Rating of
2/4
Can't Overlook the Very Slow Scenes of Discovery
Franz Patrick - wrote on 11/19/08
I know I’m in the minority here but I actually prefer the 2006 version with Julia Stiles and Liev Schreiber over this one. There were barely any genuine scares and I found it appalling that some people compare this to the masterful “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” Sure, they have the anti-Christ issue as a commonality but quality-wise, this film is far from those classics. I did like the performances here, however, especially Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. I believed Peck to be the protective husband who did not want his wife to find out that their biological son had died so he adopted a baby behind his wife’s back. Remick was both funny and convincing during the parts where she was being attacked. As for Harvey Stephens, who played Damien, he’s creepy as hell and I thought he really was an anti-Christ personified. The little things he does like giving someone a certain look, grimacing when something bad happens to someone, pretending to be innocent when he’s in trouble… I wanted his character to die so badly. I’m not going to complain how predictable it was because I saw the 2006 version first and both movies are almost exactly the same. If I had seen this version first, I would’ve said that the 2006 version was the predictable one. Overall, I liked the dated visual effects (I like campiness in certain films), the story, and the awkward camera angles, especially during the kills. But I just can’t forgive the very slow scenes when Peck is discovering that the child he raised all those years really is the anti-Christ. It should have been heart-pounding and horrifying instead of tedious. After all, it’s supposed to be a horror film.
