U.S. diplomat Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber) substitutes an orphan newborn for his stillborn baby in order to spare his unknowing wife (Julia Stiles) the pain of the truth. But after the a series of grotesque murders and suicides, the Thorns slowly come to realize their child may actually be Satan. This is a remake of the 1976 original.

The story hasn’t appreciably changed from the original. To recap, after a priest offers Robert Thorn an orphan baby to call his own while his wife is till unaware of their child’s death at birth. Robert reluctantly agrees to the replacement…and the wheels of death and the beginning of the apocalypse are set in motion. As young Damien comes into early childhood, evil begets the Thorns. Moreover, after a new Nanny (Mia Farrow) shows up to interview things become even worse. As young Damien’s mother comes to realize who her son might be, her husband sets off in an all out effort to find the truth and stop him in his tracks.

The film builds in suspense and horror from the very start for the next hour and slowly wanes and just fails. I found the random deaths thrilling but as things started to become overtly demonic in origin, I was puzzled by Robert Thorn’s inability to sniff out this evil sooner.

Moreover, only after Damien’s ‘run in’ with his mother did she figure out what was going on. Mia Farrow looks great for her age but she brought little to her portrayal of Mrs Baylock. She seemed to just keep this prim and quiet manner about her and failed to exude a more subtle evil that would have added to the tension as the film built toward the end. The acting of Julia Stiles was solid but I found Schriebers calm, stoic manner unbelievable in the face of what was happening around him. He didn’t really ever seem to be terrified or the least bit suspicious early on in the story. I would’ve hope for a bit more body language from him in the face of what was happening around him.

Video

The color saturation on this 1080p 1.85:1 transfer was adequate, but the films overall appearance ranged from a natural color palate to an occasional stylized, somewhat washed out look. Hence, colors seemed somewhat muted in those scenes. However, color saturation could be very good… particularly at Damien’s birthday party. There was a light amount of film grain was noted in various scenes but nothing distracting save for some final scenes where grain was heavier. I found the stylized look fitting for this horror genre film. Black levels were deep and contrast was very good in many scenes. The dark scenes were well filmed with many details able to be resolved. This was strong point of this transfer. Moreover, there were many scenes where the picture was very sharp. The picture was relatively artifact free save for some MPEG artifacts noted in the subtitles.

Audio

Recorded level allowed for viewing at -0 (or THX reference level). But where’s the bass? I found that bass in the most palpable regions (30 Hz to 60 HZ) was surprisingly muted. Some powerful low bass, however, did make it in. Some scenes really energized my room in the subsonic frequencies but the higher bass frequencies concomitantly seemed muted.

On a similar note, he crack and roar of the thunder had a dynamic, thrilling tone to it yet a hollow character that was somewhat unsatisfying. Dynamic range was powerful and had me jump two or three times during some of the more frightening scenes .Dynamics range was a reference feature of this soundtrack. Surround use was active but not aggressive as often as needed. Many times was there a sense of aural spaciousness that created a creepy atmosphere and priming for a scary jolt. All and all, the soundtrack fits this genre of film nicely. Dialog was well integrated and easily understood throughout. No hard edge, even at this high listening level. A solid effort on this soundtrack.

Special Features

• Commentary: Discussions with Director John Moore, Producer Glenn Williamson and Dan Zimmerman. Standard fare interviews with the guys who made the film. They love their efforts here…Too bad many won’t agree.
• Abbey Road Sessions: A documentary of sorts on the design of the horror soundtrack for this film. this piece shows how it is done and footage of the orchestra’s rehearsals. really an interesting tidbit on how the score is formulated. There was much to learn. Rarely, is this area ever addressed in ‘making of’ featurettes.
• Revelations 666 Featurette: A series of interviews with scholars, historians, biblical experts and various kooks (including a Warlock) on the history of 666 (A.K.A the Mark of the Beast).
• Devil’s Footnotes trivia track: Trivia from the featurette… not much to glean from this waste of space.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned above, this film builds with horror and intensity but fails in the end (just like the original). Schreiber’s acting was questionable as was the too stoic Mia Farrow. Stiles turns in an adequate performance, however. The soundtrack, though wonderfully dynamic, fizzles on the low end giving us a mixed bag in the sonic presentation. The high definition transfer works to great affect relative to the standard DVD. With the unusual extras, you get a decent mix of fiction, score design and experts’ take on the whole 666 history… pretty all encompassing.