Omen III: The Final Conflict Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 2.75/5

Plot Synopsis: Damien Thorn (SAM NEILL) is now 32, a coldly calculating being whose creed is evil, whose ambition is world domination and whose only loyalties are to himself and the father he serves. To attain his ends, he will kill anyone in his way, be it friend, enemy, disciple or lover.

Only a determined priest (ROSSANO BRAZZI), whose mission is to destroy the Antichrist and who has at his command the Seven Daggers of Megiddo, and a dedicated reporter (LISA HARROW) stand between Damien and his desire to bring the world to the brink of global chaos.

Quick Hit Review: Omen III: The Final Conflict is kind of a middle-of-the-road demon child film and maybe a slight step down from the first two movies in the series. The big positive of this movie is a young Sam Neill, in one of his earlier roles, portraying Damien as an adult and although he certainly had a few cheesy scenes, one which he’s speaking to a Jesus on a Crucifix statue, he did have the necessary devious and dangerous look for the part. Other than Neill, however, nobody else really stood out.

What did stood out was just how dark the material was. In the first two Omen movies, you did have a father attempting to stab his child, who happens to be the spawn of Satan of course, but in this third entry, the filmmakers almost go all out with Damien commanding all children born on a certain date, between a certain time, as they are the second coming of Christ and drain his powers, must be killed. Wow.

The Final Conflict was directed by Graham Baker, marking his feature film debut with Andrew Birkin (The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) taking on the writing duties. As the ending of a trilogy, it’s not a bad way to conclude an otherwise lackluster franchise, though it remained dormant for ten years since this entry only made $20.47 million ($66.35 million adjusted for ticket inflation), with Omen IV: The Awakening was a made-for-TV production.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.5/5

Audio Commentaries:

• Special Project Consultant Scott Michael Bosco
• Director Graham Baker

Both of these tracks were pretty interesting with Bosco returning following Damien: Omen II to talk about this third entry while Baker gives us some first-hand stories from the production.

Interviews:

• Devil in the Detail (24:56) — Director Graham Baker
• Resurrecting the Devil (20:30) — Writer Andrew Birkin
• Production Assistant Jeanne Ferber (16:38)

The better of the three probably was Baker who was pretty detailed on his work and approach to the film. Kind of a shame they couldn’t wrangle Sam Neill or other actors.

Also included is the Theatrical Trailer (1:51), TV Spots (1:03) and an Image Gallery (3:54).

VIDEO – 4.0/5

AUDIO – 4.0/5

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Omen III: The Final Conflict is a half-baked horror-thriller that had its moments for sure, with the wonderful Sam Neill in one of his early films in his career. The Blu-ray release has respectable video and audio transfers to go along with a decent selection of bonus features.