Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) keeps a watchful eye on the evil stemming from his emergence as the Anti-Christ in 20th Century Fox's "The Omen," a remake of the 1976 horror classic.

"The Omen," along with "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist," is one in the terror trinity that redefined horror films during the era that Nixon and Ford were leaders of the free world.

As to why the spawn of Satan was so pervasive then, let's just say that sympathy for the devil was not only the name of a Rolling Stones song. At the time, Roger Ebert noted that "what Jesus was to '50s movie epics the devil is to the '70s."

A little late for the millennium, but just in time for 06-06-06, Beelzebub's boy is back.

"The Omen" remake is creepily efficient. Unlike one of the newfangled horrorfests, it doesn't drown you in brackish atmosphere and surround-sound you with techno music.

This old-school affair about an American ambassador (Liev Schreiber) whose saucer-eyed son is the Antichrist may be spare on the effects, but it is nonetheless effective.

Reliably every 10 minutes, a brief, terrifying event (underscored by a dissonant chord) launches viewers about a foot above their seats.

The agents of horror are hounds from hell (literally), a nanny from hell (also literally), and the child of the damned himself, Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick). He's not a mutant, just a second-grader whose mute presence at the zoo makes the monkeys tremble with fear and try to break from their cages.

Damian's mother, Katherine (Julia Stiles), worries that she has given birth to the bad seed. She doesn't know that Damien is a replacement son for the one she lost in childbirth, a replacement engineered by a mysterious Roman dressed in a priest's cassock. For the life of her, she can't figure out why Damien convulses whenever he's near a church.

Scrupulously faithful to the 1976 original starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, "The Omen" is crisply directed by John Moore ("Behind Enemy Lines") in Hollywood Romanesque style. Which is to say, there are many vaulted ceilings and arched windows, all the better to frame the inevitable lightning bolts.

Schreiber and Stiles are perhaps more earnest than called for. Material such as this requires shallow stylization rather than deep feeling. Which is why Mia Farrow (Rosemary herself!) is perfect for the job of Damian's nanny: Her beatific smile cannot mask her sinister motives.

For those familiar with the original, there is no pressing reason to see this remake. What recommends it is the exquisite pleasure of being terrified in a theater full of strangers.

<b>TITLE:</b> "The Omen"<b>DIRECTOR: </b>John Moore<b>CAST: </b>Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Mia Farrow, David Thewlis<b>RATED: </b>R (violence, gore, profanity)<b>GRADE:</b> 3 1/2(out of 5)