My review of The Omen (original)

I like a good old horror film. This one fit quite nicely. It was followed with 3 or 4 sequels and a remake, but oh well. Nothing new. I will say that this film had a fantastic (and constantly parodied) score.

Acting: It's frigging Gregory Pack. What's not to like? The kid who played Damien was really interesting too. But I feel that it was the deranged Nanny who stole the show: "Have no fear, little one... I am here to protect thee." The first one was nuts too though (not her fault) "Damien!! Damien!! Look at me, Damien! It's all for you." That scene in particular was really interesting. They got a great cast for this one. 10/10

Plot: well, this is the last of the three major Demonic Child movies (the other two being Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist both of which are excellent) so the plot is in its most BASIC form, similar to those two, Rosemary's Baby in articular. Now the way the go about it is different but you get what I'm saying. I really liked the plot. It is basically what would have happened if Santa hadn't succeeded in stopping the animals in Woodland Critter Christmas in South Park. But it was a certainly enjoyable plot that I really liked. 9.5/10

Screenplay: The screenplay, for once, is what made the film creepier. Particularly with the aforementioned Nanny quotes. Creepy stuff. 9/10

Likableness: Very likable. I highly enjoyed this film in large part due to the score. They succeeded in making the film have a demonic aura to it. I liked that a lot. Gregory Peck was excellent as usual as were the rest of the cast. It was a great film. 10/10

Final Score: 38.5/40 96% (N)


TRIVIA TIME: 1. Charlton Heston, Roy Scheider, Dick Van Dyke, and William Holden turned down the lead role. Gregory Peck, accepted the lead. William Holden starred in the sequel Damien: Omen II

2. To make the baboons attack the car in the Windsor Zoo park scene, an official from the zoo was in the back seat of the car with a baby baboon, but the baboons had no response at all. They then took the head of the baboons, and the baboons outside went crazy. Lee Remick's terror as the baboons attack the car was real.

3. Having changed its title from "The Antichrist" to "The Birthmark," the film seemed to fall victim to a sinister curse. Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer took separate planes to the UK...yet BOTH planes were struck by lightning. While producer Harvey Bernhard was in Rome, lightning just missed him. Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers. A hotel at which director Richard Donner was staying got bombed by the IRA; he was also struck by a car. After Peck canceled another flight, to Israel, the plane he would have chartered crashed...killing all on board. On day one of the shoot, several principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash. The jinx appeared to persist well into post-production... when special effects artist John Richardson was injured and his girlfriend beheaded in an accident on the set of A Bridge Too Far

4. As part of its pre-release publicity campaign, and to point out the significance of "the three sixes" as The Sign of Satan, the movie was sneak-previewed nationwide in the USA on 6 June 1976. While audiences inside the theaters were being scared witless by the film, theater employees were out front, busily putting up specially made posters declaring: "Today is the SIXTH day of the SIXTH month of Nineteen-Seventy-SIX!" Hokey though it was, the gimmick worked quite well, as many a theater patron literally "freaked-out" upon seeing those posters as they left the previews.

5. Richard Donner decided that Harvey Stephens' naturally blond hair should be dyed black to give him a more sinister look in his role as Damien. Harvey Stephens, as Damien, was largely chosen for this role from the way he attacked Richard Donner during auditions. Donner asked all the little boys to "come at him" as if they were attacking Katherine Thorn during the church wedding scene. Stephens screamed and clawed at Donner's face, and kicked him in the groin during his act. Donner whipped the kid off him, ordered the kid's blond hair dyed black and cast him as Damien.