Omen IV: The Awakening

Plot

Virginia congressman Gene York (Michael Woods) and his attorney wife Karen (Faye Grant), after numerous failed attempts to have children, go to a nun-owned orphanage where they adopt a child that they name Delia from a nun named Sister Yvonne (Megan Leitch). At first, other than Delia scratching Karen and the later heart attack of the preacher overseeing her baptism, all seems normal. But seven years later, after the Yorks adopt a rottweiler that they name Ryder, Delia (Asia Vieira) starts to display the traits and personality of an increasingly violent and manipulative sociopath. Furthermore, as the family doctor, Dr. Hastings (Madison Mason) reveals that she is going through puberty, strange events begin to occur around Delia, including the death of the father of a boy whom she terrorized. Jo Thueson (Ann Hearn), a New Age practitioner hired by the Yorks as a nanny to help while Gene runs for the Senate, senses something suspicious about Delia after finding her healing crystals blackened by the girl's touch.

At the advice of her friend, an aura reader named Noah (Jim Byrnes), Jo takes Delia to a fair, where all psychics present sense a feeling of unease brought on by the girl's presence. Jo manages to get Noah to take an Aura photograph of Delia before she storms off. But as Noah sees her photograph showing very dark colors, Delia causes a fire that sets the entire fairground ablaze. Though Noah warns her to leave after showing her the photo, Jo attempts to find out why her young charge is so full of negative energy. It is during this investigation that Jo learns of Delia's true identity, but before she can share this information with anyone she is sent plummeting out of a window by Ryder. Karen, who witnesses the fall, faints from shock and is taken to the hospital, where she learns that she is pregnant.

Becoming increasingly alarmed and suspicious of her adoptive daughter, Karen turns to her preacher, Father James Mattson (Duncan Fraser), for help in understanding what Jo learned of Delia, and is told of the Antichrist. Eight months later, after learning that Sister Yvonne mysteriously left the orphanage when she and Gene adopted Delia, Karen hires detective Earl Knight (Michael Lerner) to find Delia's biological parents. Knight's search takes him to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Sister Yvonne now goes by the name Felicity. He finds her taking part in a bizarre religious ceremony during which Felicity stands in a circle surrounded by rattlesnakes. Earl shows Felicity a recent photograph of Delia, and unintentionally causes her suffer an envenomation overdose during a Snake handling ritual. After speaking to her before she dies, Knight finds clippings in Felicity's trailer relating to Gene. Unable to return to Virginia, Knight sends Karen a letter of his findings in the mail prior to being killed in a bizarre construction accident.

By this time, with her paranoia worsening, Karen has given birth to her son, Alexander, and is eventually able to leave the hospital and return home to meet the new nanny, Lisa Roselli (Andrea Mann). Growing increasingly distrustful of Delia around Alexander while learning of Yvonne and Knight's deaths, Karen receives the latter's letter that details Damien Thorn and reveals that Dr. Hastings is a Satanic disciple. Confronting Hastings for answers, Karen learns that Delia is actually Damien's daughter and that she is the protector of the real Antichrist: her twin brother, Alexander, whose embryo was carried inside Delia before being implanted into Karen by Hastings. Karen kills Hastings before returning home armed with his gun, where she kills Roselli, also a Satanic disciple, only to find Delia waiting for her, holding Alexander and drawing Karen's attention to the 666 symbol, clearly displayed on the palm of her brother's hand. Be it by the children's power or by her own inability to kill the infant, Karen ends up taking her own life, with Gene, Delia and Alexander attending her funeral.

Cast

Music

The score was composed by Jonathan Sheffer who wrote original music and referenced themes written by Jerry Goldsmith for the previous films.

Reception

The movie had an overwhelmingly negative reception from critics. Although the movie was a flop, it seems to be the driving force behind the short-lived A&E series Damien, as well as giving fans the theory that Alexander York changed his name to Damien Thorn, due to him having the memories of his previous life during The Omen and Damien: Omen II while not remembering his adult life and first death from Omen III: The Final Conflict. Before the series were cancelled, the second and third seasons were going to focus on what happened after Damien's first death and what happened to the Satanists, The Disciples Of The Watch (which presumably disbanded after his death and some were brought to justice by Father DeCarlo and the Subiaco Monastery through orders from The Vatican) and Kate Reynolds during his long absence while the fourth and fifth seasons were devoted to finding out and confirming wether Kate Reynolds gave birth to Delia and Alexander and exploring Delia's current whereabouts and condition while Damien struggled with the revelations of him being the Antichrist and wether he'll reject or accept his demonic heritage and destiny. Sources for all of the information about the tv show. None of the following references have anything to do with the TV show Damien. Also it appears that the TV show ignored The Omen 3 and The Omen 4.