The Final Conflict

The Omen trilogy comes to a close with this expectedly uneven installment, in which a grown-up Damien’s (Sam Neill) rise to power is temporarily foiled by a cabal of knife-wielding monks and the possible second coming of Jesus Christ himself. Much like its predecessors, The Final Conflict has been saddled with an overlong running time that’s often exacerbated by the inclusion of padded-out and entirely needless sequences – with the almost egregiously laid-back pace certainly not helping matters. There’s little doubt, however, that Neill’s irresistibly sinister performance goes a long way towards sustaining one’s interest through the movie’s dull patches, while it’s awfully hard not to admire the degree to which screenwriter Andrew Birkin has embraced the inherently dark nature of the film’s storyline (something that’s particularly true of the genuinely shocking baby-killing montage). The proliferation of unanswered questions – where did all of Damien’s disciples come from? why can’t you just lop his head off? – remains a fairly consistent distraction, although, to the film’s credit, the admittedly over-the-top conclusion does an effective job of wrapping up the Damien saga. And although the film lamentably contains far less gore than either The Omen or Damien: Omen II, The Final Conflict will undoubtedly leave fans of the series satisfied. (Casual viewers, on the other hand, will surely find themselves baffled by the franchise’s enduring success.)

**1/2 out of ****