Written by David Seltzer
Directed by Richard Donner
Robert: "In birth and death the generations embrace."
Okay, this was another horror film that I've seen more times than necessary but I've never got around to reviewing until now. I guess Halloween would be an appropriate day to review a movie about the Antichrist.
There's the Thorns - Robert (Gregory Peck) and Katherine (Lee Remick). They just had a baby but the baby didn't survive past a single breath and now, they've adopted another boy that they've called Damien (Harvey Spencer Stephens). Their family should be good, right? You'd think so, wouldn't you?
The problem with the Thorns was that aside from moving countries for Robert's Ambassador job, there was Damien himself. Some kids can be terrors but Damien's the actual Antichrist and as the movie went along, this became a fact that both Robert and Katherine could no longer ignore.
Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton) was one of the first people to alert Robert to Damien being the Antichristj and he was ignored. Brennan also suffered at the hands of the demonic kid. Of course there would be others that wouldn't make it out of the film alive.
As you know, Damien had a big destiny ahead of him and it was up to photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner) and Antichrist exorcism expert Carl Bugenhagen (Leo McKern) to help Robert do the difficult deed and kill the Antichrist. Could this film really kill an evil child?
Of course not. If Mrs. Balloch (Billie Whitelaw) wasn't there to protect Damien against his father, the police certainly were. By the end of this film, both Robert and Katherine were dead and Damien was on his way to becoming a major threat in the future. Its almost like it was foreseen.
- This movie spawned three sequels, a remake, TV show and a prequel movie. I'll get to them in due course.
- As a Doctor Who fan, I keep forgetting that Patrick Troughton was in this movie but being impressed with his performance nonetheless.
- Standout music: Jerry Goldsmith's Ave Satani.
- Chronology: Rome, London, Jerusalem and Washington over several years in the film. Damien was born June 6th at 6am.
The Omen (1976) definitely is the most iconic take of the Antichrist story in any media ever. Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Spencer Stephens etc are all fantastic as the unfortunate couple with the demonic son. An absolute masterpiece in horror.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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