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The Omen poster

THE OMEN

1976 US HMDB
June 25, 1976

Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn adopts the newborn Damien without the knowledge of his wife. Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.

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Crew

Production: Harvey Bernhard (Producer)Mace Neufeld (Executive Producer)Charles Orme (Producer)
Screenplay: David Seltzer (Writer)
Music: Jerry Goldsmith (Original Music Composer)
Cinematography: Gilbert Taylor (Director of Photography)

REVIEWS (1)

Marco Castellini
A woman gives birth to a dead child, her husband, Robert Thorn, decides to replace him with another newborn whose mother died in childbirth. For a few years, everything goes smoothly, but then the child begins to show his true nature as a diabolical being. The Thorns realize they have adopted the Antichrist and try to eliminate him, but every attempt will be in vain... A few years after the release of "The Exorcist," the devil returns to the big screen, once again hidden under the guise of an innocent. This time, it's not about demonic possession but the very incarnation of Evil; little Damien is the Antichrist sent to earth to destroy humanity. Following the path laid out by Friedkin with "The Exorcist," the future father of the "Lethal Weapon" saga presented the public with a film still entirely focused on the figure of the malignant. With its prophetic-apocalyptic atmospheres, "The Omen" left its mark: the script, adapted from a story by David Seltzer (who is also the film's co-screenwriter), had the great merit of deeply involving the audience with an effective narrative line in its simplicity and a marked ability to recreate unsettling atmospheres. Some sequences, for their artisanal character, were precursors of the splatter taste of the 1980s (the photographer's decapitation is legendary). Masterful is the work of composer Jerry Goldsmith, who won a well-deserved Oscar for the music. The rest is done by a cast of great names, starting with the protagonist Gregory Peck, but also the convincing Lee Remick and David Warner. Curiosity: during the filming of the movie, many crew members were at the center of a series of misfortunes that, in some cases, led to serious consequences and violent deaths (a woman even died in a situation very similar to a scene in the film). People began to talk about a "cursed film," some skeptics speak of a "marketing ploy," but those who participated in the film's production have repeatedly stated that these events actually happened...
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS (3)

JPV852

JPV852

7 /10

For whatever reason never saw The Omen before and while it has its moments, the last 10-15 minutes were particularly great, the middle part plodded along at a slow pace with little happening that was interesting outside a scene or two. All in all, it was okay but maybe a tad overrated. 3.25/5

GenerationofSwine

GenerationofSwine

10 /10

I just recently re-watched this and the remake...there's really no fair comparison.

Gregory Peck wins over Liev Schreiber, but then Peck is the better actor.

Lee Remick is far more believable than Julia Stiles who doesn't seem to convey the same earnest fear and suspicion.

David Thewlis is a good actor, but in bit parts he always seems to phone it in and David Warner was just the more believable photographer.

I mean, the 1976 The Omen is dated, but that's not a bad thing and in this case you get the sense that they were doing something fresh and really trying to frighten you...and they did.

By comparison the remake is paint by numbers and offers nothing new.

1976 is, hands down the more frightening, more dramatic, and more suspenseful film. Compared to 2006. 1976 is believable.

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

7 /10

OK, so at times this is a bit far-fetched, even for a horror movie, but I reckon it is still my favourite from the genre made in the 1970s. From a rather murky start in a Roman hospital, we see Gregory Peck and wife Lee Remmick head to London where he is to be US Ambassador - along with their new baby son "Damien" (cue the squeaking violins). Not long after their arrival, their nanny commits suicide - rather gruesomely, as it happens - facilitating the arrival of "Mrs. Baylock" (a rather menacing Billie Whitelaw). As the boy ages, and fuelled by some rather ghastly prophesies by Patrick Troughton's "Father Brennan", Peck slowly concludes that there is something a little dodgy about him. Thing is, can he thwart the evil contained within the youngster? Richard Donner does well to build and to sustain a sense of peril from pretty much the outset of this film - aided, ably, by a Jerry Goldsmith score that uses maniacal choral vocals and strings to keep you behind the sofa. Peck isn't at his best, and some of the scenes - especially in the graveyard with the Baskervillian hounds - do stretch the imagination, but for the most part it seizes your attention and keeps it. I have to admit to being disappointed by the ending - just why did the police have to give chase?

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