Ominous
Michael and Rachel are devastated when their six-year-old son dies in a tragic accident. When a stranger offers to bring the boy back to life, they take the offer. However, the child who returns is not the child they once knew.
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- Cast:
- Barry Watson , Esmé Bianco , Gavin Lewis , Mark Lindsay Chapman , Eric Etebari , Jaime Gomez , Ian Hyland
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Reviews
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
First of all -- who are these people who give this movie ten stars? Either they work for the company that made this movie or are incredibly stupid or have never seen a good movie. As noted by others - this movie is a really poor imitation of The Omen and its other incarnations. There is no tension or suspense or even drama. Without any subtlety, our demonic boy uses his 'powers' to kill those around him. Here is where the movie's low budget becomes most evident with its basement quality (laughable) CGI. There was zero empathy created for the characters. The mom is daft to the facts around him, unconvinced his baby is responsible for the various murders around him - even when he walks away from a burning car without a scratch. This movie looks like the typical crappy Syfy made for TV movies. And even though, every time I see one of these POC, I vow never to watch this channel again, but the kid in me who grew up on 'Creature Features' (showing my age here), still loves a good monster/horror movie. This wasn't one.
In any formula film, the idea is to try to bring something new to the experience of the viewer, as opposed to recycling the same characters and situations. The formula of "Ominous" is the child-possessed-by-the-devil yarn. Unfortunately, there is nothing new or creative in reworking the demonic child motif.The premise of "Ominous" is that a Mephistopheles-like character called The Stranger preys upon parents who have lost a child. The Stranger promises to bring the child back to life in return for a promise to "protect" the youngster. Of course, the grieving parents agree to the bargain. But the replacement child is not the one they lost, but the devil in disguise.The one twist on the story that had potential was the incorporation of the Oedipus legend into the mix. The only way that the antichrist may die is for the father to kill the son. Such is the dilemma of the kind father in "Ominious," who is the first to recognize that the devil was swapped for his real son.Some credit should go to the filmmakers for interesting locations and camera angles. But the film as a whole is made-for-television fare with not much suspense. Somehow, even with the passing of over forty years, it is impossible to improve upon "The Exorcist."
Unexpected coming from the Syfy Channel, but "Ominous" actually manages to be one of the most intense horror films of the year. What could have been another retread of The Omen actually becomes something worth watching, thanks to good direction, a gripping script and solid production values on par with a Blumhouse movie. Things get off to a terrific start with a teaser depicting an untraditional exorcism and then quickly turn tragic with a heartbreaking few scenes where a couple lose their young son. However, apparently not having read any Stephen King books, they proceed to make a deal to get their son back. With the death of not one but two cuddly animals, you know this isn't going to be your ordinary TV movie, and sure enough, it delivers. Once the friendly neighborhood priest catches fire, daddy starts investigating his son's unusual behavior and finds out that someone's pulled a Rosemary's Baby on him. Things get even creepier when the dad realizes he's got to kill his demonic kid and tries to blow him up. The camera work is good and the movie looks suitably creepy. The performances are well above the usual Syfy standards with several standouts including Game of Thrones' Essie Bianco and Mark Chapman as the devil's creepy helper. Some of the cgi shots aren't great but there's a lot of great make up, especially when the kid finally transforms into Satan. This is a stand out film and definitely worth a look.
Horrible poor cliché of a movie. Terrible imitation of Godsend,The Omen,and Orphan. The acting is bad, although of the three main characters, the mother is the best. The little boy playing the child is contrived, stilted,one of the worst actors and at times comical.He is clearly playing a part. The "writer" does not even know basic grammar-to my mother and I instead of the proper object of the preposition-me. He makes this error throughout the movie's dialogue. I watched while I waited for a phone call so I did see pretty much all the film. Somehow I thought it might get better, but no such luck. Movies today are rarely horror, but too frequently horrible. I love a good fright but not silly nonsense that has no subtlety, artistry, or fear elements. Ominous is what this movie is-a warning to steer clear.