The Final Conflict sees the Antichrist Damien Thorn (Sam Neill) now 32 years old & has him wanting to be the American ambassador to Britain, by a complete coincidence the current ambassador (Robert Arden) has an unfortunate incident which leaves him with his brains splattered on a wall & as a result the President (Mason Adams) does then indeed give Damien the job. Taking the position Damien moves to London & becomes romantically involved with a TV news-reporter named Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow), however he has bigger issues on his mind as a triangular star configuration signals the birth of the second coming of Christ somewhere in Britain so he orders his worshippers to kill every baby boy born on the same night. If that wasn't enough a group of seven priest's from Italy now possess the seven daggers of Meggido which are the only things on Earth which can kill Damien & are on a mission to do just that, an Antichrist's life is just never easy is it?
This English American co-production was directed by Graham Baker & I actually thought it was a decent horror film that passed the time harmlessly enough. The Final Conflict was the third entry in The Omen (1976) series of films & while probably not quite as good as the previous two films I don't think it deserves some of the stick it gets, I mean what about Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) for heavens sake? Anyway, the script by Andrew Birkin now has Damien the Antichrist as an adult who has to fend of killer priest's & the birth of the new Christ as well as continuing his quest to wipe out mankind. The one area where The Final Conflict disappoints is that it's not done on a grand enough scale, for a film that supposedly deals with the end of the World & ancient religious prophecy's it all feels very flat, empty & a bit too basic. For the majority of the film the script offers nothing more than a string of novelty supernatural set-piece deaths which are good to watch but they don't really drive the central story forward until the birth of the second Christ but even then this seems like just an excuse for more deaths & nothing significant becomes of it. Don't get me wrong because as a horror fan I love death, gore & mutilation but I must admit I expected something with a bit more resonance. The character's & dialogue are OK but apart from Damien they don't stand out, it moves along at a fair pace & has entertainment value although I did think it was a bit too long & the climax is a big let down.
Director Baker does a decent job & the film has a nice basic but quite stylish look about it. There isn't much continuity between The Final Conflict & the other Omen films, for instance according to the original Omen the Antichrist Damien was born on the 6th June 1966 yet here The Final Conflict is set in 1982 & he is said to be 32 years old, not that it really matters though. There's a decent atmosphere although I can't say it's particularly scary or tension filled & that ending is very weak which really hurts the film as a whole because you are then stuck with negative feelings as the end credits roll despite what has gone before being alright. There's some good gore here including a burnt corpse & a great scene where someone gorily has their brains blown out (I then love how his leg twitches!) which is one of those cool film moment bits that is definitely worth watching on DVD & slow-motioning it.
Technically The Final Conflict is well made & it obvious had a decent budget. Largely shot in England in London & Cornwall the scenery is nice enough although as a side note Fox hunting as shown in The Final Conflict has since been made illegal so you animal lovers out there needn't worry about such things anymore... The acting is OK but no one stood out apart from Sam Neill in his first starring role & he would obviously go on to achieve lots of success as an actor unlike anyone else in this film. I was surprised to see loud mouth TV show hostess for hire Ruby Wax had a small role in this film...
The Final Conflict isn't the greatest film in the World that's for sure but it ain't too bad when all said & done, not the ideal way to round the trilogy off but it could have been worse. I'd say it's worth a watch if nothing else. Also known as Omen III: The Final Conflict.
This English American co-production was directed by Graham Baker & I actually thought it was a decent horror film that passed the time harmlessly enough. The Final Conflict was the third entry in The Omen (1976) series of films & while probably not quite as good as the previous two films I don't think it deserves some of the stick it gets, I mean what about Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) for heavens sake? Anyway, the script by Andrew Birkin now has Damien the Antichrist as an adult who has to fend of killer priest's & the birth of the new Christ as well as continuing his quest to wipe out mankind. The one area where The Final Conflict disappoints is that it's not done on a grand enough scale, for a film that supposedly deals with the end of the World & ancient religious prophecy's it all feels very flat, empty & a bit too basic. For the majority of the film the script offers nothing more than a string of novelty supernatural set-piece deaths which are good to watch but they don't really drive the central story forward until the birth of the second Christ but even then this seems like just an excuse for more deaths & nothing significant becomes of it. Don't get me wrong because as a horror fan I love death, gore & mutilation but I must admit I expected something with a bit more resonance. The character's & dialogue are OK but apart from Damien they don't stand out, it moves along at a fair pace & has entertainment value although I did think it was a bit too long & the climax is a big let down.
Director Baker does a decent job & the film has a nice basic but quite stylish look about it. There isn't much continuity between The Final Conflict & the other Omen films, for instance according to the original Omen the Antichrist Damien was born on the 6th June 1966 yet here The Final Conflict is set in 1982 & he is said to be 32 years old, not that it really matters though. There's a decent atmosphere although I can't say it's particularly scary or tension filled & that ending is very weak which really hurts the film as a whole because you are then stuck with negative feelings as the end credits roll despite what has gone before being alright. There's some good gore here including a burnt corpse & a great scene where someone gorily has their brains blown out (I then love how his leg twitches!) which is one of those cool film moment bits that is definitely worth watching on DVD & slow-motioning it.
Technically The Final Conflict is well made & it obvious had a decent budget. Largely shot in England in London & Cornwall the scenery is nice enough although as a side note Fox hunting as shown in The Final Conflict has since been made illegal so you animal lovers out there needn't worry about such things anymore... The acting is OK but no one stood out apart from Sam Neill in his first starring role & he would obviously go on to achieve lots of success as an actor unlike anyone else in this film. I was surprised to see loud mouth TV show hostess for hire Ruby Wax had a small role in this film...
The Final Conflict isn't the greatest film in the World that's for sure but it ain't too bad when all said & done, not the ideal way to round the trilogy off but it could have been worse. I'd say it's worth a watch if nothing else. Also known as Omen III: The Final Conflict.