The Omen (1976)
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One of the premier Horror films when it comes to The Devil. Gregory Peck plays Robert Thorn, a wealthy politician and Lee Remick is his wife, Kathy. Kathy is pregnant but after the baby is born it dies before the mother can see it. Knowing the shock that Kathy will receive Robert convinces the Roman Church to allow them to take an orphaned child as their own. The child was born at the same time and day so all would be well. They name their child, Damien. 5 years later while Robert is U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain the child's past starts to come to life. Their first nanny decides to hang herself at Damien's 5th birthday party. Thereafter a Father Brannen, visits the Thorn's to tell them that the child they adopted was the son of the Devil. Thorn doesn't believe him and tries to go on with his life. A new nanny is brought in, Mrs. Baylock, and Damien seems to take an immediate liking to her. After this we see incidents of Damien and his fear of places. On the way to church he kicks and screams and forces his parents to abandon that habit. At the Zoo, the baboons attack him. You get the picture. Father Brannen finally gets a shot with Robert to talk to him but Robert is still a non-believer. Minutes after the meeting ends, the Father is killed. When Kathy becomes pregnant again, Robert refuses all notions of an abortion, but it is with that that Damien injures his mom with his tricycle, thereby terminating her pregnancy. Finally, with the help of a photographer, Keith Jennings, Robert goes to see an Israeli archaeologist, Bugenhagen, who knows who Damien is. It is then that Damien has finally met his match or is the son of the Devil up for a game?
Overall: Very good film with some big stars too. One thing this film did was forever curse the name, Damien. I mean how many kids can you think of with that name? That is the power of this film. Like "The Prophecy" it gives you the usual "Book of Revelations" stuff and quotes non-existent books and literature. But the film's strong point isn't the blood, but the story. Gotta check this one out. DVD-Review (August 2006): The collector's edition has 2 discs and has some nice stuff here. Includes the documentary of "The Omen Legacy" and some nice interviews. In addition we have one deleted scene, the dog-attack scene which would appear at the end of the film, had it been included. Bottom line is that as Thorn is getting Damien into the car, at the end, he gets attacked by the rottweiler, fends it off, killing it and then ends up with Mrs. Blaylock still alive and runs her over. The commentary by Director Donner basically says the scene makes everything too long and also the extra deaths sorta ruin the atmosphere. Frankly, I'd have been ok with it included. Comparison: The Exorcist meets Dave |
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