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Post by dem on Aug 10, 2009 18:21:49 GMT
This was one of several threads that got wiped out when the old board went tits up. dug out an old disc earlier and found a copy so here it is.David Seltzer - The Omen (Futura, 1978; originally Futura 1976) " One night in Rome Robert Thorn, American diplomat, exchanges his still-born son for a new-born orphan. Only Thorn and the priest who arranged the unofficial adoption could tell the difference. Kathy and Robert Thorn called the child Damien.
Five years later in England Damien's Nanny dies tragically ... a ferocious black dog and an officious new Nanny mysteriously appear to guard the child ... Kathy Thorn is badly hurt in a fall ... and a wild-eyed priest tells Thorn that Damien is the spawn of the devil.
In an agonizing and frenzied search that takes him to Rome, Jerusalem and back to London. Robert Thorn begins to unravel the horrible truth ...
* A powerful, spell-binding story of a child who is not a child and a man who must become less than a father and more of a man. * First saw the film in my teens and it depressed the Hell out of me. Even today I have an aversion to the entire Omen franchise - not really sure why: the humorlessness of it all may have something to do with it - but, unusually, I can appreciate why many horror buffs rate it so highly. Only Carrie (the movie, not the novel which I like) has made me feel so utterly miserable but in that instance I'm pretty certain it was because I identified too strongly with the plight of the persecuted anti-heroine (I know, I know. But I was a strange kid)? Seltzer's novelisation is so * religious * to the film it reads like the final script with narration breaks to keep you clued-in as to what's going on. As such, it's better than competent without ever troubling the movie's strongest set-pieces for impact. Perhaps an example: There, poised on the roof, was Chessa, a heavy rope in her hand, cheerfully stretching it upward to show it was wound around her neck. Beneath her the crowds began to turn, smiling in confused anticipation as the small clown moved forward to the edge and held her hands out as if readying for a high dive into a pool of water.
"Look here, Damien!" she shouted. "It's all for you!"
And in a single movement she stepped off the roof, her body plummeting downward, snapped back up by the rope, then hanging limp. Silent. Dead.Chetwynd-Hayes was approached to novelise Omen II but he passed due to prior commitments. A shame really. He'd likely have watched the film once (if at all), forgot all about it and come up with something completely ridiculous. ************ Franklin MarshDS wrote the book and film - apparently at the same time, the book sneaking out slightly earlier. (I wonder if the book tie-in with the remake has been updated?) Although the original film series only ran to three (dodgy made for TV/straight to video snorefest Omen IV:The Awakening sonambulating into view circa the 90s in a (doomed) attempt at a revival), more were planned. Gordon McGill lucked out in novelising Omen III : The Final Conflict, as he went on to pen two more. I've recently flown through Omen IV : Armageddon 2000 - wonderful pulp fun. The story as before - Ambassador To The Court Of St James has to retrieve seven special knives to facilitate destruction of AntiChrist - but who cares? A nifty little thriller that made me keep turning the pages. I'll be keeping my eyes open for Omen V : The Abomination.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 10, 2009 19:43:32 GMT
Although the biggest set piece (for me) was changed from a crane knocking off David Warner's head to the far more splendid sheet of glass extravaganza! LOL! I find it hard to believe that RCH would have been able to write something set in the US anyway. As far as I'm aware he virtually never ventured outside his flat in Middlesex. Even his Jamaican-set story in A Chill to the Sunlight was written with the aid of travel brochures! But I digress. Instead I have a shiny sixpence here for anyone who can tell me if the noveliser of Omen II - Joseph Howard - actually existed, or if he was a pseudonym for one of the many people who worked on the script, including: Mike 'Get Carter' Hodges Stanley 'Theatre of Blood' Mann Al Ramrus John Herman Shaner Harvey Bernhard I know - there's far too much rubbish in my head but I hope typing some if it will create some space  |
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Post by dem on Aug 11, 2009 11:56:45 GMT
Although the biggest set piece (for me) was changed from a crane knocking off David Warner's head to the far more splendid sheet of glass extravaganza! Curses! I think this was pointed out to me on the doomed thread (probably by you, yer worship) which just goes to show how closely I read the novel - and how studiously I've avoided the film all these years. Joseph Howard - Damien: Omen II (Futura, 1978-1987) From the Screenplay by Stanley Mann & Michael Hodges Blurb Robert Thorn saw Satan in his child. And Thorn died violently. Seven years later, Damien has been adopted by his uncle. Richard Thorn commands an international industrial empire.
