Exactly 30 years after The Omen (1976), The Omen (2006) was
released. An older boy plays Damien in the remake, which means that the actor is
capable of acting facial expression-reactions; even so, what really distinguishes
the remake as having more depth than the original film is the explicit use of a
poem that undergirds the veracity of the narrative—that Damien as indeed been sent
by his father, Satan, to usher in the apocalypse in a way that will fill hell
with human souls. The poem is a Christian prophesy that functions in the film’s
narrative as a thread. I contend that the poem partakes of several domains,
rather than being exclusively religious in nature, and thus “muddies the water”
in terms of answering the question of how the religious domain is distinctive,
rather than to be read psychologically, historically, or scientifically.
The full essay is at "The Omen (2006)."
