THE FINAL CONFLICT (1981)
Starring Sam Neill and Rossano Brazzi
Neill was introduced to many American audiences through this atrocious third entry in the "Omen" series. As the anti-Christ Damien Thorn he appears primed to become the next president of the United States. Although he had a thick British accent in the second film, he's now played by Sam Neill and sounds like an American. A group of monks are constantly trying to assassinate him using sacred blades uncovered in an excavation.
The only truly memorable Omen-esque scene in the entire exercise takes place at the beginning when the U.S. Ambassador to Britain commits suicide by blowing his brains out during a press conference. He was apparently under the psychic influence of Damien's devil dog, which stared him down in a London park. But the other creative deaths don't seem so creative: A possessed mother skewers her own baby with a hot iron; dogs attack a priest; a would-be assassin is burned alive in plastic.
Although Jerry Goldsmith produced yet another excellent score, the flick lacked a decent story. Most important, perhaps, is that in this film the evil of Satan isn't embodied in a child. That's what made the first two films truly chilling. Worth steering clear of, unless you're a real Omen fan. A fourth film was made, but it was an irrelevant TV movie.