A position of awesome potential power.
A position for which Damien is the heir apparent.
And as he grows in knowledge, he grows in evil ...Picked this up the weekend before last. Could've landed all five in one hit but suffered a brain-strain moment and stupidly passed! Bit of a nail-biter, wondering if they'll still be there on Sunday. Got another Gordon McGill at the same time, though, Amityville 3-D but I think you might need special glasses to read it. Anyway: Joseph Howard. Much as I could use a shiny sixpence, have no idea whether he was a pseudonym or flesh and blood entity in his own right. I'm sure he does a fine job on Damien: Omen II but can't help regretting what might have been had RCH got his hands on it and injected a hefty dose of his legendary "humour", introduced some Shadmocks, Humgoo's, Hoppity-Jumps and - God help us - a Gale-Wuggle into the proceedings .... ... |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Aug 11, 2009 12:16:15 GMT
Well saved, Dem! I've picked up V but not read it yet. Seem to have lost my copy of Seltzer's original, but read Damien (II) recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Possibly more than the fillum.)
Rewatched Omen III and thought it utter shite, but enjoyed the remake - Pete Postlethwaite and David Thewlis gamely stepping into Patrick Troughton and David Warner's shoes. Michael Gambon was pants as Bugenhagen though.
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Post by andydecker on Aug 12, 2009 18:42:25 GMT
I have some fond memories of the first part. Even if I thought it horribly miscast. You have to look up many movies to find a screen pair which had less chemistry than Peck and Remick. Why didn´t they take Doris Day and Rock Hudson? ;D
Still, the first movie was a nice trip through christian superstition. The devil dogs still give me the creeps, and satanic Ms. Baylock was alone worth the admission. And of course the innovative murders.
On the sequels I have dim memories except that they were terrible boring.
I never read the novelisations, though.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 12, 2009 20:58:43 GMT
The best thing about The Omen movies (apart perhaps from the fact that they were unashamed big budget splatter movies at a time when such things were still pretty much unheard of) is Jerry Goldsmith's music, which for all three films is just perfect. I think Omen I and II work equally well as fun horror movies. III is dire but the music is the best - far more complex and with a far bigger orchestra and chorus for Goldsmith to play with. And oh yes - I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Lee Remick was rubbish. In fact I've never found her appealing. No wonder everyone has the hots for Billie Whitelaw In fact the Omen movies were sadly (and surprisingly) lacking in the lovely lady dept. My favourite actress in the entire trilogy was probably Holly Palance, and not just because she's been in a Pete Walker film. "Damien! It's all for you!!!!! |
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Post by dem on Aug 16, 2009 17:52:06 GMT
Gordon McGill - Omen IV: Armageddon 2000 (Futura, 1983) blurb The most terrifying, bloodchilling novel yet in the bestselling Omen series!
Damien Thorn, spawn of Satan, was dead, slain by one of the sacred daggers of Armageddon. Even Father DeCarlo believed the ultimate evil was defeated for all eternity.
Only the innermost circle of disciples knew of Damien's unnatural coupling with a beautiful, helpless victim. Only they knew of the son born of that horrible ravishment.
But now the boy was growing and already his powers could be felt ... as the globe began to split in savage struggle, and the new emperor of evil mounted to the throne of hell on earth.I've recently flown through Omen IV : Armageddon 2000 - wonderful pulp fun. The story as before - Ambassador To The Court Of St James has to retrieve seven special knives to facilitate destruction of AntiChrist - but who cares? A nifty little thriller that made me keep turning the pages. Picked up a copy and am tempted to abandon everything else to dive in. Preface, set in a Harley Street clinic gets straight to the point. "The nurse glanced art the dead woman and motioned to one of the others to cover the body. Her face wrinkled in disgust, but when she looked down at the child, she smiled.
"It's an abomination", she said proudly." I'm sure to be getting back to this sooner rather than later.
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Post by dem on Aug 17, 2009 20:34:11 GMT
sooner than i thought ...
