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'''Idabel''' is a city in [[McCurtain County, Oklahoma|McCurtain County]], [[Oklahoma]], [[United States]]. The population was 6,952 at the 2000 census. It is the [[county seat]] of [[McCurtain County, Oklahoma|McCurtain County]]{{GR|6}}.
[[Image:Omen_III_The_Final_Conflict.jpg|right|thumb|Omen III: The Final Conflict movie poster]]
'''''Omen III: The Final Conflict''''' is the third installment in a cycle of horror movies documenting the rise and eventual fall of the [[Antichrist]]. It follows ''[[The Omen]]'' and ''[[Damien: Omen II]]''.
The city was first named Pernell, then renamed for the daughters, Ida and Belle, of a Choctaw citizen on whose land the town was built.
Released in [[1981]], the film charts the progress of the now-adult Damien Thorn to a position of earthly power (becoming [[United States of America|United States]] [[ambassador]] to the [[United Kingdom]] with an eye on the U.S. Presidency) as a springboard for triggering the Apocalypse.
==Geography==
The movie was directed by [[Graham Baker]]. It stars [[Sam Neill]] as Thorn, with [[Lisa Harrow]] as journalist Kate Reynolds, and [[Rossano Brazzi]] as the priest Father DeCarlo, charged with the divine task of killing the [[Antichrist]].
[[Image:OKMap-doton-Idabel.PNG|right|Location of Idabel, Oklahoma]]
Idabel is located at {{coor dms|33|53|47|N|94|49|45|W|city}} (33.896299, -94.829238){{GR|1}}.
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of 41.3 [[km²]] (15.9 [[square mile|mi²]]). 41.3 km² (15.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.06% is water.
The movie tells two simultaneous stories: the rise of Thorn and his hold over his increasing flock of worshippers and the work of DeCarlo to kill Thorn, set against the countdown to the second coming of Christ and the showdown between good and evil.
==StoryDemographics==
As of the [[census]]{{GR|2}} of 2000, there were 6,952 people, 2,735 households, and 1,785 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was 168.5/km² (436.3/mi²). There were 3,129 housing units at an average density of 75.8/km² (196.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 56.99% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 24.45% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 10.44% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.30% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.01% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 3.37% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 4.43% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 4.96% of the population.
There were 2,735 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 21.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.08.
Damien Thorn ([[Sam Neill]] is appointed Ambassador to the Court of St James, the same position his adoptive father held in [[The Omen]], the first film in the Omen cycle. Unlike the two incarnations of Damien portrayed in previous Omen films, the adult Damien is entirely aware of his unholy lineage, and his destiny.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 85.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males.
An alignment of the stars in the Cassiopeia region of the night sky (the traditional ___location of the stellar signal of the second coming) causes the creation of a super "star", described in the film as a second Star of Bethlehem.
The median income for a household in the city was $20,496, and the median income for a family was $24,189. Males had a median income of $24,182 versus $16,958 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $12,241. About 28.7% of families and 31.3% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 42.5% of those under age 18 and 18.4% of those age 65 or over.
Thorn realises it is a sign of the [[second coming]] of [[Jesus]] and he orders all male children in England born on the morning of March 24, 1981 (the morning when, in the story, the Cassiopeia alignment occurred) to be killed in order to prevent the Christ-child's return to power, as predicted in the [[Book of Revelation]].
Thorn has also become involved with journalist Kate Reynolds [[Lisa Harrow]], a complex relationship which undermines his plans to dominate the world. Initially the pair become romantically involved, but later, as Reynolds begins to understand Damien's nature, he focuses his attention on her teenaged son Peter [[Barnaby Holm]], whom he takes as a disciple.
*[http://www.idabel.lib.ok.us/ Idabel Public Library]
{{Mapit-US-cityscale|33.896299|-94.829238}}
Ultimately the relationship is his undoing.
{{Oklahoma}}
Meanwhile, Father DeCarlo [[Rossano Brazzi]] and six other priests armed with the Seven Daggers of Meggido - ancient holy weapons; the only earthly weapons which can harm the [[Antichrist]] - hunt Thorn in the hope of killing him before he can destroy the "Christ child".
[[Category: ThrillerCities filmsin Oklahoma]] ▼==Analysis==
[[Category:McCurtain County, Oklahoma]]
Like the two previous movies in the Omen series, ''The Final Conflict'' it is largely dependent on showpiece effects sequences and stunt-centred deaths for its horror impact, in particular a montage showing babies being brutally murdered in progressively unsettling ways, including a baptismal drowning and a car accident which is quite similar to the famous pram sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's [[Battleship Potemkin]].
[[Category:County seats in Oklahoma]]
The film's plot re-uses the series [[McGuffin]] - the Seven Daggers of Megiddo - introduced in [[The Omen]].
According to the story they are the only earthly weapon which can harm Damien. In [[The Omen]] it is explained that the first blade must be used to strike the heart (thus extinguishing physical life) and the remaining six daggers are used to form a cross (extinguishing spiritual life) with the first as a centrepoint.
The use of the Seven Daggers of Meggido in the film is inconsistent with the manner in which [[The Omen]] explained they had to be used. In [[The Omen]] all seven were required in a specific arrangement (see above) to kill the [[Antichrist]]. In ''The Final Conflict'', however, the priests arm themselves with one dagger each.
It is unclear in the movie if the one-dagger approach is a deliberate plot ploy to allow further sequels (the tack used in Gordon McGill's sequel novels and in the TV-movie sequel ''[[Omen IV: The Awakening]]'', which largely retells the storyline of the first movie) or simply an oversight by the writer.
==Retconning==
In order for the story to be enacted in the then-contemporary 1981, the series timeline required substantial editing, moving events from the first two movies back in time. This allowed Thorn, a child in 1976 and a teen in 1978, to be an adult by 1981.
Though not commonly used, this is an example of retconning, where a film director will change the "retrospective continuity" of an earlier story in order to make a subsequent story consistent with the overall mythology.
==Alternative Title==
When first released in 1981, the film's original official title was simply ''The Final Conflict''. Later, as often happens with video and DVD releases, the title was adjusted to ''Omen III: The Final Conflict'' in order to accentuate its link to the other two films in [[The Omen]] cycle.
Today it is better known by its second title.
* {{imdb title|id=0082377|title=Omen III: The Final Conflict}}
[[Categoryio:1981Idabel, filmsOklahoma]]
[[Categorylmo:HorrorIdabel, filmsOklahoma]]
[[vo:Idabel]]
▲[[Category:Thriller films]]
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