Thursday, November 29, 2018

The Omen (TV pilot - 1995)

Scientifically evil

By: JWBM

Instead of being born to evil, or being just another relative to Damien Thorn, the premise of this short lived '90s TV pilot is going for a kind of "ER" meets "Outbreak" vibe, though with a sort of unexplainable possession angle to tie in the mediums. The tone is going for a cross between scientific and spiritual, with it being more of the former. An evil force is capable of traveling from person to person with mixed results: some inexplicably die, some live long enough to do some kind of malicious deed, and others fully embrace the force and turn into evil masterminds to carry out maximum chaos and carnage. A hard-nosed reporter who's wife mysteriously died years earlier, a professor of epidemiology, an all-knowing old man on the hunt, and a nurse recently in a coma find themselves with a commonality at a hospital in Boston that has a military secret about to be unleashed if not for some keen intervention.

Not all TV pilots are fully fleshed out. Like a potential date, they are essentially an overview of what's to come: it might not be love at first sight, though great things may come from it if you stick around from some initial characteristics that stand out. I feel like the filmmakers here gave it their best go for the material at hand. The story has a steady pace to it, the actors show some feeling behind their roles, and there's potential for more to come. The action at points felt a little rocky, such as a reporter going from do-what-it-takes-to-get-the-scoop, to John McClane responsive and being a pivotal force to stop dark entities from having their way. The biggest hang-up, though, is that this has little to do with "The Omen" franchise. It was a wild and fresh idea from anything before, no doubt, however it feels like it was also trying desperately to keep up with the times of what was happening in '95 with the medical and scientific approach over a more good versus evil one of the '70s when the first was released. Yet, it still felt more entertaining than the fourth in the series if that tells you anything.

Rating: 5/10

Director: Jack Sholder (The Hidden, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2)
Actors: Brett Cullen, William Sadler, Chelsea Field
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

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