The Starved Walrus Holiday Special: 2020

Damien [Omen II] is a comedy horror from 1978. It starred Jonathan Scott-Taylor (from now abbreviated to JST – not to be confused with JNT from Doctor Who) as the titular imp. Born 6 March 1962 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he was surprisingly good, committed to the character and lifted this pile of camp somewhat into more serious (and icy) waters. But the fun of the thing is not taking it seriously and in that regard Scott-Taylor comes across as far too earnest. He doesn’t chew the scenery once, unlike Sam Neill in the third slice of Omen pie. The least said about that the better. Being set in the USA also takes some of the edge of the original off. It just screams cheap rip off, even though it actually isn't. The Omen had been such a runaway success that the sequel was inevitable, but it flopped, and the planned follow ups dealing with the teen Damien and his adolescent years were never made.

Damien looks from the start like a B Movie but it's actually uproariously enjoyable, especially if you're high. It's eclipsed by its original obviously, but then most sequels are. Even The Empire Strikes Back, although because its darker and edgier (and also strangely boring), sheeple think its cool to say otherwise.

The sun never shines and its perpetual Autumn/Winter even though the movie is meant to unfold over a longer time frame. The deaths are too stupid and blatantly theatrical to be scary. In fact if this was done as a Brechtian musical with JST belting out lines about how badly done to he is, it would be beyond awesome. We do get a dubious narm 'why me?' at the lake. Why indeed Jonathan.

It's not art, but it does have Lance Henrikson from Aliens. He isn't the guy who gets cut in half this time round though. The older cast are fading A-listers of the time, trying to make a quick buck and cash in on the religious horror zeitgeist of the late Seventies. And who can blame them? This is Lew Ayres' final film, and god, does he go out in style. I loved him in Salem's Lot. But I loved everything in Salem's Lot, even the binbags with kids in.

The point at which is impossible to take Damien Omen II seriously is that hilarious pecky eyes lorry death. Not only is it completely and outrageously over the top, it's one of the best scenes in the movie. For all the wrong reasons. For a start her outfit has to be seen to be believed and her take off just isn't possible within the realms of physics or sanity. Unless she was shot out of a cannon. All the while farting music tries to be ominous.

Of course as we all know black equals evil and we couldn't have a blond Antichrist so they dyed JST's hair. But in the course of the movie it actually ranges from brown to black taking in ginger on the way, especially in the scene where he's being a clever arse with the historical dates. JST gives an awesome performance, outdone only by the massive white headed pus filled adolescent spot on his chin later. Isn't he supposed to be immune to all illness or something? Just not acne then. Booshit.

JST's Antichrist is unfailingly polite and professes to love cousin Mark. He actually does seem to as well , once he's killed him horribly that is. Well doesn't that just mess up the idea he's the spawn of evil? There's a hysterically embarassing 'noooo!' with dental fillings on show and everything. JST just isn't scary, especially in those massive leather gloves that make him look like a muppet. The Antichrist also has a cute Arran jumper he’s fond of wearing. I have a problem with Damien accepting his role a bit too quickly. He's actually a sweet kid (until he finds out what he is - which flat out contradicts the original movie, where he definitely knows what he is- cue creepy fourth wall breaking smile to camera).

The bits where he is kind to people, shows concern, laughs while throwing snowballs and is generally ‘normal’ are much more interesting than the blank child-of-evil of the first movie. But then that just stops. Yes, killing his cousin is a moral event horizon moment where Damien chooses his destiny, but wouldn’t it have been better if he’d felt more of that conflict? And surely the child of the Devil would naturally rebel against his father and actually turn out to be a goodie? Ah well.

Other standouts are the lovely old looney priest from the first movie (that’s good continuity, and a photo of the original kid in the newspaper at the beginning) and the mad old Aunt. She turns out not to be as mad as Damien’s Aunt Ann, who does actually devour the set whole like a desolate one by the film finale. It’s this that actually destroys the Thorn Museum and buries those Knifes of Plot Expediency. She is the whore of Babylon after all. Here's Babs cuddling up a little too closely with her nephew after Damien has embraced his destiny.

Dirty! Did anybody else see the non twist coming as obviously as those overdone omens? How Ann keeps going on about her favourite statue? Yep, she was a baddie after all and the cold bitch didn't even care her own son got offed to make way for her underage boyfriend's rise to power. But guess what Damien doesn't even need her. Because that's what the devil is like, eh eh eh.

Damieeeeeeeeeeeeeenn!!!! Campy. Quite.

Even though this film was his only real starring role, and may well have killed off his career as surely as a lift cable to the torso, Jonathan Scott Taylor really was a good actor. He was in a lot of bit roles in the late Seventies on British television, then just… disappeared. Unlike Harvey Stephens who played the toddler version of Damien, he doesn’t do the horror conventions gig. You’d think with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter someone would out the guy somewhere but he seems to have vanished without a trace, at least from public life. Maybe he was sick of occultist weirdos following him about wanting to touch that chunk of hair he had in front of his ear. It’s a real shame. The JoBlo website has this titbit:
Doing a little research on the one-time actor, there is very little information on his whereabouts. It seems that once he left the limelight, he left for good. There is no record of him taking the usual route of child actors growing up and doing horror conventions, or appearing in low budget horror flicks. In 2001 there was an article from the LA Times where producer Harvey Bernhard offers that, “He went into the trucking business in Australia.” He added that he communicates with his mother and father every Christmas. Yet finding out exactly what he is up to is damn near impossible.
Everyone loves a bit of mystery, don’t they? I wonder what he looks like now Dave!

Gallery:

Merchandising for this film is quite scant. No action figures, nothing. Apart from a very nice Japanese movie programme (why are the Japanese so good at these things?) and lobby cards, and the odd poster. Some of which are odd, and some that are cool. There's the soundtrack on vinyl and CD, and the vhs and dvd releases.

Vinyl LP:

Press Kit and contents:

Novel:

Lobby cards:

Japanese laserdisc:

Japanese Programme:

VHS cover:

Posters:

Various press clippings:

Selected Jonathan Scott-Taylor TV appearances:

The Copter Kids [played 'Bill Peters' 1976]

Watch a clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0IxEkKQbEE

Bugsy Malone [played 'Boy on Telephone' 1976]

The Cedar Tree (episode: I Trust You) [played James, 1977]

Note the same haircut he has in all of his television parts. This one is about a troubled boy who comes to stay with the family. Jonathan is basically playing Damien a year earlier in this.

1990 (episode: Witness) [played Bevan, 1977]

Watch Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuO0j-sowwE&t=1760s

The Four Feathers [played Harry Feversham aged 14, 1978]

Watch Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R7n8B8KkZE

The Mill On The Floss [played Tom Tulliver, 1978]

Jonathan's deep 'northern' accent is a thing of wonderment as he barks and shouts nice things at his inferiors.
Watch Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poHMv_zlkLc&t=21s

Julius Caesar [played Lucius, 1979]