Damien: Omen II

At around the 47-minute mark, Lew Ayres performed most of his own watery death scene up to the point where his character disappears beneath the ice. Lee Grant tried to persuade the veteran actor not to do it, but he was determined to attempt it.

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Because of this film and its predecessor, the popularity of the name Damien declined.

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In Joan Hart's death scene, food was placed in the stuntwoman's wig to attract the bird.

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While Mike Hodges was the film's director, his attitude toward the cast and crew was almost "strictly business," which may have led producer Harvey Bernhard to fire him and later hire Don Taylor, and to shut down production for about a week so Taylor could catch up. When Taylor entered the film set, the atmosphere was much more relaxed and energetic; Taylor was loose and playful with the actors and crew to keep things lighter.

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William Holden was the original choice to star in the first film, The Omen (1976), but he turned down the offer because he did not want to appear in a film about the devil. Gregory Peck was cast instead. "The Omen" became a major hit, and Holden made sure not to turn down the role in this sequel.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

Apparently, to shoot the death scene of Carl Bugenhagen and Michael Morgan at the beginning of the film, the producers brought plastic sand with them from Hollywood. The scene was filmed in the dungeons beneath the Knights' Halls in Acre, Israel. At the time of filming, the landmark had only recently been uncovered and had been filled with sand for centuries to preserve it for future generations. So there was no shortage of sand around. Leo McKern, who played Bugenhagen, insisted on being buried in the real thing.

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

Don Taylor replaced director Mike Hodges due to creative differences, but several scenes Hodges directed were kept, including the scenes at the factory and the military school, as well as the dinner scene in which Aunt Marion shows her concern about Damien.

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Richard Donner was supposed to return as director but was busy with Superman (1978).

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When Harvey Bernhard finished writing the script and greenlit production, the first person he contacted was Jerry Goldsmith, due to the composer's busy schedule. Bernhard also felt that Goldsmith's music for The Omen (1976) was that film's high point and that this sequel could never succeed without Goldsmith's music.

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Lee Grant was a big fan of The Omen (1976) and considered the chance to appear in the sequel with great excitement.

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Leo McKern reprises the role of the archaeologist and exorcist Carl Bugenhagen from The Omen (1976). He is the only actor to appear in more than one Omen film.

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The film's budget was 5.2 million dollars, twice that of The Omen (1976).

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

Lance Henriksen, who played Damien's platoon sergeant Daniel Neff at the military academy, stated in an article that this film drew him little attention after its release. He explained that he was hired by the film's original director, Mike Hodges, and that together with Hodges he planned for Neff to be a Vietnam War veteran who returns home to guide the young Damien toward his destiny. He also admired Hodges's plans to include artistic touches in the film, such as classical paintings (including but not limited to Edvard Munch's "The Scream"). Hodges's talent for the dramatic and artistic can be seen in the many visual references in the finished film that prefigure various death scenes. Henriksen explained that with Hodges's sudden departure from the production, many of his plans for the film went with him. He said he felt ignored by Don Taylor, who replaced Hodges and rushed to complete the film on time and on budget. Henriksen stated that he did not care much for the finished film and that it added little to his career, while he felt an affinity for the military academy students and bought them a television when filming there ended. Unfortunately, despite playing one of Damien's guardians and mentors, Henriksen did not have much of a relationship with Jonathan Scott-Taylor on set.

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According to Lee Grant, she and William Holden were very pleasant and friendly throughout the shoot; as they grew personally closer, Grant secretly fell in love with him. Holden later began to distance himself from her because she added great tension to the film's finale and shocking ending.

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The detail of Damien astonishing his teacher with his incredibly advanced knowledge of history comes from the original medieval legends of the Antichrist, who develops intellectually at a superhuman rate (a demonic parody of the twelve-year-old Jesus astonishing the Hebrew scholars in Luke 2:40-47).

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The ice-skating scene was filmed on Catfish Lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin, using local children as skaters. Local paramedics were on hand in case any of the children fell through the ice.

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At around 45 minutes, in the hockey scenes on the frozen lake, none of the actors actually knew how to skate and had to pretend they did; William Holden genuinely fell during filming (it was kept in the film).

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Jonathan Scott-Taylor, interviewed at the film's premiere, stated that his characterization of Damien was at least partly inspired by Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976), which premiered the same year as The Omen (1976).

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According to Lee Grant, she was shocked and had no idea about the surprise of Damien having a disciple at the end of the film, which was also a shock for the late William Holden.

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According to the novelization, the raven is actually Damien's subconscious. The murders he commits are the actions of Damien's identity.

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At around the 38th minute, Joan Hart's death at the hands of a vicious raven pecking out her eyes was a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).

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The color red is present on or around all the victims just before their deaths.

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While writing the score for this film, composer Jerry Goldsmith at times used arrangements of new cues from the first film's music. This was highly unusual for him and was allegedly done because the producers asked him to reuse the original film's music in the sequel. He still created many completely original cues and musical ideas, but he was apparently frustrated by the experience. When the time came to score the third film, he started from scratch, creating an entirely new musical palette and writing new Latin texts.

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Teddy is the only person Damien attacks but does not kill in this film.

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Lance Henriksen (Sergeant Neff) did not get along with Don Taylor and as a result found the shoot miserable. (He was hired by the original director, Mike Hodges, who was fired.)

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Damien's animal companion/helper in this film is a raven. In The Omen (1976) and The Final Conflict (1981) it is a Rottweiler.

