The Omen (2006)

  • Review Date: October 15, 2006
  • R
  • Genre: Horror
  • 2006
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Unintentionally funny horror remake. So very bad.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the film concerns the antichrist and the "end of days," and uses brief images of recent disasters (9/11, Katrina) to suggest the time is near. The film includes extreme violence and bloody images of deaths engineered by Satan/evil forces; the most gruesome images include characters speared and beheaded and a knockdown fight between a father and the nanny. The film also includes a mother saying she wants to abort her second child, seeing a psychiatrist, being terrorized and injured by her son (a scary fall from a balcony), and a father's decision to kill his own young son. The film also contains some strong language, including two uses of the f-word.

  • No one acts very admirably.
  • Deaths are bloody, grotesque, and explicit (car explodes and burns passenger, men speared and decapitated by falling architecture); big loud dogs attack several characters; woman hangs herself off a rooftop in public; mother falls from balcony, with flailing limbs and plaintive scream (this might bother younger viewers even more than the bloody stuff); nanny poisons and throttles incapacitated woman in hospital bed; father tries to kill his son (using multiple knives, inside a church).-
  • Katherine appears in a tub, but nudity is only implied.

What's the story?

John Moore's remake of the 1976 original focuses on the vulnerable mother Katherine (Julia Stiles). When she loses her own baby during childbirth at a Roman hospital, an odious priest and her U.S. ambassador husband Robert (Liev Schreiber) arrange to hide this awful tragedy from her and give her the substitute child. The baby is Damien (Shamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), the son of the devil. While Kate is left pretty much alone, Robert heads to the embassy, where he's accosted by gaunt Father Brennan (Pete Postlethwaite). Unnerved but unmoved, Robert does eventually believe the "evidence" presented to him by dogged journalist Keith Jennings (David Thewlis). Together, they travel the globe in search of "answers," namely, how to dispose of this monstrous child.


Is it any good?

 

Loud and ludicrous, THE OMEN (2006) makes its distinctions between good and evil clear upfront: The sweet, suffering mother is sadly doomed, while the devil who connives to have her raise his son is dark and crafty. This showdown is occasioned by the arrival of the antichrist, here in the form of a cute-seeming infant, foretold by "signs" that include the 9/11 attacks and Katrina (these glimpsed in brief news clips).

As Damian finds ways to torment Kate (mostly by glaring at her or hiding in the park), she becomes the audience's point of identification. That said, she's saddled with a wardrobe that alternates between grim and stuffy (official-wife suits or blood-red garments) and looks lost in the stark, too-spacious interiors in the couple's new abode in London. Condemned to the usual girl-in-a-horror-movie antics, Kate is beset on all sides, not least by a scary nanny (Mia Farrow) who comes with her own scary dog. The men's actions, however, remain less compelling than the mother's melodrama. Poor Kate: She distrusts her child and shouldn't trust her husband. She doesn't have a chance.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the appeal of horror movies. Why are they so popular, especially with teens? Is gory the same thing as scary?


This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Kid, 12 years old
July 31, 2010
 
Terrible movie.
I watched this at my best friend's house (I didn't even know he watched R-rated movies O_o) and it was terrible.People were getting killed left and right, none of the characters did anything admirable and the talk of God and Satan I found was very uncool. Damien was very evil and did things a real child would do the opposite of. He loved the nanny more than his own mother! Violence happened in every scene and it was always very disturbing. I really disliked how the movie ended. I was disturbed by it for almost a week and my parents were very unhappy when they heard about it. My mom even gave me a huge lecture about God and Satan which eventually made me feel better. I don't see how anyone would like this movie. I highly don't recommend this movie for very religious Christians or kids under 16.

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Parent
December 16, 2011
 
Don't even think about it
Now THAT's bad for a remake. Dull and scareless, this movie is not for anyone. I can't honestly say that it's unintentionally funny, but what I can say is that this film is awful, and much worse than pretty much all other remakes. The dialogue is meant to terrify you, but it doesn't work at all.

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Teen, 14 years old
March 25, 2011
 
brillaint and disturbing
brilliant movie but very disturbing! Every body who sqaid they hated it on here just dosn't like sad unhappy endings( i don't but then again i do if they are done well)

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Kid, 11 years old
February 27, 2011
 
Rated 15 for disturbing violence, terror and brief language
'The Omen' is a brilliant film. However, it should not be watched by those under the age of 14 years old. There is violence, which is bloody in places, and quite disturbing. The film is also scary, with a few good 'jump scenes'. There are 5 uses of language in the film, including 2 'F-Words' and 3 mild words. 'The Omen' is a great film which I recommend to mature teenagers and adults only.

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Parent of 15 year old
February 18, 2011
 
age 10-16
Good way better than orrigional, well done, but scarier than 1st film wait for age 10-12.

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Teen, 15 years old
September 28, 2010
 
NEVER see this if you value your family or life at all
I would nothing more than to distroy this movie, it made me feel upset to be born in June. I hate these movies, I saw this at a friends house, it was discusting, vile, unrealistic (hopefully that stuff isn't realistic) I just hated it.. I puked after the movie because the vibes I got from it were so foul. I feel bad for the directer, that he has these images in his mind... I hate cruelty. End this crap.

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Teen, 15 years old
September 13, 2010
 
adults
it is such a dumb movie..RoronoaZoro9 (the viewer and kid who rated it below me) said exactly what i just wanted to, and in such fromal words...it is stupid, unrealisitc and not at all an ideal movie for teens either. Julia Stiles' acting was beyond poor as a troubled mother....and that kid was just plain creepy...job done by Liev Schreiber was okay but it was a poor movie choice...he could've used his talent elsehwere...so BOO to the producer and screen writers etc...really bad!!

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Teen, 14 years old
December 25, 2009
 
This was a great movie

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Parent
December 15, 2009
 
The Omen 666
Awesome movie. smart of them to release the film 6/6/06. Made it more scarier.

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Teen, 16 years old
October 27, 2009
 
R?
I think this movie should be pg-13

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This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Studio:Twentieth Century Fox
Director:John Moore
Cast:David Thewlis, Julia Stiles, Liev Schreiber
Genre:Horror
Run time:105 minutes
Theatrical release date:June 6, 2006
DVD release date:October 17, 2006
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:or disturbing violent content, graphic images and some language.

This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
 

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
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