The Omen

Rating:
Summary: Bad Omens + "Accidental" Deaths = A Cult Classic.
Review: When politician and multi-millionare Robert Thorn is faced with the heartbreaking task of telling his wife that their hopes for a child have again been dashed by a stillbirth, he is offered a chance to hide the tragedy from his wife. There is a newborn orphan that needs a family as badly as the Thorn's want a child. His better judgment clouded by grief and fatigue, Robert Thorn accepts the offer and deceives his wife. It is a decision he will live to regret, because Damien may not be human at all. He may be the dreaded Anti-Christ, come to rule, then destroy, the world.

The Omen overcomes a sloppy script (in many ways the script for Damien: Omen 2 was better) by using a fine cast, excellent photography, a classic chiller of a score by Jerry Goldsmith, and Richard Donner's expert manipulations of the unfolding events. The movie works also because it can be read either as a supernatural thriller or as the tale of a man driven to insanity by guilt and circumstance. Either way The Omen's status as a cult classic is richly deserved and this movie is pretty much an essential for those who enjoy demonic laced horror.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good but if you want to see this story done right...
Review: Okay, some parts of the Omen are pattently silly, but overall it's pretty good. But if you want to see this story done really really well, check out THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY by James BeauSeigneur. BeauSeigneur sticks to the concept of the coming of the antichrist as described in the prophecies of a dozen major religions, but never gets bogged down in forcing you to listen to a load of preaching the way books like LEFT BEHIND do.

Rating:
Summary: The Omen
Review: The key to the Omen films is that you have to be patient. All of the films have a relatively slow pace, but when they do strike, the results are often pretty spectacular. Relying more on suspense than shock value, the murders are sparsely placed within the films, which make them so much more effective than the average slasher horror film. Everyone is probably familiar with the basic antichrist child plot so I won't summarize.

The Special Edition DVD of the first film includes a worthwhile documentary that explains how some of the effects were created and I especially enjoyed the irony of director Richard Donner refusing to allow the goldfish to be injured while directing such a malevolent film. But, the best part of the Omen DVD is -- watching the famed 'decapitation' in slow motion so you can see how cheesy the dummy looks in 1/8 speed. But when viewed as it was intended, it is still pretty freaky, even by today's standards.

Rating:
Summary: "THE OMEN"
Review: Highly entertaining yet terribly uneven horror film from 1976. Good performances from a capable cast can't disguise the absurdity in much of the dialogue. Sure you must suspend disbelief for most thrillers of this sort, but that doesn't mean that the characters should speak as unrealistically as they do in this film given the situation. The giggle-inducing dialogue and over the top Hollywood musical score demolish almost all of the eerie subtlety that should have dominated the film. On the other hand, several sequences do succeed in causing chills 'n' thrills. The well staged, gruesome deaths of all involved are certainly creepy in their own dated way and many of the director's and cinematographer's shot choices are right on the money. The concluding half hour is the film's strongest leg, when father Gregory Peck FINALLY decides to kill off the little bastard along with his satanic nanny. I found THE OMEN to be quite an amusing film despite its many faults. I have always been a horror film fan and a huge fan of the ones that infuse satanic mythology into their plotlines. Although dated and creaky by today's standards, THE OMEN still manages to pack enough of a wallop (or should I say light smack?) to keep fans of the genre interested.

Rating:
Summary: "The Omen" a terrifying study in evil
Review: Americans Robert and Kathy Thorn (Gregory Peck and Lee Remick) settle in London once he's appointed Ambassador to Great Britain. Expecting their first child, Robert is informed that their baby died right after birth when he arrives at the hospital. The priest there suggests that they take the baby whose mother died there the same night, and Kathy need not be ever told. Robert accepts the idea as he is informed that there isn't any relatives and the records can be doctored. The priest reassures the heartbroken father that this child is a gift from God.

The Thorns lead an idyllic life until Damien is about five. A priest from the hospital seeks out Robert and tells him about the origins of the boy, whom he claims was born of a jackal and is the son of Satan. Roberts writes off the priest as crazy until all those around start to suffer inexplicable accidents and deaths which point to Damien. When Kathy is threatened, Robert and a photographer named Jennings (David Warner) trace Damien's roots. They discover that Robert's child was actually murdered and that Damien's real "mother" is a jackal after all. Robert is given daggers by an old priest named Bugenhagen (Leo McKern) which is the only thing on earth that can kill the boy. Robert is reluctant until he witnesses Jennings' death in a horrible "accident." Convinced at last, he returns home with the daggers determined the kill the boy, which leads to a terrifying conclusion.

Well-made, suspenseful, with a scary score by Jerry Goldsmith, this is the best of the "devil" movies that followed in the wake of "The Exorcist." Sequels were planned while this was still in it's theatrical run and the novel became a best seller.

