Director:
Richard Donner
Cast:
Gregory Peck .... Robert Thorn
Summary:
Review:
The Omen was made 30 years ago, but even now it stands pretty well against time. Thanks to this movie, people know more about the Bible, about the evil number "666", and has been an influence to countless other movies over the years, whether people these days realize it or not. It's daring and frightening. I love this movie. And the final frames... radical!
GRADE: A
Lee Remick .... Katherine Thorn
David Warner .... Keith Jennings
A US Ambassador's son dies while his wife is giving birth. He adopts a son secretly between him and a priest. It turns out that on Damien's sixth birthday, Damien is turning into the Antichrist, which kind of makes Mr. Thorn nervous.
First and foremost, one must give major props to David Seltzer, who wrote one of the best screenplays of the 70s, and helped create a religious horror movie off the heels of The Exorcist that was actually worth watching. It's a magical mix of religion and fiction (well, to those who aren't religious, it's deemed "religious fiction with fiction"), and adding the horrors of the end of the world in reference to the Christian viewpoint with modern day politics and issues as of 1976, it makes the idea of the antichrist that much more palpable.
Next up on the brownie points list is the director and musical composer. Richard Donner is one hell of a talented director, and he's only missed a couple of times over the last three decades. This movie is one of his best, which says quite a lot. He managed to ring in Peck to play the lead role. It's fucking GREGORY PECK. In a movie about a boy that is the son of the Devil? I mean, how the hell did he convince this man to play such a role? It doesn't matter in the long run, because with him making up most of the screentime, he's not just convincing, but commanding and believeable as a man who loves his wife and kid, and refuses to accept the horrors of the events surrounding him.
Jerry Goldsmith went ahead of himself as well, with a chorus of chanting voices speaking in Latin during all the right times, and orchestrating an effective symphony when there WASN'T freaky chanting. Add to that some nice pure-70s synthesizer effects when the Hounds of Hell start staring at the camera... you're both laughing and feeling a little unnerved all at once.
Rounding out the solid cast, excellent screenplay and everything else is the final 45 minutes of the movie. This is when shit really starts hitting the fan, and when David heads back home during the final act, there is a masterful use of silence and low lighting that jacks up the nervousness factor by about 11. What's he going to do with those scissors? Holy shit, it's so QUIET in this house. What the fuck is going to happen? Plus, there's a beheading sequence that can go down in the history books. It's a little dated effects-wise, but the pure genius behind the moment is enough to make it all so unforgettable.
Reviewed: 7/01/06