The Omen
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Movie Reviews of The Omen
Movie Review: A TOP 10 Horror movie of All-Time!! Brilliant & Terrifying!!
Summary: 5 Stars
"When the Jews return to Zion and a comet fills the sky, the Holy Roman Empire Rises and you and I must die...from the Eternal Sea he rises, creating armies on either shore, turning man against his brother till man exists no more." The Book of Revelations predicted it all as the little priest told Robert Thorn...the greatest and most powerful evil ever known and the most terrorfying story of the coming of "the beast" himself was expressed beautifully and poignantly horrifying in that brilliant masterpiece named "The Omen".
Sporting an allstar cast, Gregory Peck and Lee Remick give outstanding performances in "The Omen" as Mr. and Mrs. Robert Thorn respectively. Although Mr. Thorn was the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, he was also the adopting father of the Antichrist named Damien, the son of the Satan, the desolate one, pure evil incarnate.
"The Omen" starts out with Mr. Thorn in Italy being informed of his own biological son's death on the 6th hour of the 6th day of the 6th month...June 6 at 6:00 am. At this time, there was the death of a normal child, but the birth of the greatest evil the world has ever known. But, to Robert Thorn, Damien is just a child and as the Italian Satanist said, "Mr. Thorn, God has given you a son". Indeed, Mr. Thorn does the unthinkable and adopts a child he knows nothing about and fools his wife into thinking it is their own.
Things go well for awhile, but on Damien's 5th birthday, a horrifying incident occurrs and then another and another and another, all associated with Damien's existence on Earth as the son of Satan. The little priest tries to warn Mr. Thorn of the Antichrist's presence on Earth and that it is indeed, his own son who is the manifestation of the beast. Quite understandably, Mr. Thorn doesn't believe this fanatical priest and why should he? Sure, there was a strange death, but his son, the Antichrist?
It is only after his wife begins having terrible emotional problems and has a terrible fall breaking her arm that killed their unborn child that Mr. Thorn begins to think about what the priest said. However, by this time, the little priest who is trying to help Mr. Thorn has perished in a mysterious "accident". When Mr. Thorn is actually contacted by a journalist who explains a terrifying "coincidence" regarding a strange fault in his pictures of future victims of odd and suspicious accidents, Robert Thorn is confronted with the fact that he has no choice but to investigate the origin of his own adopted child.
When Robert Thorn and the journalist go to Italy in search of the truth behind Damien's existence, they discover a horror that is so poignant and intense that the evil they are confronted with is unspeakable!!! Robert Thorn must overcome a personal tragedy, the evil apostate of Hell named Mrs. Baylock and the evil power of Satan himself in order to survive the day and more importantly destroy the Antichrist. But first, it is up to Mr. Thorn and the journalist to find Bubenhagen, the wise old priest in Meggido, to find out what must be done to destroy the son of the devil because this kind of evil doesn't die like a man dies. What a great story and a great horror movie this is and "The Omen" is an all-time classic that never ceases to scare you no matter how many times you watch it.
The plot of "The Omen" is indeed based on the Book of Revelations, Chapter 13 to be precise and what a brilliant plot it is!! "The Omen" takes the sum of all fears and puts it into reality on Earth in such a way that even the most seasoned of horror movie fans becomes absolutely terrified!! What a great movie this is ladies and gentlemen..."The Omen" is without a doubt one of the most horrifying and scary movies of all-time. The acting and directing are top-notch. The plot and storyline are logical and lead to a terrificly scathingly horrifying climax.
The horror of "The Omen" goes to our oldest and greatest of fears...what if Satan was actually on this Earth in flesh and blood? What if Satan was a man transparantly indistinguishable from any other man? Even more horrifying, what if you knew of his existence on Earth and no one believed you? The danger of knowing that information would bring about your death as so brutally illustrated by "The Omen" itself. What's even scarier about this film is that it is taken directly from a prophecy in The Bible. How much scarier can a movie be?? I'll be honest with everyone...no movie scared me more when I was a child than "The Omen" and I could not watch it and not be scared. Only when I was in my mid 20's and after seeing it about 20 times, could I actually watch "The Omen" and it still had an unbelievable effect on me.
