The Omen

The Omen (1976)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Richard Donner

Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Stephens

From: 20th Century Fox

This is one of those 70's horror movies worth seeing, as I explain below: 

Recently I purchased the old Blu set of the first three movies in the franchise (poor Omen IV: The Awakening) and the remake for a pretty cheap price. Last night seemed like a good time to check this out, although I could have waited so I could post this review on June 6 at 6 PM, an “extra” thing that this movie does by having Damien being born at June 6 at 6 AM. Yeah, Damien Thorn is just a name that sounds like this person is an evil MF'er and the score at times is bombastic with the choir chanting in Latin, but thankfully there are plenty of more subtle and nuanced moments throughout this.

The story is outrageous in that an American ambassador and his wife lose a child at childbirth so unbeknownst to his wife, Gregory Peck finds an infant from a church and it turns out to be the Antichrist. There are some big scenes where people are either maimed or killed, and those are unforgettable as at least one is over the top; I understand that 2 and 3 in this series are even more outrageous in that regard. Yet the movie does take its time in telling the story, building up suspense as you wait for Peck to finally figure out that something bizarre is going on. Perhaps he should have realized that a little sooner; then again, another character would have helped himself out by not being so obtuse so often.

Those are minor nitpicks as the film was done so well by Richard Donner. The European locations look nice and there are plenty of super wide angle shots and slow zoom-ins when the time was appropriate. The cast is nice and old pros Lee Remick and David Warner do a bang-up job. But the legendary Peck is the true highlight. It was tremendous that they got him to do this sort of film, as he's a great actor and adds the appropriate amount of gravitas to make such a tale more legitimate. That score by Jerry Goldsmith (which netted him his only Oscar) was appropriate for the film, matching what was on screen perfectly. Oh, and while there are long stretches where you don't see Damien, they did pick a child that could look creepy as hell when asked to.

Factor in the nice sound design and the film usually operating at a creepy level at worst, and this being one of the highest rated studio horror from the 70's is not a surprise to me.