The Italian-British co-production Holocaust 2000 (aka Rain of
Fire) is regarded as being better than any of The Omen sequels, and so, it would seem
to me that to call Holocaust 2000 a
lackluster version of The Omen would
be just as foolish as calling Fulci’s
Zombie Flesh Eaters a lackluster take
on Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. I won’t go as far as saying they are better, but
the aforementioned films by De Martino
most certainly are not mere copies or inferior imitations of their source
inspiration, yet they do have certain superior qualities and, in their own way,
became influential themselves.
It is obviously smart from the business end to
capitalize on successful international movies by creating other movies in a similar
vein, catering to the taste of the audiences of the time, exploiting the spirit
of the age. I imagine that this is what most likely gave these kind of genre
films the green light from producers who probably cared more about what other
movies the pitched script was similar to and not necessarily how original it
was. Call this trendy, if you must, but a lot of these movies brought the source
inspiration to different directions and new heights and therefore have an
originality that can be discovered for those willing to look beneath the
surface.