After watching "The Omen", I guarantee you that this story will never leave you. The soundtrack/score of this flick is brilliantly done by the master himself named Jerry Goldsmith...the Antichrist theme music is horrifying itself and presents the perfect dark and evil mood associated with Damien and Satan himself. "The Omen" is one of the greatest horror movies ever made and is a "must own" movie for any sophisticated horror movie fan...in fact, one could make a strong argument that "The Omen" is the scariest movie of all-time given the subject matter of this film!
If I could give "The Omen" 10 STARS (as it is one of my personal favorite movies), I would, but I do give it the full 5 STARS rating and that is very rare coming from me as I am a harsh critic when it comes to horror movies. I love "The Omen" and if you are a true horror movie fan, you've already seen this movie and love it yourself. "The Omen" also has some terrific death scenes and in my opinion one of the greatest death scenes ever with the decapitating of a man in the town of Meggido...gotta check that out as it is horrifying and incredibly realistic looking! This movie is a testament to the fact that the atmosphere of a horror movie, mood and the story itself is what makes a horror movie scary and good, not a bunch of gore with a stupid story behind it...that's not scary at all. But, "The Omen" is SCARY in every sense of the word...kudos to the directors, screenplay writers and producers of this brilliant horror film masterpiece.
You WILL fear "The Omen" if not for the movie then you will fear the prophecy told in The Bible itself. It's not if this prophecy will be realized one day, but when it will be realized...it doesn't get any scarier than that folks and "The Omen" gives us a portrayal of possible events that could occur when this moment in time comes to pass.
"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six (666)." Revelation Chapter 13:18.
Movie Review: One of the best horror films ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
The original 1976 Richard Donner film "The Omen" ranks high on my list of all-time favorite horror movies. You'll notice I wrote "original" in that sentence. That's because, I regret to inform you, Hollywood decided to lens a remake last year. Ugh. I haven't seen this "reimagining" yet, so maybe I shouldn't be too hard on it, but I can't picture anyone improving on the effectiveness of the original. Anyway, I would probably place "The Omen" in the top five of my abovementioned list. It's that good of a movie. I like Donner's film so much that I even went on to develop a fondness for the two inferior sequels that followed: "Damien: Omen II" and "Omen III: The Final Conflict". Both follow-ups possess their own little charms that make them worth viewing (love the guy wrapped in plastic swinging through the fire in the third entry), but neither exhibits the sheer power and originality of the first film. "The Omen" gives us everything a good horror movie should. We get scads of gothic atmosphere, satanic evil, original death sequences, amazing performances from a first rate cast, a memorable musical score, and scares aplenty. That's the best thing about "The Omen": it's deeply frightening on many levels.
As the film opens, we learn that powerful American businessman Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) has a serious problem. His wife Kathy (Lee Remick), finally in a position to give the couple their first child, loses the baby in a hospital in Rome. Since she doesn't yet know the child died during birth, Robert conspires with a priest named Spiletto (Martin Benson) to hide the fact from his wife. They substitute another baby born that day and no one seems any worse for the wear. The couple, with their new son Damien (Harvey Stephens) in tow, proceeds to live what promises to be an enormously privileged life. Their fortunes increase further when Robert receives an ambassadorship to England. But there are problems aplenty, disturbing problems that point to something seriously amiss. For example, Damien's nanny takes her life in a very public manner during the young child's birthday party. Her replacement, the sinister Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw), seems an odd choice as a nanny. That she's so overprotective of little Damien also seems weird. Another problem emerges when Kathy starts expressing doubts about Damien's lineage. She thinks he's not her real child.
She's right, of course, but that knowledge won't save anyone. You see, Damien Thorn is the anti-Christ, the son of Satan come to fulfill biblical prophecies concerning the end of time. No one knows this little factoid at this point, but Robert Thorn soon begins hearing about it from Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton), a crazed priest who starts stalking Thorn and raving about his evil child. After Brennan perishes in a bizarre accident, an investigative journalist by the name of Keith Jennings (David Warner) uncovers a few horrific pieces of evidence that tend to confirm that Damien Thorn is, indeed, the son of Satan. With proof in hand, Jennings eventually makes a believer out of Robert Thorn. The two then begin a secretive quest to unearth Damien's true origins, but they'll have to hurry. Folks poking into the child's history, or even people who present some sort of obstacle to the boy's development, seem to die in excruciatingly painful ways. As the story unfolds, we learn that even Robert and Kathy Thorn aren't safe from the pint-sized prince of darkness. The only solution to the problem comes in the form of an old archeologist named Bugenhagen (Leo McKern) and a bag of ancient daggers...
