Coming out of the vogue for theological shockers in the wake of The Exorcist (1973), The Omen arguably threatened to beat it at its own game.
Sired by a jackal and destined to plunge the world into chaos and darkness when Satan decrees it, Damien (Harvey Stephens) is the Antichrist.
Secretly adopted by the American Ambassador to the Court of St James, Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick) – whose own child was stillborn at the moment of Damien’s birth – Damien spends the duration of the film killing his surrogate family and everyone else who steps in the way. A job that takes him six years.
The gore and shocks come fast but it’s the growing sense of menace played against the seeming innocence of the young boy that really makes this one disturbing.
The sequels were a great example of diminishing returns, but The Omen is a brilliantly constructed and truly terrifying movie.
Seeing lots of British character actors bite the dust in a dizzyingly bizarre fashion is worth the price alone.
Robert Thorn
Gregory Peck Katherine Thorn
Lee Remick Jennings
David Warner MrsBaylock
Billie Whitelaw Damien
Harvey Stephens Father Brennan
Patrick Troughton Father Spiletto
Martin Benson Dr Becker
Anthony Nicholl Mrs Horton
Sheila Raynor Monk
Robert Rietty Priest
Tommy Duggan Psychiatrist
John Stride s Nanny
Holly Palance
Director
Richard Donner
Video
Related Posts
On the Beach (1959) In 1964, nuclear war wipes out all of humanity in the northern hemisphere. One American nuclear submarine - the USS…
One More Time (1970) This sequel to Salt and Pepper (1968) has middle-aged swingers Charles Salt (Sammy Davis Jr) and Christopher Pepper (Peter Lawford) falling on…
FutureWorld (1976) Two reporters visit Delos, a futuristic technologically-sophisticated theme park, which has recently re-opened following the accidental tragic deaths caused by…
Carrie (1976) Adapted from Stephen King's first novel, Carrie made telling use of split-screen techniques to follow cause and effect as it…
End Play (1976) Wheelchair-bound paraplegic Robbie (George Mallaby) and Mark (John Waters) - home from the Merchant Navy - are dysfunctional stepbrothers whose…
Overboard (1987) The golden age of the screwball comedy might have been the 1930s, but for one all-too-brief moment in late 1987,…
Savage Bees, The (1976) This made-for-television film is another of the nature-gone-wild thrillers that seemed so much in vogue in the 1970s. A swarm…
Original Gangstas (1996) Attention all blaxploitation fanatics! Five 1970s icons - Fred Williamson (who came up with the story and produced), Pam Grier,…
Robert Thorn
Damien