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This is the only Omen film set in the United States; The Omen (1976) and The Final Conflict (1981) are set in London.

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Thorn Mansion is the Lake Forest Academy (formerly the Armor Estate) in Lake Forest, Illinois. Because the school built a very modern structure in front of the old grounds, all the exterior scenes had to be shot in the backyard of the academy/estate.

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The students at the military academy were real students of St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin.

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The scene that was supposed to take place in New York was actually still Chicago. The film was shot in Chicago in southeastern Wisconsin and in Eagle River in the northern part of the state of Wisconsin.

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Leo McKern and Ian Hendry, who initially shared an important (and powerful) scene, do not appear in the end credits.

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Early in the film, when the statue of the Whore of Babylon is unearthed in Jerusalem, the whore is shown riding the ten-headed beast, leaning back with her head looking up at the sky. This statue foreshadows another statue at Davidson Military Academy. When the students first meet Sergeant Neff, the statue they are facing in the background is a figure on horseback in exactly the same pose as the Whore of Babylon.

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

Joseph Howard's novelization of the film states that the Thorn family is regarded as being as prestigious as the British Royal Family. This may explain why Richard Thorn protects his family and their privacy so fiercely. The novelization gives the example of the family's vacation home in Wisconsin being placed under intense security surveillance, especially after the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst. Media attention, which would likely have focused on the family after Robert Thorn's suspicious death in the first film, could of course have contributed to this decision. This also helps explain why Richard is tense and angry when Robert is mentioned.

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At around the 28th minute, the bully Teddy, who angers Damien into using his telekinetic powers, is Damien's first victim. Up to that point all the murders had been carried out by Damien's helpers and by the Devil himself. After this point it is mostly Damien.

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This is actor Meshach Taylor's debut.

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A large part of the film takes place at the Davidson Military Academy, founded by the fictional Harlan Page Davidson. The title "David's Son" is frequently used in the Bible to refer to Jesus Christ, Damien's opposite.

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Mark, whom Damien says he loves and calls "his brother," is the only person Damien kills in this film.

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The control panels at the chemical plant that Damien and his classmates visit look exactly like a smaller version of the nuclear power plant room in The China Syndrome (1979).

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In the film, Damien is protected and mentored by several people, including Paul and Sergeant Neff, who push him toward taking power; ultimately, Damien's aunt Ann is revealed to be the surprising figure who killed her own husband in the process.

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In this film, the raven kills three people.

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Directed by Don Taylor, this second sequel was well received by fans; his first was Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).

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Don Taylor, who was beginning to act as a director, appeared alongside William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953) and Submarine Command.

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While The Omen (1976) was fairly restrained with blood as it tried to distinguish itself from The Exorcist (1973), Part 2 is far bloodier, featuring Joan Hart's bloody eye-pecking scene and Meshach Taylor's decapitation by elevator cable.

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"Davidson Military Academy" is actually the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and it bears the same emblem. In 1995 the school merged with St. John's Military Academy to become St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin.

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Damien does not appear to physically kill anyone in this film. We see a series of strange accidents that kill the Devil's enemies, seemingly engineered not by Damien but by the Devil himself or demonic forces. Yet by the film's end, when the chamber in the museum explodes and Anne burns while crying "Damien!", and Mark suffers an aneurysm, we suspect foul play.

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In the first two films, the Thorn wives were played by women named Lee (Remick and Grant).

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The trailer was narrated by Don LaFontaine.

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After setting fire to the Field Museum (not the Museum of Science and Industry) and killing his aunt, Damien turns and walks toward the limousine, smiling maliciously and knowingly at his driver Murray. This is the same limousine driver we saw when Damien and Mark first hung out, joking about Aunt Marion, asking her for a cigarette, and so on.

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The only reason Ann wears a shawl outfit at the end of the film is so that her stunt double could be easily recognized while blowing up the depot in the penultimate scene.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

Damien is played by English actors in The Omen (1976) and by a New Zealand actor in The Final Conflict (1981).

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The elevator where one of the film's deaths takes place is a real, public elevator at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Details in the scene imply the victim enters on the 23rd floor, but in reality they enter from the basement, and the elevator only travels between the museum's three public floors. The floor indicators and button panel were props added during filming to give the impression of greater height. Any visitor to the museum can recreate this ride (minus the gruesome outcome) and, in doing so, will find it as it appears in the film, along with themed educational content such as highly realistic anatomical models of dissected organs mounted on the walls, and upon reaching the top floor will be just a few steps from an unparalleled collection of real human body specimens.

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Leo McKern (Carl Bugenhagen) and Ian Hendry (Michael) are not credited in the film's titles because the opening scenes shot by director Mike Hodges in Acre, Israel, are also uncredited in the film's titles. Both actors openly refused to appear in the film of its credited director Don Taylor because neither had been directed by him.

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Ian Hendry may have been the casting choice of original director Mike Hodges, who had directed him in Get Carter (1971).

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Another piece of evidence that the NYC scenes were actually Chicago is that the railway engine bears the name Rock Island. That railway went to Chicago but did not go to New York.

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The story takes place in 1975 and 1982.

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Damien's room at the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy was number 13 ("B" Company, south hall, 2nd floor). It was identified because it is the only room in the film with wall-mounted lamp fixtures. The remaining pipe was identified by a student in 1989.

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The scene in which Elizabeth Shepherd drives on a country road and then deals with the raven would be imitated for another "young person possessed" horror film, The Visitor, starring victim Glenn Ford. Both films feature Lance Henriksen.

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