Rewatching "The Omen" for the umpteenth time, on DVD no less, confirms for me once again that this movie achieves a greatness rarely seen in the annals of horror. Just look at the movie. Where else are you going to see a nanny hanging herself in public, a priest impaled with a steel rod, a beheading by shattered glass, and biblical mumbo jumbo all in a film starring Gregory Peck? Nowhere, my friends, nowhere. It's all here in glorious color. I love everything about the film. I love the cemetery scene with the wild dogs. I love the "666" birthmark on the kid's head, revealed in a truly terrifying scene. I love the weird images in Keith Jennings's photos. I love the showdown between Mrs. Baylock and Robert Thorn. I love the screaming fit outside the church as well as the zoo attack. I even love the "No, Daddy, NO!" line at the end of the film. The movie simply overflows with all sorts of clever ideas and bloody mayhem wrapped up in excellent acting and dialogue. In the hands of lesser mortals, "The Omen" would come off as a schlocky piece of cheese. With Donner at the helm, Jerry Goldsmith composing the score of his life, and Peck and Remick carrying the acting duties, the movie fires on all cylinders.
I rented the DVD not because I needed to see the film again, but because I wanted to listen to Donner's commentary track. It's good. He recounts all sorts of interesting tidbits about the movie, such as the curse that seemed to plague the production. The director also talks about the problems he had with the young Harvey Stephens, who apparently was a little devil in real life, and talks about the marketing of the picture. Other extras include an interview with composer Jerry Goldsmith, a trailer for the film, and a couple of lengthy featurettes that go into more depth about the film and the supposed curse. As for audio and picture quality, I've seen some people griping about them. I don't have a problem here. I thought the movie sounded and looked great. So there you go. If you haven't seen the original Omen flick, you simply must run out and find a copy right now. You'll have a great time watching this creative, scary horror flick!
Movie Review: Thirty years later from the Eternal Sea he rises
Summary: 5 Stars
The Omen is a chilling tale about the birth of the Antichrist. The story begins with the stillbirth of the child of Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck), the future U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. Robert Thorn is heartbroken about his son's death and does not wish for his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) to share in his misery. He wishes to conceal the fate of his son from his wife but is at a loss of what do. It is then at the suggestion of a priest Fr. Spilleto, that Robert decides to adopt a child whose "mother died at birth". The child is named Damien and his adoption is kept a secret from Katherine in order to hide the truth of her real son's death. Unbeknownst to the Thorns, Damien is in actuality the Antichrist who was born of a jackal. The truth of the adoption will slowly unravel throughout the story with dire consequences.
The appealing screenplay of the Omen can be attributed to two factors. The first factor is based on the screenplay's loose reliance of biblical scripture. The sign or the omen of the Antichrist is after all, a birthmark that comes in the form of three sixes. The three sixes are of course derived from the Book of the Apocalypse which states that the mark of the Beast will be six hundred and sixty-six. The screenplay's second important factor is its incorporation of three catalysts, a priest, a photographer, and an exorcist. The priest Fr. Brennan (Patrick Troughton) is the one who shoulders the burden of knowing Damien's true identity. He feels he has an obligation to reveal to Richard Thorn the true nature of his adopted son in order to redeem himself before God. Fr. Brennan was after all, part of a bad flock of priests (which include Fr. Spilleto) who helped secure Damien's birth. It is the priest therefore who first introduces to the viewer the true nature of Damien. The photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner) on the other hand, is an outsider who has noticed some bizarre phenomenon occur in his photo developing. It is through his curiosity that he is led to investigate and piece together the cause of all the bizarre unfolding events. The photographer thus serves to develop the movie just as if he were developing his own photos! Finally the exorcist, Carl Bugenhagen (Leo McKern) is the closer (unlike the character McKern played in A Man For All Seasons). He is the one who has the knowledge and the means to putting an end to the threat of the Antichrist, provided of course all of his instructions are carefully heeded. The character however not to be overlooked although not a catalyst, is the evil nanny Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw). Indeed Mrs. Baylock immediately establishes her satanic presence when she eerily says, "Fear not little one. I am here to protect thee". Mrs. Baylock is after all a Lady Macbeth type whose creepy personality is enough to send chills up anyone's spine.