London, 2000 AD. It's eighteen years since Damien Thorn was destroyed (Omen III: The Final Conflict) and the Thorn Corporation is under the able stewardship of seventy-year-old Paul Buher, but he knows he's only been keeping the seat warm until the Abomination comes of age.
Only the disciples - of whom Buher is prominent - know of Damien's son, now 17. The son of Antichrist is a thorough rotter who keeps his father's mummified corpse propped against his black altar beneath an inverted crucifix. When Mary Lamont pays him a visit at his Pereford estate - Mary being an aged, crippled nurse who attended his birth and committed several infanticides on Damien's orders (this botched Herod-style massacre of innocents was intended to eliminate the second coming of Christ) - Abom refuses to grant her his blessing, berates her as a hopeless failure and banishes her from the premises. Mary retaliates by grassing him up to Damien's nemesis, Father De Carlo, before coming to grief when a huge statue of Christ crushes her as she prays for forgiveness in a condemned church. She dies with a beautiful smile on her face in a state of religious ecstasy. That's a rarity in these books and no mistake.
Cut to Rome where Philip Brennan, America's Secretary of State, in town to oversee the doomed Arab-Israeli negotiations, is approached by a monk named Facchetti bearing one of the seven sacred daggers of Megiddo and a message from Father De Carlo. The gist of this message - uh, how to put this delicately? You know that bit in Omen III: The Final Conflict when Damien gave that bird from the BBC one in her rear? Well her name was Kate Reynolds and Abomination is the fruit of their one night stand (it was a terribly painful birth). It's all there in Father De Carlo's scroll.
Brennan reads the account and rolls about laughing, wondering if he should pass it on to the National Enquirer, but his kinky girlfriend, Margaret, is intrigued. She tells Brennan that she once met Damien and considers him the most handsome man she's ever seen. That night in bed, she insists he calls her 'Kate' while he does unspeakable things to her. I think we can safely put a tick against Margaret's name as a probable disciple.
Carol Wyatt is a young Fleet Street hack whose editor wants her to prepare some filler for his daily rag should things get slack during the summer. He suggests she re-investigate The Curse Of The Thorn Family: A Tragic Dynasty, effectively sealing her doom. While she's prowling the grounds of Pereford, who should she encounter but Abomination and his pet Rottweiler. Abom is so angry that he felt a momentary twinge of non-hateful emotion toward her that he prolongs her death.
Up to p. 100 now. It moves at pace, i'll give it that.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Aug 18, 2009 19:34:18 GMT
Did someone say Abomination? I'll see your IV, and raise you V Omen V : The Abomination - Gordon McGill. Futura 1985 The Beast will not die - and the Nightmare continues 'The people who have made war, their flesh will fall in rottenness, their eyes will rot in their sockets, their tongues will rot in their mouths.'The Book Of RevelationsArmageddon has come and gone. The Middle East is a desolation.Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut are radioactive slag.As the poisoned clouds drift west, anarchy and random savagery precede them. Mankind prepares sullenly for extinction. At the heart of the Thorn Corporation, a terror now largely stripped of disguise: Damien Thorn. His mother is a mystery, but his Father...For those who have always believed in the force of Evil - and rejoiced in their faith - a new Master is preparing a summons. But mankind can still be saved. Jack Mason, determined to expose the truth about the Thorn empire, is closing in on the boy Damien. But only if he can accept the true significance of what he finds will the Devil's plans be thwarted and hope restored. And if he fails Man's own instruments of destruction will destroy the world... |
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Post by dem on Aug 19, 2009 0:29:35 GMT
Been alternating between Armageddon 2000 and Buffy: The Power Of Persuasion) which makes for a very strange contrast and i'm not sure which i'm enjoying more. Armageddon 2000 certainly doesn't scrimp on ghastly deaths - Biblical scholar Michael Finn has just been flattened under the wheels of a jumbo jet and dragged for two miles; pleasant job scraping what's left of him off the tyres! Prior to that, the premature burial of a drunk priest who'd broken into the Thorn vault with a metal detector and discovered a pile of bricks where Damien's corpse should be. Fortunately, Father De Carlo provides a summing up of events from book one onward and cleverly comes up with an explanation for Damien's continued existence despite the fact we all know Kate killed him in The Final Conflict (even the title''s a giveaway; then again, if you can have a sequel to Armageddon ....). It's all to do with the order in which you stab him with the sacred daggers. Perhaps he should have told everyone that before!
