Review: The Omen (1976)

American ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) is in Rome for the birth of his first child with wife Katharine (Lee Remick, perfect casting) when he is told that the child has not survived the birth. It’s 6am on the 6th day of the 6th month. Thorn is told that they can be given a replacement, as a woman has just died giving birth, and her baby is now orphaned. In order to save his wife the trauma and grief, Thorn reluctantly takes the offer and they name the child Damien. Several years later and now Thorn is posted to England, where some odd and violent things start happening around the now adolescent Damien (Harvey Stephens). A nanny (Holly Palance) makes a public spectacle of committing suicide at Damien’s fifth birthday party, exclaiming ‘It’s all for you!’. A trip to the zoo sees a pack of baboons violently shake the family car. And just why does Damien so badly freak out when taken to church? Even Katharine starts to have her suspicions/fears about Damien. A ranting priest (Patrick Troughton) and a curious wedding photographer (David Warner) have theories about what is going on, but can Robert come to grips with it all before it’s too late? Billie Whitelaw plays the new nanny, Mrs. Baylock who is very protective of Damien and even purchases a pair of lovely puppies to befriend the child: Rottweilers, or as I call them ‘Harbingers of Doom’.

You’re generally either a bigger fan of “The Exorcist” or “The Omen”, and I suspect it’s my love of Hammer horror that puts me in the camp of this 1976 Richard Donner (director of “Superman”, “The Goonies”, “Ladyhawke”, “Lethal Weapon” – all among my all-time favourites) film. My favourite horror film of all-time, this isn’t a Hammer film, but it sure as hell looks and plays much like one, just not set in the Victorian Era. While we’re talking all-time, the film also contains my all-time favourite music score by my favourite film composer Jerry Goldsmith (“Planet of the Apes”, “Chinatown”, “Gremlins”, “Star Trek: First Contact”), my all-time favourite ‘kill’ scene, and even my all-time favourite ‘jump’ scare, not normally my favourite horror trope. I’m also somewhat partial to conspiracy theory stuff (and yet I’m not a Dan Brown guy at all), and we get that here too. So this was always going to be a winner with me.

The real key to the film is the casting of – and performance by – Gregory Peck. This is at the end of the day silly, apocalyptic Satanic horror, so you need something in there to ground it. Like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, he’s the kind of commitment to any role no matter how barmy the material is, that is absolutely vital to a film’s success. He takes the material here 100% seriously and that helps the viewer lock in for two hours as well. Peck’s innate goodness, decency and quietly authoritative presence draw the viewer in as well. His Robert Thorn is faced with the unimaginable and you really do feel for him. It’s legitimately one of my favourite Gregory Peck performances. It’s a strong, tortured, and horrified performance delivered with lots of gravitas. Even though Peck and Lee Remick essentially play affluent figures, their casting helps keep them somewhat relatable. Experienced in vulnerable/sensitive roles, Lee Remick is terrific here, like Peck’s character you really feel for her plight. She’s struggling to feel maternal towards her son. She’s even fearful of him. These feelings are absolutely understandable for reasons she’s likely not aware of herself; 1) He’s not really her son, and 2) He’s actually the son of the Devil. Peck and Remick don’t play this like they’re in a schlock horror film, they’re playing it as though they’re in a serious film about a demonic entity in human child visage.

The supporting cast is top-notch too, especially Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, and young Harvey Stephens as Damien. Patrick Troughton and his dark, burned-out eyes are perfect for the stark-raving priest who just so happens to be speaking the truth. Looking like a creepy “Mary Poppins”, Billie Whitelaw isn’t offering a spoonful of sugar as the protective nanny. Serving her true master Satan rather than the Thorn family, she’s genuinely chilling and terrifying. It’s a great, film-stealing turn by the underrated character actress. Young Harvey Stephens may be the film’s most underrated element. Whether he gives a great performance or it’s great direction from Donner, he’s perfectly malevolent-looking (Seriously, even giraffes don’t want to be around this evil turd). In fact there are two facial expressions in this film that forever leave an impression: Lee Remick’s look of almost paralytic stunned terror and Stephens’ evil little bastard cherub face. Elsewhere, David Warner is likeable as the photographer who starts to uncover a conspiracy, and there’s a great small turn by Aussie-born Leo McKern as an expert in archaeology and exorcism who gives Thorn some most grave, unpleasant advice. He and Troughton supply the film with its seriously intonated ham in the best Hammer/Amicus tradition.

This is a film of great, often violent, set pieces – The birthday party. Damien’s freakout at church. The baboons. The cemetery scene. The kill scenes, which aren’t a million miles away from Argento. These set pieces are all masterfully orchestrated in all senses of the term. The birthday party is one that always springs to mind because it’s the early moment in the film that gives you an idea of what you’re in for here. However, I think the reason why it works so wonderfully well is partly because Donner and screenwriter David Seltzer (“Lucas”, “Bird on a Wire”, “Dragonfly”) devote time to show the Thorn family as a happy, normal (if affluent) one. The oddball and shocking twist to that birthday party scene unsettles and jars you as a result. As for the cemetery scene, I love how Donner and cinematographer Gil Taylor (“Repulsion”, “Frenzy”, “Star Wars: A New Hope”) suggest a malevolent third presence lurking in the bushes through creepy camera movement. Enhanced by the Satanic chants of Goldsmith’s Oscar-winning score, the film is more atmospheric than scary – though the ideas in it are certainly horrific at times – but there are definite moments of terror here, usually involving the rottweilers or Billie Whitelaw jumping out of freaking nowhere. The respective final scenes of both David Warner and Patrick Troughton are especially memorable. Warner gets to be a part of one of cinema’s great violent shocks, whilst Troughton’s final moments are wonderfully doom-laden and atmospheric. I guarantee Mr. Donner watched “Night of the Demon” and Hammer’s “The Witches” before shooting that scene. It’s a shame Donner didn’t re-visit the horror genre after this, because he’s got the right stuff for it on evidence here.

It might seem strange that I’m about to talk about flaws in a film I consider the best horror movie ever made and one of my all-time favourite films. I need to be honest, nonetheless as few if any films are perfect. My one and only issue with the entire film is that I don’t completely believe Peck/Thorn would take a baby he knows isn’t his in the first place. I can get over that hurdle enough to enjoy the film greatly, but I do find it a flaw nonetheless and need to mention it.

I can understand someone preferring “The Exorcist” or thinking that film is a greater cinematic achievement. However, I have only seen that film a few times whereas I’ve come back to this one time and time again. Both have grim tones, but this one’s heightened atmosphere and schlock kills are perhaps the difference maker one way or the other. I guess I like to be entertained more than I like to be disturbed. This is a schlock horror masterpiece, and if you’re a fan of Hammer horror, Gothic/Satanic horror, and schlocky kill scenes hopefully you’ll agree with me. That said, director Donner and screenwriter Seltzer don’t skimp on the character drama, either. It’s schlock horror taken seriously and brilliantly executed. Must-see.

Rating: A+