacy
The film inspired Iron MaidenIron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
bassist and frontman, Steve Harris
Steve Harris (musician)
Stephen Percy "Steve" Harris is an English musician and songwriter, known as the bassist, occasional keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he founded in 1975...
, to write "The Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast (album)
The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 29 March 1982 through EMI and on its sister label Capitol the US. The 1998 re-issue was released by EMI and Sanctuary/Columbia in the US...
" four years after the film's release, in 1982.
Soundtrack
Unlike The OmenThe Omen
An original score for the film, including the movie's theme song Ave Satani, was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant...
(and The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict is a 1981 British/American horror film directed by Graham Baker and the third installment in The Omen series...
), Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
's score was recorded in the US, with the soundtrack album re-recorded in Britain for financial reasons. Lionel Newman
Lionel Newman
Lionel Newman was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He was the brother of Alfred Newman and Emil Newman, uncle of Randy Newman, David Newman and Thomas Newman, and grandfather of Joey Newman....
conducted both the film and album versions; Varese Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
later released an expanded CD including both (the film soundtrack is listed from track 11 onwards).
- Main Title (5:03)
- Runaway Train (2:38)
- Claws (3:14)
- Thoughtful Night (3:05)
- Broken Ice (2:19)
- Fallen Temple (2:55)
- I Love You, Mark (4:37)
- Shafted (3:00)
- The Knife (3:21)
- End Title (All The Power) (3:24)
- Main Title (2:03)
- Face of the Antichrist (2:20)
- Fallen Temple (1:33)
- Aunt Marion's Visitor (:36)
- Another Thorn (1:18)
- A Ravenous Killing (3:07)
- Snowmobiles (1:11)
- Broken Ice (2:21)
- Number of the Beast (1:33)
- Shafted (3:00)
- The Daggers (1:56)
- Thoughtful Night (2:36)
- I Love You, Mark (4:12)
- Runaway Train (1:10)
- The Boy Has To Die (1:24)
- All The Power and End Title (3:14)
DVD release
The film was released as part of The Omen Quadrilogy set in the US and UK in 2000, and was not available separately until 2005. In 2006, to coincide with the DVD release of the remake of the original film, The Omen and its sequels were released individually and together in an ultimate Pentalogy boxset digitally remastered and with more bonus features. In 2008, it was released on Blu-ray with its predecessor and 1981 sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict
Omen III: The Final Conflict is a 1981 British/American horror film directed by Graham Baker and the third installment in The Omen series...
.