About me:Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashi...
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Review rated by 18 Ciao members on average: very helpful
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Before postmodern horrors such as 'Scream' and before lurid stalk n' slashers such as 'Friday the 13th', horror movies used to be taken seriously. Possibly none more seriously than this gloomy, po-faced satanic thriller, where all the leads - Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw - treat their roles deadly seriously, as though making an adaptation of the Bible. Which, in some senses, 'The Omen' is...
Earnest senator Richard Thorne (Peck) faces a dilemma when his son is stillborn. A mysterious priest offers him the opportunity to adopt another baby without his wife's knowledge. Everything is rosy to begin with, with the early scenes of the Thorne's and their delightful son Damien shot like a Claims Direct commercial.
Things get menacing when a seemingly mad priest (Patrick Troughton) begins following Thorne, insisting Damien is no less than the Antichrist. Thorne is understandably upset by the suggestion, and dismisses the priest's warning as the insane rantings of a religious zealot.
Meanwhile, a freelance photographer has been taking some very interesting snaps. Amid all the doom-laden Book of Revelation stuff, 'The Omen' contains a very neat, very creepy 'Twillight Zone-ish' concept: A photographer owns a camera that can 'see' how people will die. Then he catches a picture of himself...
As the freak deaths pile up, Thorne begins to believe there might be something in the priest's story. With the photographer, he ventures first to Italy to seek out the Priest who offered him the baby, and then on to Israel to discover the true identity of his son.
This has everything you would want from a diabolical horror: demon dogs, satanic servants, masterfully exectuted freak death set pieces, all over-scored by Jerry Goldsmith's ominous, throbbing black mass score.
Everything is pitch perfect and cranked up for the maximum creep factor: Harvey Stephens as Damien is simply the most horrid child you will ever see in a movie. With his dimpled cheeks and staring eyes, he looks like a tainted cherub.
Basing a horror on the bible gives it so much more 'weight' than a storyline fresh out of a screenwriter's head can ever give. To this date, most people's knowledge of Revelations seems to stem solely from this movie...and Winston's soliloquy in 'Ghostbusters'. The sense of menace is tangible, building up to the movie's true conclusion, Warner's demise. It doesn't really pick up again after that moment. How could it, really?
Big American stars Peck and Remick give the production a glossy feel, but the best performances come from a trio of British stars. David Warner balances off Peck's superstar appeal in their scenes together. Former Dr.Who Patrick Troughton is almost as memorable as the deranged priest, tormented by the knowledge of what is about to happen. The walls of his apartment are covered by pages of the bible, and his door is covered in crucifixes to stop evil getting in...he's only in it for about fifteen minutes, but he makes the most of it with a really energetic performance.
Finally, Billie Whitelaw is chilling as Damien's demonic nanny - she pacifies Thorne with her deceptively calm tones and icy stare, before finally going ballistic in the final act.
Quite simply one of the scariest movies ever made, 'The Omen' makes more recent diabolical horrors such as 'The Ninth Gate' and 'The Devil's Advocate' look as trivial as high school panto.
Great retelling of a very well-constructed horror movie. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a little silly, but future views of it showed it to be masterfully done. And you're right that they don't make horror movies like they used to! AJ :o)
it's nice to see someone who appreciates quality; most of the people i know think Dracula was directed by Bram Stoker and keanu was, like, deep... anyway, cool op. keep up the good work!
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10.01.2005 18:37
This review has everything you want to know and nothing more that would make it to long to read through.
07.12.2001 12:44
Great retelling of a very well-constructed horror movie. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a little silly, but future views of it showed it to be masterfully done. And you're right that they don't make horror movies like they used to! AJ :o)
16.06.2001 12:37
it's nice to see someone who appreciates quality; most of the people i know think Dracula was directed by Bram Stoker and keanu was, like, deep... anyway, cool op. keep up the good work!