It is no surprise that the Omen won the Academy Award for best soundtrack. Indeed Jerry Goldsmith's magnificent score is in a class of its own. The sheer power of the liturgical opening "Ave Satani" is memorable and can almost single-handedly take credit for the fright and appeal of the film. The music is synchronized to the most visual parts of the movie. The accompanying music to the Rottweiler scenes has echoes of the Planet of the Apes soundtrack (another Jerry Goldsmith score). Even so the music is perfectly synchronized to the panting and movements of the Rottweilers. On a final note regarding the music, the deluxe edition remastered soundtrack is itself worth buying as there are several tracks worth listening to in addition to the ones already described. The tracks "Killer Storm" and "Altar" are very engaging even if one has never even seen the movie. The track "Day he died" however is best appreciated with its intended visual scene. The track itself occurs during the scene when Robert Thorn and the photographer Keith Jennings rummage through Fr. Brennan's apartment. At one point in the scene Keith shows Robert the photo in which he accidentally took of himself through a reflection and says, "It's my problem too". At this point the soundtrack percussion takes over as it accompanies the scene with the bizarre photo. The resulting effect is quite terrifying to say the least. Years later the Japanese horror film "Ringu" would utilize the same audiovisual technique but with less effectiveness.
The DVD special edition comes with an audio commentary given by the director Richard Donner. There are several documentaries as well, the most notable being the Curse or Coincidence documentary that covers the mishaps, which occurred during filming. The DVD also boasts a newly remixed stereo English language soundtrack in addition the original mono English and French language tracks. The picture quality of the DVD is quite good, since the widescreen picture has been remastered as well. On a final note of the interactive menus of the DVD, there is a flashing of various scenes from the movie. The most curious flashing scene is the clown's reaction to the suicide of the first nanny. Looking back, the benevolent clown actually appears to be sinister and bears a striking resemblence to John Wayne Gacy. It is a scene which the DVD makers made sure to capitalize on.
Thirty years after its release, the Omen's appeal has not dwindled as it has passed the test of time. It now faces the test of being compared to a remake, which not coincidentally opens up on 06/06/06.
Movie Review: A classic that still has the power to chill
Summary: 5 Stars
I had not seen this movie in about 15 years, when I decided to take a look. It was an old favorite of mine from my teen years...always loved the soundtrack. I expected that it would have aged pretty horribly...but BOY was I pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty darn terrific film.
The plot outline is hardly terribly original anymore. It would appear that the child raised by Diplomat Gregory Peck and his wife Lee Remick was "switched at birth" for the devil's child. This child is going to be protected by a number of evil forces, and eventually his position within a powerful family will lead him to power himself. Devil-spawn has been featured many times in films. But seldom with such a straight face. And it's that straight face that makes this movie work so well.
It's a mystery story, as Peck slowly begins to suspect something might actually be wrong. I suppose it helps the film to have an actor of Peck's stature take on such a role. One might think it would be belittling to such a towering figure...but Peck doesn't play it like he's embarrassed to be in the film, and thus the darn thing works. As he begins to put the pieces together, more and more horrific things happen to those closest to him. In the early going, he is aided by David Warner as a photographer who first notices something amiss. (I remember that Warner's rather graphic fate caused quite a stir 2o years ago...while we've seen worse on CSI: MIAMI since then, the scene is still remarkably affective.)
Everyone in the film is great. Peck is the anchor, but Billie Whitelaw as the "nursemaid" who comes to take care of little Damian is a powerful presence. She's a well-known British theatre actress, and she brings her steely power to the role and is the true villain. While it may be that Damian is the devil's child...he's only a tiny kid in the film. If we were actually supposed to fear and loathe this child, the movie wouldn't work. We'd either think it was exploitative or silly. But while he IS bad, he is still being manipulated by others. Even the terrific scene where he "bumps" into his mother by the upstairs banister (WHAT A GREAT SCENE!) is being directed by Whitelaw and the kid is just her pawn. He seems unaware of who he is.
Lee Remick as wife and mother has an underwritten role, but she does horrified well. Another classic scene involves the drive she and Damian take through an animal park...which causes quite a stir amongst the baboons. Imagine fifty crazed baboons throwing themselves at your car! Again, it's a scene that could have been silly, but the filmmakers handled it in a non-ironic way, and it is creepy. (The filmmakers never attempt special effects that were beyond the achievable...so while there's nothing fancy compared to what could be done with CGI today...there's also very little that doesn't look believable.) David Warner is effective in his smallish but important role.
