THE FINAL CONFLICT

Son of Satan: Sam Neill

THE FINAL CONFLICT aka Omen III: The Final Conflict/1981. Director: Graham Baker.

"Most people confuse 'evil' with their own trivial lusts and perversions." -- Damien Thorn

Damien Thorn (Sam Neill), the anti-Christ, is now grown and still causing bloody mischief after the events of The Omen and Damien: Omen 2. Thorn becomes the new ambassador to Britain, then discovers that the Christ child has been born in London. Even as Thorn has his minions murdering male infants in case one of them is his adversary, Father DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi) and his monks attempt to kill Thorn with special daggers -- only the little devil outwits them every time. Thorn develops a relationship with reporter Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow), but seems more interested in indoctrinating her teenage son, Peter (Barnaby Holm), into the ways of evil and lord only knows what else. But Damian's plans may come to nothing despite his best efforts ... The Final Conflict is a highly-enjoyable, slick and well-made horror film if you don't take it seriously, which is impossible to do for all but the sub-literate. On that mindless level the film boasts an excellent performance from Neill [Daybreakers], and a very notable turn from Don Gordon, who is Damien's executive assistant, and unbeknownst to Thorn, the father of a boy born on the wrong day. Brazzi [Summertime] doesn't seem to take anything that seriously, and probably didn't; Harrow and Holm are fine. The set-pieces in the film -- an assassin gets caught in a fiery trap while trying to kill Damien in a TV studio; the assorted suspenseful murders of the infants -- are well-done although a scene with dogs allegedly tearing a monk apart doesn't quite work because the rather cute doggies don't actually seem to be doing anything. The film is tremendously bolstered by a near-operatic score by Jerry Goldsmith, who has delivered an epic and beautiful theme with demonic undertones, and embellishes every scene with a sweeping and majestic backdrop. When Kate is, to all intents and purposes, raped late in the movie, she has virtually no reaction! But then the filmmakers have no more compassion for the assorted victims than Damien does.

NOTE: This was followed by the TV movie Omen IV, and just this year A and E had a series entitled Damien detailing the further adventures of Damien Thorn; it lasted one season.

Verdict: Comparatively empty but engaging and rather clever horror flick. *** out of 4.

SISSI

Karl[heinz] Boehm and Romy Schneider

SISSI (1955). Director: Ernst Marischka.

The Austrian Archduchess Sophie (Vilma Degischer) has decided that her son, Emperor Franz Josef (Karlheinz Boehm) should take a wife, and she has decided upon her Bavarian niece Helene, known as "Nene" (Uta Franz). Unfortunately, while Nene is in town with her mother (Magda Schneider) and sister Elizabeth, nicknamed "Sissi" (Romy Schneider), Sissi accidentally encounters Franz, who doesn't know who she is (not having seen the sisters since childhood) and is almost instantly smitten and vice versa. This causes a serious complication, as the last thing Sissi wants to do is hurt and humiliate her sister, who already thinks of herself as engaged to Franz. That's about all the real drama you get in this nonetheless entertaining and very well-acted Austrian film that makes full use of beautiful Austrian palaces and settings. (Unfortunately, these settings are not photographed with any particular elan; in fact recreations in a Hollywood film might have been more impressive because of it). A bone-headed alleged bodyguard who mistakes Sissi for an assassin is thrown in for some unfunny comedy relief. The Archduchess describes Sissi as "16, impudent, and ill-mannered," but she doesn't come off that way until after the old lady gets sharp with her. Schneider was 17 when she made this film and is lovely. Her real-life mother plays her mother in the film. Boehm was later known simply as Karl Boehm, wherein he appeared in such films as Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. His most famous movie is probably Peeping Tom, wherein he was billed as "Carl" Boehm. This is the first part of a trilogy about the beautiful young empress which was later dubbed in English, spliced together, and released in the US (especially television) as Forever, My Love. The basic facts about Karl Franz preferring Sissi to Helene are true although much of the rest is fanciful fabrication.

Verdict: Nothing spectacular, easy to take, but lacks that certain Hollywood panache. ***.

BLACK SABBATH

BLACK SABBATH (aka I tre volti della paura/1963). Director: Mario Bava.

A trio of horror stories from the director of Blood and Black Lace. In "The Telephone" a young lady is bedeviled by an old boyfriend who escaped from jail, or is it really a woman friend [or lover] who is causing the turmoil behind the scenes? This segment is interesting but half-baked, bordering on stupid. In the best and second segment, "The Wurdalak," starring Boris Karloff and Mark Damon, a family must wonder if their returning patriarch has become a vampire. The best scene has a dead little boy crying out pathetically for his grieving mother. In the final sequence, "The Drop of Water," a woman steals a ring from a hideous corpse that haunts her. Like most of Bava's films, the art direction is excellent, but sometimes the garish color works against the film's atmosphere. Frankly, the first and third sections should have been dropped and the middle segment expanded into a full-length feature.

Verdict: One out of three ain't bad. **1/2.