I was sad to learn yesterday of Sam Neill’s passing. Like most people, I first encountered Neill in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993), wherein he plays Dr. Alan Grant. I next encountered him in John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1995) and in Paul Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997). But what really captivated me was Neill’s performance as the adult Damien Thorn in Graham Parker’s The Final Conflict (1981), which is the third and final entry in the original Omen Trilogy.
I have already reviewed this film extensively in In the Desert of Set #34: Ishtar’s Final Conflict with “the Man,”; it is, in my opinion at least, the single most engaging entry in the entire Omen series to date. While the 1976 original starring Gregory Peck is probably the superior film by all objective standards, I personally enjoy The Final Conflict much more. This film also features the very best cinematic portrayal of the Antichrist I have ever seen; none of those Left Behind movies on the Trinity Broadcast Network can compare to it. Sam Neill doesn’t just play Damien as some two-dimensional cartoon villain; he plays the role as if he personally believes Damien is actually the hero in this story. And he succeeds in getting us to actually root for his character, even while he orders countless newborn babies to their deaths.
I’ve showed this movie to several people over the years, and they have each had the exact same initial reaction: “Sam Neill is supposed to be the bad guy here, right? I’m not supposed to be rooting for him, right? Because I really, really want to see him win, and this is making me feel really weird.” That right there is the brilliance of this film in a nutshell. The entire point of the Antichrist is that he’s supposed to be this evil world ruler who deceives people into loving him and worshiping him. He’s supposed to be so suave and charismatic that no one can resist him, not even when they learn what he really is. To date, I have never seen any other actor portray the Antichrist as being so irresistable; Sam Neill is the only actor to have truly captured this aspect of the legend.
The Final Conflict is also much more than a “normal” Antichrist or Armageddon film, in that its titular conflict is not simply between Satan and Christ, but between male religious tyranny (both Christian and Satanist) and female agency. The character of Kate Reynolds (played by Lisa Harrow, who was Sam Neill’s romantic partner for a few years, as well as the mother of his son Tim) is the true savior figure in this narrative. She is not the normal “Christian” hero we might expect to see in this kind of story; in fact, she is actually a skeptic, a secularist, a feminist, and a single mother to boot. In my opinion at least, Kate is almost like a cinematic avatar for the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar, sent to sacrifice Damien for his failed and tyrannical leadership. Though the film has some structural flaws, it offers a suprisingly feminist and Pagan-influenced reinterpretation of biblical horror.
Alas, I’m supposed to be commemorating Sam Neill here. I first saw The Final Conflict when I was 17 years old, and this viewing coincided with a phase in my spiritual journey where it seemed like Set had “traded” me with the Goddess Ishtar for about a year. This is probably why the film makes me think about Her so much, in particular. I am indebted to both Sam Neill and Lisa Harrow for helping me connect with Ishtar in such a fulfilling way during this time. I love this film, it’s what made me a Sam Neill fan for life, and now that Mr. Neill has departed, I feel the urge to watch it several times on loop.
Rest in peace, good sir; you will be remembered for each and every one of your roles by those who adore you.