After the original trilogy, the “Omen” series continued in two little-known but well-regarded novels, “Omen IV: Armageddon 2000” (1982) and “Omen V: The Abomination” (1985). I might try them out someday if I stick with this “Omen” kick.
Next generation of evil
Unfortunately, because movies trump spinoff fiction in the public consciousness, “Omen IV: The Awakening” (1991) is the “official” continuation. And the official ending, even though this film has a “to be continued,” same as the original. But no one is mourning the absence of Delia’s further adventures.
Judged by production values, “The Awakening” is respectable for a made-for-TV film from 1991 – although it cheats by repurposing a lot of Jerry Goldsmith’s music from the trilogy. Writer Brian Taggert essentially cuts up the original screenplay and puts the puzzle back together. Harvey Bernhard, back from “Damien: Omen II,” co-writes the story, lending this sequel the tiniest bit of residual cachet.
“Omen IV: The Awakening” (1991)
Directors: Jorge Montesi, Dominique Othenin-Girard
Writers: Brian Taggert (screenplay, story), Harvey Bernhard (story)
Stars: Faye Grant, Michael Woods, Michael Lerner
Over six Tuesdays, RFMC is looking back at five films and one TV series in the “Omen” franchise.
“The Awakening” is what we’d now call a “requel” – it’s in the same continuity, but it retells the original story for (and about) the next generation. Taggert rearranges things, but not in interesting ways, with the exception of some twists in the final act.
Once again, a couple adopts a child, this time a girl named Delia (Asia Vieira, looking suitably creepy). This film zeroes in on the mother’s perspective, and Faye Grant is sympathetic as the bedraggled Karen York. Despite these two new feminine angles, the narrative and theme are the same as ever.
Twists come too late
Again, this mother is the wife of a square-jawed, relatively decent politician (Michael Woods as Gene) — and she’s terrified of her adopted daughter. This time, she carries her biological son to term, leading to that twist wherein we learn Delia is actually not a threat to her brother – for intriguingly creepy reasons.
Giving “The Awakening” some street-level cred is Michael Lerner as a private eye investigating Delia’s origin to his logical end (murder, natch) rather than hers. Duncan Fraser is good as the religious man who knows what’s going on, although it’s odd that he’s content to be a mere informer rather than a warrior.
If you’re getting minor “X-Files” vibes, that’s because Megan Leitch (the adult Samantha Mulder) plays the nun who is part of the scheme to give up the orphan to the unsuspecting Yorks. Even though the church knows Delia is a Devil child, the nuns can’t bring themselves to kill a baby. (Wouldn’t they need special daggers anyway? I guess Taggert lost that story scrap along the way.)
Since “The Awakening” clearly indicates it is a repeat of the same story, that slight (but crucial) sense that there are layers left to be unpeeled (even if there aren’t) is absent. When those twists hit in the final moments, they are interesting intellectually, but they come too late to impact the vibe.
Well-trod territory
“The Awakening’s” two subgenres are now heavily populated, and they were becoming common even in 1991. First, the creepy kid. “The Omen” pulled off a trick wherein we basically know all along that Damien is psychically doing the killings, yet there is still a sense of mystery. There’s like a 1 percent chance he isn’t doing it.
And two: the woman who is either crazy in a sane world or sane in a crazy world. Tension is supposed to come from not knowing the answer. But even when that formula clicks, it’s hard to do something new with it. In “The Awakening,” the trope is as tired as the look on Karen’s face after perpetually having her worries dismissed by her husband.
Most people don’t know those two spinoff novels exist. “Omen IV: The Awakening” deserves the same fate.