Halloween reviews: The Omen

Today, I look at the classic demonic horror film The Omen, directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon, The Goonies, Tales from the Crypt) and starring Gregory Peck.

The Omen:
The US Ambassador to Great Britain, named Robert Thorn, after the miscarriage of his and his wife's child, adopts a young orphan, and raises him as his own. The child, named Damien, begins exhibiting strange behavior around age 5, when he freaks out in front fo church, and when his nanny hangs herself screaming "It's all for you, Damien!" Thorn begins investigating, and finds that his son may be the spawn of Satan. He and a photographer try to stop Damien from taking over the world, but they begin to notice there are "omens", such as strange photos which predict the way a person dies... Gregory Peck gives a strong performance as Thorn, who at first defends his son, but begins to notice Damien's true nature. His performance as a troubled father who slowly falls apart is breathtaking. Lee remick plays Thorn's wife, Katherine. She is a concerned mother, but isn't quite as strong as Peck. David Warner (The Lost World, Tron, Time Bandits, Star Trek V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titanic) plays Keith Jennings, a young newspaper photgrapher who assists Thorn in his investigating into Damien's origins. Billie Whitelaw plays Mrs. Baylock, Damien's new nanny who turns out to be a demon in service to Satan. She has a truly creepy and threatening prescense around her, as, with Thorn, she is (literally) so close to home. Harvey Spencer Stephens gives a good perofrmance as Damien, a sweet little boy who just happens to be Satan's son. This little satanic hellspawn just has creepy things happen around him, such as animals at the zoo run in fear from him, and having a demonic Rottweiller always at his side. Pretty good performance for a kid. Patrick Troughton plays Father Brennan, and old, half-crazy priest who tries to warn Thorn of Damien's origins, including his strange birth mother. The film, unlike The Exorcist, is low on special effects, but the music is really creepy. Jerry Goldsmith's iconic "Ave Satani" is truly haunting and disturbing. I found the mystery and the overall plot a little more far-fetched but a lot more disturbing than The Exorcist, due to the fact that the evil villain wins at the end, and people actually get gruesomely murdered in this film. The Omen is a truly original, creepy and haunting horror film, and Richard Donner works surprisingly well as a horror director. It's a shame he didn't do more. 5/5 stars.
(Also, the film had a mediocre remake that was released on June 6, 2006, and was marketed as "Coming 6-6-06". That's pretty cool.)