Omen IV is the cinematic equivalent of buying a supermarket’s own-brand value corn flakes. Perhaps most jarring of all, the film also boasts one of the most annoying moppets ever to grace the screen, and let’s face it – “annoying brats in horror flicks” is a pretty big field to excel in, but Delia heads straight to the top of her class. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the satanic carol singers who crop up at one point, looking like rejects from the worst 80s music video, ever. Even a nod to the original’s famous beheading scene falls woefully flat, whilst another hapless feller’s encounter with a wrecking ball is more reminiscent of a Road Runner cartoon than the work of Beelzebub.

The set pieces, a trademark of the series, simply fail to hit the spot. Where photos of soon-to-be victims once showed suspicious dark lines pointing towards the impending wound, here they display a negative aura, one which looks like it’s actually been caused by spilling a hot drink on the picture. In a vain attempt to spice things up, a dose of new-age mysticism is added to the mix.

Omen iv: the awakening