Anyway, that's the gist of Part One.
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Post by dem on Aug 23, 2009 19:33:46 GMT
"John Major is the Anti-Christ. There's something in Nostradamus about him. 'A pearled isle will be destroyed by a man from the circus who has turned to politics'. It's a bit like The Omen, innit?" - Mark E. Smith, NME, 1994.
More Omen IV: Armageddon 2000. i've spared you the final spoiler, but this still pretty much ruins it.
Paul Buher, head of the Thorn Corporation, is disillusioned with Abomination. Where his father at least gave the impression it was power he craved, Abom is just a destruction-hungry wannabe John Lydon who sprays saliva when he speaks and threatens to undamn those who displease him. Much to Buher's initial disbelief, Abom drags him along to a massive CND rally in Trafalgar Square, where he and the devil dog instigate a riot in which the guest speaker is mauled by his guide-dog, the police horses trample the crowd and several are killed in the ensuing crush.
Ambassador Brennan, who by now believes everything the mad monk and poor Michael Finn tried to tell him, has a lucky escape when, distracted by what appears to be the body of an infant nailed to a signpost, crashes his car after a visit to a Pereford pub (landlord unnamed, but a total bastard). On his discharge from hospital, he flies to Rome to meet the dying Father De Carlo, now confined to a padded cell in an an asylum on account of his never shutting up about the end of the world, hands him one of the sacred daggers and tells him what he must do. When the Middle East Peace Summit at Whitehall turns into a pub brawl after an Israeli diplomat floors a Syrian with an ashtray, the first nukes are launched. Buher invites Brennan and Margaret to Pereford for "the Last Supper" ...
On the evidence of this, Amityville 3D and what i remember of Stallion, McGill's at his happiest when serving up a really horrible death. The final chapter, set in a church, is a stormer. Actually, even though this isn't a novelisation it reads like a decent one and could have made for a tidy film.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Feb 5, 2013 9:34:59 GMT
Have just started The Abomination : Omen V. No outrageous deaths yet, but an intriguing opening. Seems like the 'plot' concerns a Hemingwayesque writer attempting to write a biog of the 'unluckier than the Kennedys' Thorn dynasty. One of his researchers has met a mysterious Italian who has provided her with a long, long list of those who have died in the previous four episodes. 'Damien' is in charge of Thorn Industries but is trying to keep a low profile. It's whizzing along in the McGill style.
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Post by dem on Feb 5, 2013 13:34:03 GMT
Is it a prequel or something? I can't remember if Omen IV: Armageddon 2000 actually ended in Armageddon, but even so, Damien and Thorne Industries can't be that resilient.Finally picked the third one up shortly before Christmas, but haven't got around to it yet. Is it true to the film? Gordon McGill - The Final Conflict: Omen III (Futura, 1980, 1982) Blurb Damien Thorn
His coming was foretold in a prophecy of ultimate evil from beyond the dawn of time. A prophecy which spelled destruction for those who ignored the Warning until it was too late. A prophecy which is about to be terrifyingly fulfilled ...
From a crumbling monastery in the depths of Northern Italy, Father De Carlo has watched the relentless progress of the Anti-Christ. Now he knows that the world is on the edge of a nightmare that it will never survive. And Mankind's only hope lies with twelve men and one lonely woman who must fight a desperate battle that will carry them across the very frontiers of darkness... |
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Post by mattofthespurs on Feb 5, 2013 14:09:09 GMT
Loved the films as a kid and remember picking these up as they came out and was absolutely enthralled by them.
Haven't read them since then... Probably sometime around 1984?
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Post by franklinmarsh on Feb 5, 2013 14:22:01 GMT
The Abomination is set in 2001 but published in 1985. It's a direct follow on from IV - Armageddon seems mostly confined to the Middle East - Russia and the USA hastily signing a peace treaty as it all went off in the desert. Mind you, the writer bought an apartment with a great view of the Hudson - now reduced to fog since Armageddon. Hee!
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