Initial release date: March 20, 1981
Studios: 20th Century Fox/Mace Neufeld Productions
Taglines: The power of evil is no longer in the hands of a child
Plot: Antichrist Damien Thorn is now a successful 32 year old businessman ready to fulfill his destiny. As Damien is appointed US ambassador to Britain, priests led by Father DeCarlo try to kill him. While Damien prepares for the return of Christ, he takes advantage of his relationship with Kate Reynolds to recruit her son, Peter, as his follower.
Cast
Sam Neill - Damien
Rossano Brazzi - DeCarlo
Don Gordon - Dean
Lisa Harrow - Kate Reynolds
Barnaby Holm - Peter
Mason Adams - President
Robert Arden - American Ambassador
Laureen Willoughby - Barbara
Marc Boyle - Brother Benito
Milos Kirek - Brother Martin
Tommy Duggan - Brother Matteus
Louis Mahoney - Brother Paulo
Richard Oldfield - Brother Simeon
Tony Vogel - Brother Antonio
Writer: Andrew Birkin
Director: Graham Barker
Rated R (108 minutes)
Now that I went through the first two Omen films (the classic is always great and its first sequel is pretty decent), it's time to check out the final theatrical Omen release in the original trilogy - The Final Conflict: Omen III.
The third movie is definitely not a perfect sequel. The Final Conflict does have its flaws and its passable at best. This entry focuses on Damien Thorn's rise to power and this sequel has a lot going on - between his rise to power, the second coming of Christ (which is a plot point) and the seven monks who are trying to assassinate Damien with the recently found Knives of Maggido.
Now having the monks try to kill Damien is an intriguing plot point but it sort of defeats the first film's logic. In The Omen, Damien needed to be stabbed by all seven in a specific way. But in this film, he only needs one. Also, the ending is anti-climactic and the ending seemed really rushed.
So, Omen III: Final Conflict is not the best, not the worst, it's just okay.
HERE ARE SOME TIDBITS FOR OMEN III: THE FINAL CONFLICT!!!
The movie's title when originally theatrically released in 1981 was just The Final Conflict but the movie has since generally been re-titled and now known as Omen III: The Final Conflict in order to for the movie to include the word Omen which exists as part of the title of all other movies in the series.
This movie was "The Last Chapter in the Omen Trilogy," as the tagline promoted on movie posters for the movie, until the studio decided to make Omen IV: The Awakening over nine years later.
The movie was filmed in 1979 but wasn't released until 1981.
Damien's Rottweiler from The Omen returns (after an absence in the first sequel).
The movie's story-line applied retroactive continuity changes to the franchise's timeline. Damien Thorn had been a child in The Omen (1976) and a teenager in Damien: The Omen II (1978) and could've not been an adult in his 30s by the time this movie was released in present day times of 1981. As such, the movie significantly retconned the events from the first two movies back further in the past to accommodate the series story's temporal shift.
Final Conflict earned $20.4 million domestic.
A sequel, titled Omen IV: Armageddon, was planned for a late 1984 release, based on the 1982 novel Omen IV: Armageddon 2000 by author Gordon McGill. After numerous setbacks 20th Century Fox ultimately cancelled the production. Later, McGill wrote a final Omen novel called Omen V: The Abomination, published in 1985.
In 1991, another sequel, Omen IV: The Awakening, was produced for TV in a failed attempt by Fox to revive the movies as a horror franchise in the style of Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.
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