Damien: Omen II soundtrack

I have to admit that I was slightly obsessed with the Omen trilogy when I was teenager, loving the films so much that I developed a habit of scrawling the number 666 on all of my school desks, books and bags. Sad but true.

Having seen the films again recently I think it is fair to say that only the first film has stood the test of time. I remembered the second in the series 'Damien Omen II' as being a great film, but in reality it is heavy-handed, lacking in atmosphere, and treats its characters as mere puppets to be toyed with in its innumerable death sequences, which lack the inventiveness of the original film. Even the film's highlights (the infamous frozen lake and elevator scenes) lacked the emotional punch that I thought they had.

I'm obviously becoming too discerning in my own age.

Anyway - whilst the films deteriorated in quality as the series progressed, the same can not be said of Jerry Goldsmith's superb soundtracks. Of these, the soundtrack to the third film 'Final Conflict: Omen III' is generally considered to be the most accomplished and ambitious, and whilst I think that is probably true my personal favourite is the soundtrack to 'Damien: Omen II'.

What I love about it is its masterful combination of orchestral arrangements, male and female choirs, and (unusually and strikingly) electronic keyboards, the latter bringing a real energy and urgency to the score.

Unlike the scores for the other Omen movies, Goldsmith throws subtlety out of the window for this one. The main title is a throbbing, almost martial stomp-along which exudes real menace, a menace that continues throughout the entire score - the staccato croaks and crawks on pieces like 'Claws' and 'Broken Ice' are especially chilling, evoking as they do the sound of a raven, while somehow sounding other-worldly and demonic.

It is clear that Goldsmith had fun with this score. Whilst dark and sinister, it is so in a very playful way - you don't feel threatened by the music, rather you are swept along with it in an air-punching, demonic reverie, willing it along to the next surge of power and hellishness. This is music written from the antichrist's point of view, not the film's ill-fated protagonists.

The 'Damien: Omen II' soundtrack is available in a great 2 CD set which contains two versions of the score - the orchestral version and the version used in the actual soundtrack. They make a fascinating comparison. The orchestral version is the more nuanced, and the most crisply recorded, yet the version from the soundtrack contains some great snippets such as 'Aunt Marions Visitor', and gives greater prominence to the electronic keyboard. Both offer a different yet equally enjoyable experience.

Great stuff.