The Omen [DVD]

 

 

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I watched this film for the first time when I was 12 and I was afraid to go alone in the dark for about a week. This film proves that the horror genre is not just about blood, guts and gore, and that things can be scary without using that. The film relies on psychological horror and suspense, although there are parts of the film which are very violent. Although the film has a good cat, including Gregory Peck(To Kill A Mocking Bird) and Lee Remick(Days of Wine and Roses), the star of the film is, then 5-year-old Harvey Stephens, whose terrifying stare and smile really hepled the film become the classic that it is now. Another winner is Jerry Goldsmith's score, which won the film an acedemy award, and Richard Donner(Superman, Lethal Weaposn) for his directing which helped give the film its creepy atmosphere and scary shocks. Also watch out for the scene with the pain of glass: it will stay with you forever.

A very enjoyable film with excellant set pieces and exciting deaths. I particuly enjoy the crescendo of exhilrating gregorian music before 'the offing' of preists, nanny's and journalists. This film has devil dogs, baboons attacking and a malevolent anti-christ tot on a tri-cycle. Whilst The Exorcist deserves 5 stars this deserves 666.

When Katherine Thorne (Lee Remick) gives birth to a still-born baby her husband, Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck), the current ambassador of the UK, replaces the baby (without her knowledge) with another baby born on the same night who's mother had died during the birth.. The baby was born on the 6th hour of the 6th day of the 6th month (June). They name the baby Damien (Harvey Stephens). The three of them move into a mansion and the all live together happily. But thing start to go wrong for them, starting at Damiens' fifth birthday party when the young maid of the house hangs herself by jumping off the roof proclaiming: "Damien, it's all for you!". A series of equally mysterious deaths lead Robert Thorn to discover the truth that his adopted son is the literal anti-christ - but can he stop Damien before it is too late . . .

`The Omen' is a first class, cult favourite film with a riveting storyline, a talented cast and a chilling musical score. Although this is a horror film it relies more on shock tactics and suspense than it does on blood and gore. The musical score (on recent television performances and DVD releases of the movie) has been digitally remastered with a new Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Mix in comparison to when it originally came out in 1976, but it is still not as good as I should be; it deserves the full 5.1 Remix.

The movie has not got any one particular protagonist, although the two obvious choices would be Robert Thorne and Damien Thorne. In my opinion, Robert is the protagonist, but I thought that the latter was a better and more interesting character so I would consider Damien to be the anti-hero.

In `The Omen' Katherine and Robert Thorne are a rich American couple who move to England while Katherine is pregnant. The birth does not go as planned and she delivers a still-born baby. In order to keep this devastating news from his wife - knowing how much she had wanted a baby - Robert replaces the still-born with another new-born baby whose mother died during the birth. They decide to name the child Damien.

Shortly after Roberts' wife has a terrible `accident' and ends up in hospital, a photographer (David Warner) shows him photographs that he has taken of the people from around Damien who have died under mysterious circumstances. The pictures all contain similar oddities and this leads Robert on a journey to Rome which leads him to the terrifying conclusion that Damien is the son of the devil.

My only complaint about this movie would be that between scenes of action - or scenes featuring Damien - this movie can get a bit slow. Nevertheless, the only point where the plot moves along slowly enough to be considered `boring' is in the middle when Robert Thorne, along with a photographer (whose name we never learn), travel to Rome to discover the truth about Damien and where he came from. Even though I found it slightly boring, twenty-five minutes of not-very-interesting storyline is not enough to take any merit away from the other hour and a half of the film, which was very enjoyable.

Even though it was made thirty years ago this movie is still very popular today and is not showing signs of its age - even in comparison with today's big blockbuster, special effects, hi-tech, movies. I highly recommend this movie to any fan of the horror genre, especially if they are looking for a good movie and not just buckets of gore.

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5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best horror films ever made - Blu-ray review
This review is partly based on the Blu-ray, rather than the DVD.

This being one of my all-time favourite horror movies, I felt I had to buy it on Blu-ray when I first... Read more

Published 21 days ago by Wendy Torrance

4.0 out of 5 stars Silly me
Fine. Got it on time, watched it with great pleasure. Only one regret: not having noticed it was a VHS. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Charlotte Salomon

4.0 out of 5 stars Gleefully unsettling, but slightly dated
A genuinely creepy Satanic-horror flick. Like another excellent film of this genre, Rosemary's Baby, it doesn't directly show anything supernatural taking place, so there is an... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Amanda Huggenkiss

5.0 out of 5 stars 6+6+6 = A movie classic
"The Omen" is not an out-and-out scary film. What this film instead exudes in bucketloads is foreboding. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Matthew Norton

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it's better than The Exorcist
I sometimes enjoy annoying 'serious filmgoers' by trying to convince them that American Beauty is not as good a film as American Pie. The fact is, I actually believe that. Read more

Published on 9 Jan 2009 by Dr. George L. Sik

5.0 out of 5 stars Review
I saw this movie when i was 7 ,and it has always been one of my favourite Horror movies.
The premise of The Omen comes from the end times prophecies of Christianity. Read more

Published on 11 Nov 2007 by shaun wrench

5.0 out of 5 stars A good template for grown up scary horror
Whilst having slight credibility faults, being a bit hammy and over written, this film scared the hell out of me on first viewing, by conventional means of plot: some worrying... Read more

Published on 29 July 2007 by Lou Knee

4.0 out of 5 stars A good horror film
The Omen was the first horror film I ever saw at the cinema. At the time it made a huge impression on me. Read more

Published on 22 Jun 2007 by S J Buck

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic supernatural horror
There was a rising trend in the 1970's for excess gore and pushing the boundaries as much as possible within the horror genre. Read more

Published on 8 May 2007 by J. Roberts

3.0 out of 5 stars Not creepy, just cheesy
This movie was rather a dissapointment for me. I expected a disturbing/creepy thrilling type of film, this just isn't either a thriller or horror really. Read more

Published on 1 Feb 2007 by crazykat

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