The Omen (2006)

An American diplomat (Liev Schreiber) stationed in Italy is told his child is stillborn. Unbeknownst to his unconscious wife (Julia Stiles), he agrees to substitute a newborn orphan for the dead child. However, as the years pass and he becomes the youngest ambassador to Great Britain, the child exhibits unusual behavior as strange deaths occur. A remake of the 1976 horror film and directed by John Moore (A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD). The 1976 film was written by David Seltzer and the remake is an almost scene for scene remake so Seltzer again gets screenplay credit although he had nothing to do with the movie. The remake seems pointless. The original film was pulp material elevated by the screen presence of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick who brought some, dare I say it, class to the movie. Schreiber and Stiles simply don't have the star power of Peck and Remick. It also had a terrific Oscar winning score by Jerry Goldsmith which aided the horrific proceedings. The remake also has some poor CGI effects which the 1976 film avoided (thankfully, CGI wasn't as heavily used at the time). On the plus side, there's the striking cinematography of Jonathan Sela (BULLET TRAIN) and best of all, the inspired casting of Mia Farrow as the nanny from Hell, the ghost of ROSEMARY'S BABY impossible to ignore. With David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Gambon and Sean Davey Fitzpatrick.