Review by Mark Mallon

Yup, saw Omen. I came to some very interesting conclusions during that movie. First and foremost, don't sit next to my girlfriend at a movie that's likely to scare. I know, I know, scary movies are supposed to be the greatest see-with-your-girlfriend flicks, because then she'll want you to hold her when she's scared. Well, for me, two words: finger; nails.

Nothing against Julia Stiles, but I don't think she was the right choice for the mother. She was the one character in the movie that didn't have a face with angles. Should've combed Lara Flynn-Boyle's hair back and put her in the movie.

I believe Stiles is a good actor, I believe she has her place, but in this movie she was just... seperate. Interaction with her was shallow and unconvincing. She just didn't seem to fit in. Sure, maybe they wanted to use her to lighten things, to make the colors a little more vibrant, maybe Flynn-Boyle would have been the straw that made the camel all too dark and creepy. Maybe another actress couldn't hold her jaw open and cry... You get the point. The on-screen chemistry just wasn't there.

But you know what was there? BOO! there was a lot of that. They're really good at holding on to the suspense for the scares. Sometimes when you expect them, they come, and sometimes when you expect them, they don't, and then they come when you're not thinking about them at all... blah blah blah. You know what I was expecting that I didn't get? Shivers. You know how the right thought can just stop you where you are, curl your toes, and make you stand there gaping without focusing on anything, so that you end up looking like walking and chewing gum really were too much for you? I've read books that did that to me. I've seen movies that did that to me.

Sphere. Prophecy. You know what does it? Potential. The potential for chaos, for destruction, for very big things and very bad things. Prophesy handled the heralding trumpets far better than The Omen.

They tried to get that potential, they went for it at the end, but it really hadn't been set up. For a movie about that kid, he sure didn't get to show off much. A scooter and a good stare? Sorry, just not enough to set up potential. We're just supposed to take them at their word that it's there.

All that being said, I did enjoy the chance to sit there and watch a story being told. I've never seen the original, so some of it really did surprise me. And really, when you can say that, it's enough. Enough for $11? I don't know about that. Then again, unless you have a really good sound system, you're just not going to get the same effect from a television screen.