Omen, The (1976)

...to the idea in The Omen, but is similar!

Some of the scenes are honestly very frightening, such as the ones in the hospital and the one near the end, involving the deranged nanny. The most unpleasant part for me though, was at the very end where Damien turns towards the camera and smiles. That image stayed with me for a very long time and gave me the shivers! He is evil and caused so much trouble, but yet looks so angelic!

...off, while tweezing your eyebrows or painting your nails (as I often do while watching films!), you will probably find this a mildly frightening film, but when you think hard about the storyline and the consequences and possibilties, that's where it gets frightening. Me, having such a mad imagination, got seriously terrified at parts! That said, although it IS a frightening film, I found the opening credits the most scary! If you can't remember or ... more

When his wife, Kathy has a stillborn baby, Robert Thorn, the US ambassador, realises the grief would most likely kill her. He quickly substitutes the stillborn baby with another one, Damien, born on 6th June, 1976 (666), who's mother died in childbirth. He decides it would be best for everyone and keeps quiet - the only person apart from himself who knows is the priest who persuaded him to go through with the baby-swap.

The Thorn family, five years later, seem perfect - their 'son' Damien is now an angelic-faced little five year-old, and Robert and Kathy couldn't be more in love. But when they move to England, strange things start to occur. Damien's nanny suddenly and unexpectedly commits suicide after seeing a stray black dog at Damien's birthday party, and a new replacement, Mrs Baylock turns up unannounced.

After her arrival, the mysterious occurences become more and more regular, and a tormented priest follows Robert, and issues Robert a stark warning - Damien is the spawn of Satan (literally!), and sooner or later, will kill Kathy, Kathy's unborn baby and finally, Robert, in order to take over Robert's body and have a human outlet for Hell.

Robert thinks these suggestions are ridiculous and dismisses the seemingly demented priest, but he cannot ignore the warning signs anymore when his wife is involved in a freak accident. He decides to work out the truth by finding the priest who originally set up Damien's adoption. Robert is aided by a photographer, with a camera which seems to be able to predict how people will die, and they attempt to seek out the identity of Damien's mother and Damien himself.

The Omen was brought out three years after The Exorcist, but is pretty much the same idea; the films are based around religion and children. I think The Omen is far more effective because The Exorcist was completely far-fetched and I had to resist the urge to laugh hysterically during the climax of the film!

I was expecting a terrifying rollercoaster of a film, but the fear creeps up on you slowly and digs itself right into your veins. I was on my edge of the seat throughout the film and there were times where I noticed I was actually holding my breath - it didn't help that it was thundering outside when I was watching the film, either! I felt shaky and jumpy afterwards, but although there are some genuine moments which scared me out of my skin, they are few and far in between and the film is better described as a psychological thriller. The suspense is built up slowly; there will be a moment where you are certain something scary will happy but the moment passes - which puts you on edge even more!

All the performances were fantastic, especially Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, who played Robert and Kathy. Gregory pulls off the confused, shaken father perfectly. He is involved in most of the scenes and he is flawless in them all; his performance is excellent and solid. You feel both sorry and irritated by Robert; not an easy task I'm sure you'll agree! I thought Lee Remick would be your typical, irritating, beautiful blonde who meets a grisly death. I was right about the grisly death but she does put in an excellent performance as the terrified mother who's suspicions are raised long before her husband's.

Harvey Stephens, as Damien, wasn't actually in many of the scenes, but he was excellent. His stony, blank stare would have you shivering; he's one very creepy child and for such a young person (he was six at the time I think), he was very good. He hasn't reached similar heights since doing The Omen though; his latest film (released 11 years ago!) is called I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney. Hmm, anyway... he's perfect as the Antichrist, not sure if that is a good thing!

The music helps build up the suspense in the film, and is very effective - which is why it won an Oscar, I suppose! Dramatic orchestral music and chanting in Latin - very creepy, and they do add to the tension enormously. I was chewing my nails endlessly and there were times where I genuinely thought I couldn't breathe with fear, but I AM the girl who was scared at Scream 3...

The religious aspect of The Omen does contribute to much of the scariness - for example, the quote from the Bible that flashes up at the end leaves you feeling unsettled and slightly disturbed. I am not religious myself, but I do think that perhaps Christians would find this more frightening than I did. The religious prophecies and some of the other religious-related parts were confusing, but as The Omen is really based on the fear of the unknown, it doesn't detract from the film.

The dialogue is pretty satisfactory; not amazing but not bad either! A lot of the scenes are in complete silence except for the backing music, and this works exceptionally well. Without any dialogue, your mind starts to wander and your imagination goes into overdrive - so whether those particular scenes are scary is up to you!

Now don't take my word for this, but I feel that The Omen has been a factor in horror films today. I am not sure, so please don't take it as a solid fact, but I think the phrase 666 became more well-known after it featured in this film! The three sixes, which apparently appear on all of Devil's disciples as a birthmark, stand for the Unholy Trinity; the Devil, Antichrist and the Holy, er... not too sure about this, I can't remember, but you know what I mean!

Also, the photographs which predict how people will die (for example, the man who's photo appeared with a line on his neck is later decapitated) is very similar to the idea used in The Ring - people who have watched the tape of The Ring appear as blurred, distorted faces in photographs. This isn't identical to the idea in The Omen, but is similar!

Some of the scenes are honestly very frightening, such as the ones in the hospital and the one near the end, involving the deranged nanny. The most unpleasant part for me though, was at the very end where Damien turns towards the camera and smiles. That image stayed with me for a very long time and gave me the shivers! He is evil and caused so much trouble, but yet looks so angelic!

If you watch The Omen with your brain switched off, while tweezing your eyebrows or painting your nails (as I often do while watching films!), you will probably find this a mildly frightening film, but when you think hard about the storyline and the consequences and possibilties, that's where it gets frightening. Me, having such a mad imagination, got seriously terrified at parts! That said, although it IS a frightening film, I found the opening credits the most scary! If you can't remember or haven't seen the film; it is a black screen with Latin chanting in the background. The only image on the screen is the silhouette of a young child, who's shadow in front of him appears as the crucifix. Much more frightening than it sounds!

There were two sequels released in 1978 and 1981, neither of which had the success The Omen did, but is available as a trilogy on DVD. Oh, and did you know The Omen was originally meant to be called The Birthmark (after the 666 birthmark)? Doesn't quite have the same ring to it somehow, does it?!

As a horror film made 28 years ago, it does stand up quite well. The Omen relies on old-fashioned good acting, an excellent soundtrack and engineered tension, rather than depending soley on flashy special effects! The fear you feel comes from what you don't see, and the uneasy feeling from the film stays with you long after the credits have rolled.

 

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