In some ways, the film plays like an episode of The X-Files...the supernatural wrapped up into a more conventional mystery/investigation story that gets weirder as it goes along. But at the core is a layer of sadness. Peck and Remick have been deprived of their biological child and given this heavy burden in its place...a child that must be destroyed. We feel the sadness in Peck...not just the fear and horror. That measure of empathy is what is missing in some many horror movies today...now we like to wink at the camera and acknowledge how silly what we're doing is. Yet the best horror movies are still the ones that play it straight...that believe we are still capable of being creeped out.
I found watching THE OMEN to be a very pleasant surprise. If you haven't seen it in awhile...it's still holding up well. And if you've never seen it, I think you might be surprised that a 25 year old film can still raise some serious goosebumps even now. (By the way, the "R" rating would be a "PG13" today. Judge accordingly.)
Movie Review: A Thrilling Masterpiece In Gothic Horror
Summary: 5 Stars
When The Exorcist was released in 1973 the world stood in awe at the horror and gore than was presented before their very eyes. Rip-offs came thick and fast and then came the masterpiece The Omen. This 1976 horror film scored a hit with both critics and cinema-goers alike who had embraced a deep interest in gothic horror and its history. It has a first-rate cast, superb acting, brilliant shock tactics and a soundtrack to send shivers down your spine whatever your state of mind! It's no wonder Jerry Goldsmith won an Academy Award as the composer of the theme! I first saw this film last night when it was shown on UK TV. My mum recommended it to me, as it was a favourite of hers as a teenager and I absolutely loved it.
In The Omen, Katherine (Lee Remick) and Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) are a rich married couple who move to England from America. Katherine is pregnant and gives birth to an ostensibly baby boy while in Italy. This news is kept from her. Her husband knows how much his wife has wanted a baby and the problems she had conceiving, so he agrees to have the dead new-born supplanted by another new-born, whose mother died at child birth. Katherine thinks that the child is her own, but Robert knows it's not and keeps this a secret from her. They name the baby Damien (Harvey Stephens).
Five years pass and we see the family growing up joyfully in their big mansion. They're happy and content with their lives and love their son more than anything. Everything is going well for the Thorn family until Damien turns five. A series of very creepy and unexplainable events happen around the time of his fifth birthday, which all seem to stem from Damien. The family employ a creepy and weird nanny (Billie Whitelaw) and things begin to spiral out of control. Robert and Katherine really start to think that there is something seriously wrong with their child so, with the help of a funny photographer (David Warner), Robert sets out to try and discover the truth about the mysterious events. A stubborn priest tries to warn him when these events happen, but Robert doesn't listen. It soon becomes too late when the man is murdered rather spectacularly.
The horror of this film is based more on the shock tactics more so than the suspense factor, which doesn't make it a very scary film in terms of blood and guts, but more so in the way that it disturbs you deep down and shocks your body. The first big shock of the film comes on Damien's fifth birthday party when his nanny jumps from the top of the mansion roof screaming, "It's all for you Damien!" before hanging herself. Another shock comes when Damien goes hysterical as he nears a church in a car with is mother and father. He later drives his tricycle into his mother's stool as she is doing housework on a balcony. She falls and loses her second baby. Her long stint in hospital tears Robert apart, and her death after she is pushed out of a hospital window tips him over the edge. The death of the priest by a Church-spear is not only shocking, but rather humorous. The scenes in Italy with dogs and spikes and broken arms are spectacular, but the most famous scene comes when the photographer is decapitated by a sheet of glass that slides off the back of a truck which rolls down the hill towards him. A scene that has gone down in history!
OVERALL GRADE: 10/10
The Omen can be a tad boring in between the shocking scenes and good parts of the storyline, but the ending is ten minutes of pure cinema brilliance. The scenes of Robert trying to cope with the world crumbling around him are also pure cinema gold, and shows a wonderfully emotional side to Peck's acting. Caught in a tornado of events of which he cannot control, he sweeps the audience along with him. David Seltzer wrote an awesome script, while Richard Donner works finely and precisely on directing this masterpiece. Essential viewing for all those who love gothic horror and truly great thrillers.