Twentieth Century Fox/1976/Directed
by Richard Donner
Available on DVD and Blu-Ray
In the realm of supernatural horror,
few films are as chillingly effective as Richard Donner’s 1976 classic tale of
the coming of the antichrist, The Omen.
Whereas The Exorcist (the other Satanic shocker from the 1970’s) had
humanity fighting the Devil for the soul of a little girl, The Omen has Old Scratch arriving in the form of a seemingly-innocent
child destined to bring the world into darkness. It was so successful in
scaring the bejeezus out of audiences that it spawned three sequels and was
given a stylish and updated remake in 2006.
American diplomat Robert Thorne and
his wife Katherine are excited, expecting parents. As the child is stillborn in
Rome (on the 6th day of the 6th month at the 6th
hour, no less), Robert makes a fateful and terrible decision, and exchanges his
dead child for a live one born at the same time, who’s mother passed away
during childbirth. Everything seems fine for a time, but as the child grows he
starts to exhibit some scary signs. It’s not long before Thorne is made aware
that his “son” Damien is more than a mere child. Damien is the antichrist and
is destined to bring about the Apocalypse unless he can be stopped. Thorne is
determined to stop the child, without much help (people tend to think you’re
just a little crazy when you claim that a cute little kid is Satan himself),
and what follows is one of the most shocking and haunting films ever made!
Veteran actors Gregory Peck and Lee
Remick play the Thornes, with Harvey Stephens turning in a chilling performance
as Damien. Patrick Troughton and David Warner help to round out the cast of
awesome players who breathe much life into this tale of good-versus-evil.
Richard Donner’s directing is top-notch (leading him to direct such other
classics as Superman, The Goonies, and
Lethal Weapon) and never skips a
beat. Jerry Goldsmith’s score is still as haunting today as it was in 1976, and
is often imitated for other films of a similar subject matter.
The
Omen is another film that horror fans are undoubtedly familiar with, but
it’s worth revisiting every once in a while, and there’s no better time for
that than Halloween. From the Eternal Sea
He Rises…
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