The Omen

Composed by Marco Beltrami

Conducted by Pete Anthony

Produced by Marco Beltrami

Released by Varèse Sarabande Records on June 6, 2006

11 - Scooter (2:44)

12 - Don’t Let Him Kill Me (1:29)
13 - On The Heels Of Spiletto (6:58)
14 - Dogs In The Cemetery (2:02)
15 - Drive To Bugenhagen (1:31)
16 - Dirty Deeds (4:12)
17 - Altar Of Sacrifice (4:10)
18 - The Funeral (1:41)
19 - Boy Genius (2:52)
20 - Omen 76/06 (3:30)

Total Running Time: 54:09

     In a marketing ploy to make the most of a 6/6/06 release date, someone thought it would be a good idea to remake Richard Donner's horror classic, The Omen. Given that the original film was released back in 1976 and that 30 years (and a turn of the millennium) have passed without much in the way of an Anti-Christ incident, it wasn't a particularly bad idea. Richard Donner's original film still holds up for the most part, but there's nothing like trying to demonstrate that Hollywood still has some talent by remaking a film that came out back when Hollywood did have some talent, right? As such, I haven't bothered. The trailers were enough to get me to suspect that this wasn't even going to be a proper remake, and instead it would be an almost shot-for-shot remake of the original, like Gus Van Sant did with Psycho. That and the pairing of Liev Schrieber and Julia Stiles just didn't seem to be to be anywhere near the same league as Gregory Peck and Lee Remick.

     The tapping of horror-expert Macro Beltrami for composing duties was also somewhat of a letdown. Beltrami has a lot of experience in the gener and has put out some interesting scores here and there, but he's never done anything that really distinguishes himself to where I would think he could adequately compete with Goldsmith's original. Perhaps he would be inspired by the score that preceded him and actually take pains to raise this one to a similar level? After listening to the 2006 version of The Omen, I've realized that Beltrami did have a lot of inspiration to take from, but also broke off into new territory. The resulting mix is nothing too extraordinary, but it is a competent horror score nevertheless.
 

     To Beltrami's credit, he does compose his score to run parallel to Goldsmith's. The layout is very similar, from the pastoral romantic theme to the chorus, but Beltrami imbues that actual sound of the music with his own tastes and utilizes more of the convention that the genre demands. There are a few moments in the string section that come really close to the original, first noticeable in "Damien's Tantrum", but Beltrami is good at shying away from too many direct homages. While the chorus references phrases from "Ave Santani", its heavily processed sound gives it an otherworldly, disharmonious feel that, while effective, doesn't hit the same level of power as its predecessor. One of the most effective uses of it comes with "More Tantrums" when the cue ends with the echoed refrains of the Satanic lyrics. Even with the processing, Beltrami thankfully stays away from using too many electronic elements and the synth that could easily ruin a score such as this is wisely left in the background. Beltrami's only real stumble comes from a few out-of-place references, such as a reference to his Terminator III score in "The Nanny's Noose" and a close resemblance to the string section from the main theme in Batman Begins in "Ms. Baylock". It is interesting to notice that both offenders occur in cues referencing Damian's nannies.
 

     While it in no way succeeds in the way that Goldsmith's original score did, Beltrami did make the most of his opportunity, and positioned amongst similar modern efforts it is very well done and effective. There's even a nice updated version of Goldsmith's original main title on the last track. If for some reason you really dug the newer incarnation, then you might really be interested in this score. Beltrami fans will probably be interested in this as well. On the other hand, if you have the original Goldsmith score, there's no reason to pick this one up unless you're simply curious as to how other composers handle almost the same material.

Reviewed on September 20, 2006

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