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 Posted:   Feb 15, 2024 - 8:06 AM   
 By:   DynoDux   (Member)

Prequel to The Omen (1976) out 5 April.

Trailer looks a little underwhelming and not very in keeping with the franchise, but I'm keeping an open mind.

Mark Korven (The Witch, The Lighthouse, Night Swim) has just been announced as composer.

Surely something from Jerry Goldsmith's trilogy masterpiece will feature? I'm not holding my breath though.

 
 Posted:   Feb 15, 2024 - 11:08 AM   
 By:   Stephen Woolston   (Member)

I'm afraid I'm just not interested in the prequel.

I mean, I know you shouldn't judge a film before you've seen it, but I've never, ever known a prequel to a great movie like THE OMEN do anything but disappoint and diminish the original.

And I can't see the music coming even close to what Goldsmith achieved.

And a pastiche like what was done in the absolutely terrible Omen IV (terrible film and terrible score) would be even worse than not referencing Goldsmith's score at all.

The was one great OMEN film (the original), one half-decent sequel (DAMIEN) and the rest of the sequels, spin-offs, and remakes, has just been a continuous devaluing of what was once a good brand.

Sorry to say it. Leave it alone.

Cheers

 
 Posted:   Feb 15, 2024 - 11:20 AM   
 By:   DavidCoscina   (Member)

I'm happy that Korven is getting more work. He definitely has 20th century modernism down which is almost anachronistic compared to the landscape of modern horror scoring. I'm looking forward to this score as well as his music to Nosferatu (2024)

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 15, 2024 - 11:20 AM   
 By:   Spymaster   (Member)

Ooh Night Swim has some genuinely scary moments. This is a good choice!

 
 Posted:   Feb 15, 2024 - 11:37 AM   
 By:   DavidCoscina   (Member)

Ooh Night Swim has some genuinely scary moments. This is a good choice!

Yes indeed. I like Korven's approach. It's very unique. The Lighthouse and The Witch also have truly eerie cues

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 3:48 PM   
 By:   DS   (Member)

If anybody was wondering - because I was - Mark Korven was directed to "stay away" from Jerry Goldsmith's material when composing this score.

https://jonman492000.wordpress.com/2024/03/02/talking-to-mark-korven-about-the-first-omen/

"The direction was really to deliberately stay away that iconic Goldsmith sound. The director wanted me to push it in a new direction and avoid the familiar tropes."

 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 4:08 PM   
 By:   JeffM   (Member)

Just call it something else then!

I’m not saying that have to make a carbon copy of the original but why bother using the IP if you’re taking it into a completely different direction.

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 4:59 PM   
 By:   GoblinScore   (Member)

Mmmmm.....smell those sound design roadkill and processed anvil strike jump scares already!

Dunno which is funnier....the folks who have an open mind and a shimmer of hope this entire project will be anything at all, beyond staring at a screen for probably 2+ hours, or those expecting a shimmer of the slightest cool avant garde aleatoric bar getting through. (NOT a dig at you Coscina, or really anyone here. Have you looked at the comments on various places, lauding this garbage? It's actually worrying, because it means....sequels, franchises and the further death of quality)

Believer & Demeter....never forget!

In other further nailing the coffin of the genre, Crowe is down to make the laughable Popes Exorcist a trilogy.

Scream, come back, all is forgi.....wait. That series, once revitalizing horror, like it or not, is still being milked for every last drop of bloody lameness.

I'll stick to the old school, rather happily.

 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 5:13 PM   
 By:   Yavar Moradi   (Member)

If anybody was wondering - because I was - Mark Korven was directed to "stay away" from Jerry Goldsmith's material when composing this score.

The only reason to maybe still have a glimmer of hope is that Marco Beltrami was apparently given the same directive on the 2006 Omen remake, and he still managed to produce a pretty good original score. (Even if nothing can compare to the Goldsmith trilogy of course.)

Sure this will probably be bad, but there's still a chance. We will see. Let's judge it after its out?

Yavar

 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 6:34 PM   
 By:   Scott Bettencourt   (Member)

Because I first became aware of him with The Witch, I assumed Korven was a young newcomer, so I was shocked to learn recently he'd scored the 1987 Canadian lesbian comedy I've Heard the Mermaids Singing.

Since the First Omen poster specifies "Original Score" by Mark Korven, I was wondering if the film would otherwise incorporate some of the Goldsmith classic(s), which Beltrami definitely paid homage to in his 2006 score.

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 6:54 PM   
 By:   GoblinScore   (Member)

Because I first became aware of him with The Witch, I assumed Korven was a young newcomer, so I was shocked to learn recently he'd scored the 1987 Canadian lesbian comedy I've Heard the Mermaids Singing.

