Omen III: The Final Conflict

• (Also released as simply The Final Conflict)
• Directed by Graham Baker
• March 20, 1981
• Based on characters created by David Seltzer

Damien plots to stop the returning Messiah while a group of monks seek to stop him using the recovered Seven Daggers of Megiddo.

As a movie Omen III: The Final Conflict (also released as just The Final Conflict in some markets) is the final movie in the original Omen series. As a narrative it stands on its own yet connects to the previous movies. You do not need to have seen The Omen or Damien: Omen II to understand this movie despite usage of elements from the first two. Other than the Seven Daggers of Megiddo nothing will be confusing and even that is not an issue since the cover enough info to place them into context.

As with the previous movie Satan is much more proactive in his actions to move things along. It is difficult for the viewer to explain things away which was part of the magic of the original. It makes it less like Damien (Sam Neill) is tricking people and being sly but rather is surrounded by people that have no powers of observation or the simple ability to discern when something hinky might be going on.

Sam Neill, even in good guy parts is always a touch sinister. It’s just his voice and general delivery. Conversely though in interviews he comes off as rather nice. Could he be the Antichrist in real life? I don’t know. Neill is perfect in the part. Charming yet never overtly sinister unless the character is alone or with one of his minions. If I had any complaints it’s when they try to do the moments that are meant only for the viewer to show he’s really evil and never meant for the consumption of the characters.

Gone is the uncertainty of his destiny like in the last movie. Damien is a character that knows just about everything he must do. That can be explained away by time passing leaving this Damien much more in line with the Damien of the first film. His dialogue is a bit hammy when he’s alone with his subjects. I guess that’s the right word. I have a little trouble believing that anybody-even the Antichrist-would talk like that. At least outside of a ceremony of some type.

A large part of the story is a group of seven priests attempting to kill Damien with the now recovered Seven Daggers of Megiddo which are the only thing that can kill Damien. They don’t do a very good job of it to the point it borders on laughably poor to the point you cannot understand where the concern from Damien comes from. From the very overt covert removal from the museum rubble to these dedicated priests who fall for every trick of Damien, I found it unintentionally goofy. Then again, at least with the priests, it they were competent this movie would have been much shorter.

What started out as appearing to be a handful of people wherever Damien went becomes a full-fledged army. Half of London appears to be involved in working for the devil. Maybe there is a great dental plan there. And though it might be necessary to enact a modern version of the Slaughter of the Innocents in the movie, the number of random people involved strain believability.

Intrepid female reporter Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow) despite her significance to the ending feels like an afterthought for much of the movie with her character breezing in and out as needed for Damien. Which brings me to something…

Damien rapes Kate.  That seemed a little unnecessary for a character that was calculating his way to global power. He was already going to get what he wanted. It was an out and out rape. I get that he’s evil and all that, but for a character that’s trying to ensure his ascendancy to ultimate power it seemed like a massive miscalculation. Was it to show how evil he was or was it to explain her actions in the last ten minutes or so of the movie?

With a few shocks here and there, this is more of a thriller with horror elements than it is a horror film. There is at least one moment of gore though in that instance I’m not sure how any iron of the modern era would cause burns like that on a person’s face. It looks like it was shoved in a wood fire. As a horror film this is meh. As a thriller with horror elements it’s quite good which explains why in some markets this did not have the Omen name attached.

Omen III: The Final Conflict is a good film. Not a good horror film, but a good thriller with horror elements. Despite some issues I have it’s enjoyable and I could see myself watching it again.