Writers: Andrew Birkin, David Seltzer
Stars: Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi, Don Gordon
Length: 1h 48min
《凶兆 III:最後的衝擊》(Omen III: The Final Conflict) 的故事聚焦於Damien Thorn的成年生活。憑藉天生屈機般的優越條件,年輕的他已成為一位極具影響力的企業家,並身居要職,擔任美國駐英大使。他利用自己的權勢,不惜殺害多名初生嬰孩,試圖尋找並摧毀剛誕生的救世主,以打破聖經的預言並改變自己的宿命。
同時,一群忠於基督的神父組成秘密組織,攜帶傳說中的七把梅吉多匕首,這是唯一能殺死Damien的武器。他們展開了一連串的暗殺行動,試圖阻止Damien的邪惡計劃。然而,Damien能力之強讓這些神父們感到徹底絕望。他們多次嘗試暗殺,但根本無法靠近他,完全被壓制,顯示出Damien幾近無敵的狀態。
然而,劇情卻因Kate這個角色而顯得有些尷尬。Damien的能力已被塑造成接近無敵,但故事偏偏插入了紅顏禍水或英雄難過美人關的老土情節,使得這段關係與主線顯得格格不入。最終,Damien竟然死於Kate之手——她突然撲出來,用梅吉多匕首刺傷毫無防備的他,結束了他的生命。這種解決方式既欠缺說服力,也削弱了整個系列的宗教張力和終極對決的應有份量。
本片的標題是《最後的衝突》,觀眾期待的應該是基督與反基督的巔峰對決——兩個強者之間的激烈對壘。然而,影片卻將這場衝突轉化為一個俗套的情感戲,完全偏離了整個系列的核心主題。Damien的死亡不僅顯得突兀,而且令人失望,因為它並未真正展現善與惡的終極交鋒,而是選擇了一種輕率又缺乏戲劇張力的方式草草收場。
此外,Damien與Kate之間的曖昧關係也讓人不禁猜測是否是為了埋下伏筆,暗示Damien可能會有下一代。幸運的是,系列並未拍攝相關的續集,否則極有可能進一步拉低整體水準。
整體而言,《凶兆 III》的表現遠不如前兩部,無法延續其成功,反而以一個草率的結局讓這個經典系列的最終章顯得遺憾且不盡人意。
Oh my Father, Lord of Silence, Supreme God of Desolation, though mankind reviles yet aches to embrace, strengthen my purpose to save the world from a second ordeal of Jesus Christ and his grubby mundane creed. Two thousand years have been enough. Show man instead the raptures of Thy kingdom. Infuse in him the grandeur of melancholy, the divinity of loneliness, the purity of evil, the paradise of pain. What perverted imagination has fed man the lie that Hell festers in the bowels of the Earth? There is only one Hell, the leaden monotony of human existence. There is only one Heaven, the ecstasy of my Father’s kingdom.Damien
Most people confuse evil with their own trivial lusts and perversions. Now, true evil is as pure as innocence.Damien
Kate Reynolds: I feel like a moth, flying closer and closer to the flame.
Damien Thorn: Which is the moth, and which is the flame?
Damien Thorn: Which is the moth, and which is the flame?
Nazarene, charlatan, what can you offer humanity? Since the hour you vomited forth from the gaping wound of a woman, you’ve done nothing but drown man’s soaring desires in a deluge of sanctimonious morality. You’ve inflamed the pubertal mind of youth with your repellent dogma of original sin. And now you absolve in denying them the ultimate joy beyond death by destroying me? But you will fail, Nazarene, as you have always failed. We were both created in man’s image, but while you were born of an impotent God, I was conceived of a jackal. Born of Satan, the desolate one, the nail. Your pain on the cross was but a splinter compared to the agony of my father. Cast out of heaven, the fallen angel, banished, reviled. I will drive deeper the thorns into your rancid carcass, you profaner of vices. Cursed Nazarene. Satan, I will avenge thy torment, by destroying the Christ forever.Damien
If Abraham was ready to slay his own son for the love of his God, why won’t you do the same for the love of mine?Damien
Disciples of the Watch; I stand before you; in the name of the one who was cast out from Heaven, but is alive in me.Damien
I now command you to seek out and destroy the Nazarene child. Slay the Nazarene… and I shall reign forever. Fail… and I perish.Damien
He was born last night… I feel his presence. Like a virus, a parasite feeding on my energy; trying to drain me of power. For everyday that he lives and grows, my force will weaken.Damien