Since the First Omen poster specifies "Original Score" by Mark Korven, I was wondering if the film would otherwise incorporate some of the Goldsmith classic(s), which Beltrami definitely paid homage to in his 2006 score.


Not expecting a reply, but I respect your taste & opinion Scott.

Are you optimistic at all, maybe the sea change could ripple here with Korven?
At all?
Not being snarky.

 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 7:07 PM   
 By:   Scott Bettencourt   (Member)

I have such low expectations for new scores these days - even from many of my favorite composers - that any time a score does something actually interesting (as opposed to just droning and plunking, which is all so many filmmakers seem to want from a composer these days) I'm pleasantly surprised.

That said, Goldsmith's Omen is a hard score to live up to, and Final Conflict even harder.

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 3, 2024 - 7:35 PM   
 By:   GoblinScore   (Member)

I have such low expectations for new scores these days - even from many of my favorite composers - that any time a score does something actually interesting (as opposed to just droning and plunking, which is all so many filmmakers seem to want from a composer these days) I'm pleasantly surprised.

That said, Goldsmith's Omen is a hard score to live up to, and Final Conflict even harder.


Thank you so very much for your reply Scott.

I was feeling, as usual, oldie fighting clouds.

I dip my toe here and there, with a measure of optimism, in new films. But my socks are quite steadfastly on my feet.

I wasn't expecting any Jerry quote here (Beltrami did well in his take, despite never wanting to watch the film), but I felt sickened that "another direction " surely means....Generic!


We should bring back generic foods, anyone remember that? It was the mid 80s. Certain it would buster-gang.

-Sean

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 12:20 AM   
 By:   ian642002   (Member)

If anybody was wondering - because I was - Mark Korven was directed to "stay away" from Jerry Goldsmith's material when composing this score.

If they want to go their own way with the score then I'm okay with that - you can't force them to, I suppose - but it's a bit like saying 'yes, we'd like you to score our remake of Jaws, but could you do us a favour and get rid of all that 'dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum' stuff?'

I'm more disappointed that they can't come up with any more ideas beyond 'let's do the 19th or so variation on that old movie'.

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 12:25 AM   
 By:   Prince Damian   (Member)

Prequel? Is it about the Thorns painting the nursery and stocking up on powdered milk?

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 12:26 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

I only have a marginal interest in this film. There was a press screening yesterday that I completely forgot about. Even if I once owned a 3VHS box of the first three films, I was never really that into the OMEN series. Score-wise, I like FINAL CONFLICT, but not that enthused with the others, and I've never been able to get into Korven either (despite appreciating many of his abstract landscapes in the films themselves). All that being said, I will no doubt see the film when it hits Disney+.

 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 12:34 AM   
 By:   Stephen Woolston   (Member)

I saw the trailer for The First Omen just recently.

It said to me, "This film is a common rehash of every trope and cliche you've come to expect from modern horror films, with emphatically nothing original or interestingly variant."

Cheers

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 1:12 AM   
 By:   moolik   (Member)

Horrible ( in a bad way wink)trailer just as all those Exorcist spin offs/ remakes.

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 4:34 AM   
 By:   Hurdy Gurdy   (Member)

The poster I saw for it last week - Red/Black with Mrs Darth Vader standing at an open door - was hilarious.

 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2024 - 5:45 AM   
 By:   DavidCoscina   (Member)

Mmmmm.....smell those sound design roadkill and processed anvil strike jump scares already!

Dunno which is funnier....the folks who have an open mind and a shimmer of hope this entire project will be anything at all, beyond staring at a screen for probably 2+ hours, or those expecting a shimmer of the slightest cool avant garde aleatoric bar getting through. (NOT a dig at you Coscina, or really anyone here. Have you looked at the comments on various places, lauding this garbage? It's actually worrying, because it means....sequels, franchises and the further death of quality)

Believer & Demeter....never forget!

In other further nailing the coffin of the genre, Crowe is down to make the laughable Popes Exorcist a trilogy.

Scream, come back, all is forgi.....wait. That series, once revitalizing horror, like it or not, is still being milked for every last drop of bloody lameness.

I'll stick to the old school, rather happily.


No offence taken. I get it. Korven to me is really interesting because he's not following trends. His music seems much more modern concert hall in its tone and execution. It might be a nice marriage in this case. I have no faith that the movie itself will be anything decent- I don't think the original trilogy was all that great to be honest- only Jerry's music made it appealing to me.

Korven looks to be using choir but probably in a Ligeti textural way which might be cool. I will check out the score and get back to you on my thoughts. I will pass up on the movie. Smaller films like Late Night with the Devil are far more interesting to me these days.

 
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