A remake of the original The Omen (1976) starring Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow, Pete Postlethwaite, David Thewlis, and Michael Gambon. It was released on June 6, 2006, a release date chosen because of its significance to the Number of the Beast (666).
This film has examples of:
- Adaptational Species Change: Downplayed with breed. The dog that showed up at the nanny's suicide in the original movie is a Rottweiler, while the remake shows a black German shepherd instead.
- Adaptational Ugliness: Father Spiletto's burns are even more severe than in the original.
- Aside Glance: Damien at the end. Also even more effectively in the teaser of the remake.
- Babysitter from Hell: Not to Damien of course, but everything bad that happens to the Thorns just get more south once Mrs. Baylock fills in the vacant babysitter role. Like causing Kate's death. It's because she's a Satanist sent to cater the Antichrist (i.e. Damien).
- The Bad Guy Wins: Damien (very narrowly) survives Robert's attempt to kill him and becomes adopted by the President of the United States. Damien turns around and smiles to the audience telling us that he's won.
- Big Bad: Damien A.K.A. The Antichrist.
- The Cameo: Harvey Stephens, who played Damien in the original, appears as the news reporter who asks Thorn if their suicidal nanny was on drugs.
- Casting Gag: Mia Farrow as Mrs. Baylock (from the devil's Unwitting Pawn and mother to a devil child to a willing servant of the Antichrist and caretaker of a devil child).
- Comet of Doom: The focus of the prologue.
- Covers Always Lie: The "hellish" alternate ending advertised on the DVD is nothing more than the entire swat team sniping Thorn versus just one guy. Hardly hellish by anyone's definition.
- Creepy Child: Damien, as always.
- Deadpan Snarker: Keith Jennings.
- Death Glare: Damien gives his mother one right after his freakout on his way to church.
- Death Equals Redemption: Father Brennan decides to become a priest and aid Robert in destroying Damian after learning he has cancer, to repent in the eyes of God for helping deliver Damian.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Kate. In the original film, she's simply thrown out of the hospital window by Mrs. Baylock, but here the nanny kills her with an air embolism instead.
- Enfant Terrible: Unlike in the original, this Damien is shown to not just be causing but directly influencing some of the horrific events around him, such as deliberately causing Katherine's fall and influencing a guard posted outside her ward not to intervene as Mrs Baylock murders her in her hospital bed.
- Fate Worse than Death: Father Spilleto was left mute and disfigured by burn wounds after the hospital fire.
- Foreshadowing: Keith takes photographs that end up showing the impending death of the nanny, Father Brennan, and himself.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Satan. Damien may be the main villain, but he's just an offspring of the Big Red Guy and his jackal mistress.
- The Grotesque: Father Spiletto after the fire.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Lampshaded by Keith, who pokes fun at people spontaneously regaining their faith when they're in danger of death.Keith: No atheists in foxholes.
- Robert himself, while no villain, initially rejects supernatural reasoning about Damien and he's implied to undergo a Crisis of Faith throughout the film. He regains his faith while trying to kill Damien in a church, which ultimately fails anyway.
- Hell Hound: The rottweiler guard dog, just like in the original movie. Also after the first nanny hangs herself, a black German shepherd appears before Damien, hinted to be the devil in disguise.
- Hope Spot: Father Brennan is about to reach a church when he is impaled by a steel rod.
- Ideal Illness Immunity: Damien, due to his supernatural nature, has never gotten sick. Much to his mother's distress.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Father Brennan.
- Improbable Age: Robert is the youngest person elected as an ambassador of the US. Early on, he's unsure whether he really deserves it or because of a certain nepotism, since he's also the current president's adoptive son.
- Kill It with Fire: The fate of Steven Haines, the original ambassador, in his unfortunate "accident".
- Laser-Guided Karma: Father Spiletto manipulated Robert into adopting Damien. Shortly after he was crippled, disfigured, and left mute after the hospital fire.
- Large Ham: Michael Gambon as Bugenhagen breaks off the film's largely monotone dialogue and cold atmosphere with some warming gems. It's kind of a shocking contrast when the audience is suddenly blasted by this after the quiet scenes in Italy.Robert: But what if you're wrong?Bugenhagen: I'M NOT WROONGG!
- Linked List Clue Methodology: Carried over from the original. Robert and Keith's journey to find Damien's biological mother directs them to the destroyed hospital in Rome, where they find a clue leading them to Subiaco, where a final clue points to Cerveteri.
- Mirror Scare: Kate has one during one of her nightmares.
- No Kill like Overkill: Robert runs over Mrs. Blaylock repeatedly to make sure she is killed.
- Occult Blue Eyes: Damien's eyes. How anyone could not figure it as the first sign that something is wrong with him is anyone's guess.
- Off with His Head!: Keith.
- Regional Riff: An adhan
(the Islamic call of prayer) is used to establish that Robert and Keith have arrived at the Galilee region of Israel. Bonus points for happening during sunset. - Religious Horror
- Remake Cameo: Harvey Stephens, who played Damien in the original film, has a brief cameo as a tabloid reporter.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog/Downer Ending: Robert spends the entire second half of the film trying to find about Damien's origins and, upon learning that he's the Antichrist, is directed to kill him after several periods of backing away. Just when he finally gains the courage and chance to do it, he is shot by the ambassador protection squad.
- Shot-for-Shot Remake: Not exactly ‒ some details are modified, such as Kate's death by embolism instead of falling ‒ but the remake reproduces the original quite faithfully, even the bit where Damien smiles during Robert and Kate's funerals.
- Shout-Out: The scene where Kate is hanging onto the railing for dear life and looking up at Damien is similar to Mufasa's death scene in The Lion King (1994). Their dialog is also a bit similar.Kate: Damien... please... help me...
Mufasa: Scar! Brother... help me... - Signs of the End Times: The backdrop of the film. The Vatican recognizes that some of the recent major events are manifestations of the prophecies mentioned in Book of Revelation if seen from a modern context. Damien's birth was when things just get even more dangerous. Robert and Keith discuss this while looking for Spiletto.
- The Lamb standing on Mount Zion? The Lamb represents the Jews of course, and for all we know, they now have stood back again on Zion.
- The Stars Are Going Out? It's an inverted Star of Bethlehem, which represents the Jews rising, so it means that they're falling down to the Roman Empire, whose capital was Rome. What happened in Rome recently? It's where the Treaty of Rome is agreed to that led to the establishment of the European Economic Community, the precursor of The European Union. The freakin' European Union is a sign of the end times.
- The Beast emerges from the sea? The sea is modern-day politics. Robert is an ambassador. You do the math.
- Supernatural-Proof Father: Robert, at least initially.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Damien, especially at the end where he wins. He gains a heavily-armored squadron of police to stop Robert from killing him and the US president adopts him as his step-son.
- Wham Shot: Damien indeed having the number of the Beast on his head followed by Robert's Oh, Crap!.
