Damien: Omen II (1978)

Director: Don Taylor

Starring: William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Nicholas Pryor, Lew Ayres, Sylvia Sidney, Lance Henriksen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The first time was only a warning.

Plot: Damien the Antichrist, now age 13, finally learns of his destiny under the guidance of an unholy disciple of Satan. Meanwhile dark mystical forces begin to eliminate all those who suspect the child's true identity.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? YES.

Maybe it's that William Holden stars instead of Gregory Peck that makes this sequel as good as the first. Holden always felt like he was more of a regular guy than Peck who came off stuffy. OK, so that's not the biggest reason to dig on this flick. The kills are great and, although maybe not as iconographic as they were in the first movie, there's one that stands out by far and it's the under-the-ice drowning. HOLY FUCKING SHIT was that badass!!!


But THE most important aspect to the entire trilogy (I know there was a fourth but I haven't seen it yet and it really doesn't belong with the true trilogy) is Jerry Goldsmith's brilliantly eerie score. They get better as the series goes along and to listen to all three soundtracks in order is astounding as it works as one long black mass (slight exaggeration but it really is a brilliant few hours' worth of music). It's been less than a decade since I watched the trilogy (I probably watch them once every 8-10 years). I'm looking forward to getting to the third picture. It's the weakest of the three but shit, it's got Sam Neil and a kick ass and dark as hell Jerry Goldsmith score.