of the series to appear as the same character in more than one installment, although actor Tommy Duggan appears in the first and third installments of the series as different characters. Damien: Omen II was the film debut of Meshach Taylor (Dr. Kayne). Production Under Mike Hodges Richard Donner, director of the first Omen movie, was not available to direct the second; he was busy working on Superman. British director Mike Hodges was hired to helm the movie. Four weeks into principal photography, the producers fired Hodges, claiming his working methods were too slow and placing the film behind schedule. Harvey Bernhard cited a demonstrative instance where Hodges spent half a day's filming setting up a single shot of Damien arriving at the military academy in order to place a bonfire in the foreground. Hodges maintained a screenwriter's credit on the finished film. In later interviews, Hodges commented sanguinely on his experiences working on Omen II. Under Don Taylor Bernhard replaced Hodges with Don Taylor, who had a reputation for finishing films on time and under budget. Taylor reshot several of Hodges scenes, though several of the earlier director's takes remain in the final film, including: The entire opening sequence in Jerusalem. Some of the footage at the factory and at the military academy. The dinner where Aunt Marion shows her concern about Damien Lance Henriksen expressed frustration that Taylor cut most of his role and character development. Taylor also added the twist ending of Ann Thorn being a secret disciple of Damien who kills Richard in the climax. Filming locations Unlike the first film, which was shot primarily in England, Damien was filmed almost entirely in the United States. The film was mainly set in Chicago and was largely filmed in that city's downtown. The Thorn Industries building was actually Chicago City Hall. Another scene took place at Graceland Cemetery. Scenes that were supposedly at a New York City railroad freight yard, with the CBOT Tower and the Sears Tower clearly visible in the background, were actually filmed at the Rock Island Railroad's 12th Street intermodel yard in Chicago, IL. Other locations included Lake Forest Academy's campus, which was used as the Thorn Mansion, the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy's Lake Geneva, Wisconsin campus, which was used for the military academy, with real Lake Geneva students portraying most of the academy cadets, and the Murphy Estate on Catfish Lake