Rating:
Summary: This movie is pure evil
Review: I know what people are thinking about this film. I don't want this film anymore. The film of The Omen is pure evil, but the music by Jerry Goldsmith is not. I know what'll happen one of these days, but I don't believe any of these prophesies in the film are true. There is no person like Damien Thorn. All the things in this film are bad as well as my turning to "the dark side of my heart" when I watched this film. This film of The Omen shouldn't have been sould or produced! ever. There is such a thing as the quote "when the jews return to zion"? Come On! What happens in the film isn't real. This film of The Omen is what it is. It is nonsense. There is one true thing about this film... no actualy there is 2 things about this film. 1. I should've been aware of the R rating, and so should've you all. 2. The person who plays the child Damien is a hipocrit. I don't mean to be so negative, but look at this film. This is all one true hipocracy after another. That's why I gave this film a 1 out of 5 star rating. If there is any children amung you! read this review. I hope that whatever I've said about The Omen will warn your children not to rent, watch, or purchase this film.

Rating:
Summary: This movie STINKS!
Review: The Omen is absolutely NO comparison to The Exorcist. First of all, The Exorcist inspired this film, and heck I'll say it The Exorcist beats the living [crud] outta this movie. The Exorcist is vastly superior to this load of tripe - see The Exorcst, dump The Omen.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect horror film, for Christians especially
Review: When I read that people are disappointed with this film, I simply don't understand. Perhaps it doesn't exactly ring their bell as far as horror films are concerned (everyone has a different definition of horror, after all), but I simply don't see how it disappoints. Shock value? Certainly not. Plot? ABSOLUTELY not. Acting? No way. Soundtrack? Huh-uh. It just doesn't make any sense.

In my personal opinion, "The Omen" remains the perfect horror film. Sure, some of its effects are outdated when viewed by an audience used to cutting-edge computer animation to enhance the reality of a scene. But when we ignore this--and this film makes it easy to do so--the pure terror of this movie comes gushing forth, and it gives every indication of being the paragon of horror cinema.

First of all, there is an extremely appropriate mixture of gore and psychological terror. We have gruesome killings, but then we have an extremely believeable and thrilling storyline. This is no slasher film--this is the Antichrist, and the scenario that the movie sets forth is extremely viable, especially if you happen to be a Christian. In fact, if you are a Christian, then what you're watching on screen is going to happen someday--so is it foretold in the Bible. As you watch, if you keep this in mind, you can't help but be scared out of your wits. There is an excellent suspense value here, too. Will the prophesies of the Bible, which tells of Good triumphing over Evil, come true? And thus, will the son of Satan be killed? At the end, we're forced to wonder for a few minutes about who is in the two coffins--Ambassador Thorn and his wife, or Damien and his mother? Who, in fact, DID win? Let's not forget what happens in the rest of the film, though. A father is asked to kill his own child. An innocent mother is thrown from a hospital window. The dream life shared by two "beautiful people" is shattered and destroyed completely, and ostensibly they did nothing to deserve it. The important thing that the film conveys, however, is that it really doesn't matter. Innocence is inconsequential in Satan's quest for the dominance of mankind, and so is human life.

What's more, at the end of the film, ALL of the main characters--except for the most evil one, the Antichrist himself--are dead! The ending is anything but happy, and a real horror film shouldn't have a happy ending. The acting is excellent and very believeable--the casting job is superb, too. Gregory Peck is tremendous--this man, typically cast as a calm, wise, warm- hearted man (such as in "To Kill a Mockingbird"), is systematically torn apart by his own five-year-old son. We want to hate the young boy, but his youthful innocence makes it difficult. And because of the fact that Ambassador Thorne (Peck's character) does not listen to the good father, who tells him to "Accept Christ as [his] savior...drink his blood...", the final implication is that Peck, not to mention everyone else, is going to Hell.

If you are a Christian--and that includes about two billion people--then this is the perfect horror movie to own. If you're not, this is STILL a great film, stylistically as well as psychologically. Because we can't forget--even if we're not all servants of Christ, this may still have the title card that reads "Based on a true story" on it someday. Buy NOW.

Rating:
Summary: "It's just about to be the end of the world"
Review: I had wanted to see the unedited version of Richard Donner's "The Omen" for many years and finally saw it on laser disc several years ago. "The Omen" is not one of the greatest horror films, but it's still worthy of classic status.

American ambassador Gregory Peck and his wife Lee Remick have a child that dies shortly after birth in an Italian hospital. While Remick is unconscious, Peck agrees to adopt another baby in the hospital and pass the child off as their own. Peck gradually comes to the shocking realization that this child is the antichrist.

"The Omen" has many positive points. The film has often been compared with William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," another religious-oriented horror classic that preceded "The Omen" by three years. "The Omen" is arguably more suspenseful than "The Exorcist." The key players are perfect: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, and Billie Whitelaw. Warner has the most creative death scene in all of film history.

Unfortunately, "The Omen"'s weaknesses almost outweigh its strengths. Richard Donner's film actually falls far short of "The Exorcist." In Friedkin's film, we deeply cared about the characters; I cried at the death of the Father Merrin character. Viewers don't develop the same degree of concern for the characters in "The Omen." In addition, some of the death scenes and intense moments in Donner's film are unintentionally ludicrous and border on being camp.

Despite its weaknesses, "The Omen" should be been seen by every horror movie fan at least once. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I was disappointed with the content of this film. Next time that I buy a movie I will make sure that it is good and not the ametuer film making displayed in this picture.