Life hasn’t gotten easier for Damien Thorn since his nanny jumped off a ledge in The Omen (1976). A&E’s new sequel series to Richard Donner’s film shows that being the Antichrist isn’t one big devilish party, but rather a hellish struggle for your very soul. Daily Dead recently had the opportunity to watch the first five episodes of the series, and it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

The series picks up with Damien Thorn (Bradley James) at the ripe age of 30. Years after his father’s attempt to kill him with the Megiddo daggers, Damien still hasn’t sprouted horns and doesn’t sit on a throne of fire while the world bows at his hooved feet. Instead, Damien is quite human and has an occupation you might not expect: war photographer.

Along with his friends Amani (Omid Abtahi) and Kelly (Tiffany Hines), Damien is covering the violent conflicts in Syria. Such a job is dangerous enough by itself, but Damien discovers that he has more to dodge than bullets when an old woman in Damascus leans in close and shares some wicked words that stir up buried memories from long ago. And then things get really messy.

Upon returning home to a bleak New York City apartment suited to a vampire’s nocturnal tastes, Damien, who had forgotten his true identity, begins to wonder if he really is the Antichrist, as the Damascus woman implied. Memories from his imperfect childhood assault him, and it’s not long before Rottweilers show up and people start dying—and not necessarily in that order.

The bodies piling up around him notwithstanding, the Antichrist is surprisingly sympathetic in A&E’s new series, thanks in large part to Bradley James’ (iZombie, Merlin) multifaceted performance. Instead of dripping with evil intentions, James expertly portrays the gradually building horror and bubbling panic of a man who has just discovered that he is supposed to bring about the apocalypse. As those who seek to help or destroy him die gruesomely, Damien feels the weight of their deaths on his shoulders, and James bears that weight believably, walking the line between utter despair and grim determination. But being Mr. 666 means that Damien has a dark side, and James shows that he’s more than able to let his devious flag fly when pushed to the edge. Suffice to say that the power of Christ does not compel him.

What should compel most viewers, however, is the story. Damien showrunner and executive producer Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead, The Shield) has crafted one hell of a follow-up to The Omen. Intermingling flashbacks from Donner’s film (and for the most part disregarding the sequels of the franchise), Mazzara has created an accessible avenue to an adult version of the boy who first freaked out viewers decades ago with that chilly stare. Mazzara humanizes Damien. It’s hard not to care about Damien’s wellbeing, even though his survival means the end of the world as civilization knows it. No characters—including Damien—are safe in Mazzara’s show. Characters initially assumed to be big players in the first season can easily die in a grisly Final Destination-esque way, adding another ominous element to the overall series.

As good as Bradley James is in Damien, it would be a sin not to mention the supporting cast, which is great across the board. The Walking Dead fans who couldn’t get enough of Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene will have a treat watching the enduring actor play John Lyons in this series. A far cry from the benevolent farmer that helped save Rick’s son, John has malevolent plans and it’s awesome to watch Wilson with a little fire in his eyes.

Equally excellent is Barbara Hershey (Insidious, Black Swan) as Ann Rutledge, a woman who has kept a close eye on Damien with the intention of keeping him on his path to the apocalypse. Hershey is a revelation, possessing both a quiet rage and a motherly love that make for a potent combination. Also popping up is another The Walking Dead alumni, Jose Pablo Cantillo, who guest stars as a wounded war veteran in an emotionally gripping role that should have more than a few viewers looking for the nearest box of tissues. Their performances are all enhanced by yet another person from The Walking Dead, composer Bear McCreary, whose score for Damien rattles the TV screen in its frame with a foreboding thunder of bass.

Damien gets stronger as the series goes on, with the fifth episode containing the creepiest content yet. It’s well worth the wait for viewers who don’t feel hooked after the first episode, but as those who tune into A&E tonight will see, Mazzara and company waste no time unleashing a little Hell on Earth right out of the gate.

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Damien premieres tonight at 10:00pm EST on A&E.

  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.