Rating: 
Summary: "Whose child am I raising?"
Review: I first saw "The Omen" at the age of 16. The first of a trilogy, I found the idea of religious prophecy in a modern context an interesting twist.Gregory Peck plays Robert Thorn, an American ambassador. His wife Kathy (Lee Remick) is unaware that the child she gave birth to had died and was replaced by another baby. A foundling. Robert was persuaded by an Italian priest to "adopt" the child, agreeing that Kathy didn't need to know the truth. Robert and Kathy named the child Damien. Robert's life becomes a nightmare as Damien grows. Another priest arrives, telling Robert that the boy mustn't be allowed to live. It takes a number of murders before Robert is fully convinced of Damien's true heritage. "The Omen" is an unsettling film. The evil Damien looks so normal, it is hard for Robert to imagine he is really the son of the devil. The way certain characters die are unusual, but not really that gory. (They don't need to be.) There is also a novel of "The Omen" by David Seltzer. I'm not sure if the film is based on the book or the book based on the film. The book develops the story and characters much further and makes Damien even more sinister. The two sequels that follow "The Omen" are also worth seeing, but I advise you to ignore "Omen 4" completely.
Rating:
Summary: The Mark of the Beast: OMEN Leaves Effective Mark on Viewer
Review: THE OMEN is a truly effective horror film. It is one of the best of the seventies. It may not be as psychologically intense as ROSEMARY'S BABY or religiously disturbing as THE EXORCIST, but it is a wonderful, quiet, and subtly moving story of a caring family torn apart by a terrifying revelation. Gregory Peck plays the US Ambassador who's wife gave birth to a stillborn. Not wanting to break the news to his wife, the hospital offers him the baby of a woman who died after giving birth, a woman who has no living relatives. He accepts and the family live happily until his son, Damien's, fifth birthday, in which the revelation of the antichrist is carried out. The cast is wonderful, adding to the realism and effectiveness of the film. You really feel the Thorns being torn apart by the events that occur, yet still reluctant to believe their son, the child they have been waiting for all their lives, to be the antichrist. Gregory Peck is very good, and gives the film a sense of respectability, and not just a 70's devil film. The talented Lee Remick contributes to the story well, making us especially sympathetic for this unfortunate character. Remick and the whole casts expressions of horrors leave an imprint in your mind for a long time. David Warner plays the curious photographer. The devil is one of the most horrifying evils of the horror film, and this film really takes this subject seriously, thus making the film a more believable movie. Also, this classic movie is completely entertaining. It has some gore for the gore lovers, but also uses it very carefully for those who don't enjoy bloodfests. It is creepy, eerie, and even a bit campy for those who like that sort of thing. Last, but not least, Jerry Goldsmith's Academy Award-winning score (the heart-stopping "Ave Satani") is a major part of this horror movie. This drama/horror is creative, scary, entertaining, and moving at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Excorcist-Schmexcorcist
Review: 1976's "The Omen" has always been my favorite horor film of all time. I found it more frightening than "Halloween", "Friday The Thirteenth" or even "The Excocist", simply because it does not frighten you with blood and gore (despite bloodshed every now and then). It is meant to frighten you with the plot, which, while fictional, seems disturbingly realistic. "The Omen" stars Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as Robert and Kathy Thorn, wealthy political figures who have everything they want... except a child. When Kathy unknowingly gives birth to a stillborn baby, Robert quickly adopts another child in place of the real child, which Kathy apparently never finds out about. Young Damien seems like the perfect child, but strange mortalities soon arise when Damien turns five. First, his nanny hangs herself at his 5th birthday. Next, a priest who tries to watn Peck about his son's birth mother is impaled by a lightning rod. These strange deaths attract the attention of a photographer, ably played by the grossly underrated David Warner. Together, Warner and Peck go looking for Damien's real mother. A new nanny, played with fervor by Billie Whitelaw, comes along, knowing who Damien really is. Remick's character soon suffers a miscarriage, and she and the photographer both meet an untimely end. Peck receives seven daggers from an aging archeologist named Bugenhagen. Peck then realizes his son's true identity, building up to a terrifying closing sequence. Overall, "The Omen" is a horror masterpiece. The acting is superb, Richard Donner directs exceellently and Jerry Goldsmith's score is breathtakingly scary (I'm still haunted by the music played in the opening credits). Extras include a making - of documentary and trailers.
Rating:
Summary: Bone-Tingling Suspense Thriller
Review: When Kathy Thorn (Lee Remick) delivers a stillborn, her husband Robert (Gregory Peck) is at a loss for words. How can he tell her that she lost the child she has been waiting for? A sinister man wearing the guise of a consoling priest explains to him that he doesn't have to. Kathy "need never know" that Robert switched the "stillborn" child with another born from an otherworldly mother who, coincidentally, died during childbirth that same night, at that same hour. Robert Thorn is proclaimed ambassador to Great Britain, and the Thorn family packs up and moves. Damien begins to grow up, and experiences a seemingly normal childhood. Forget the minor oddity that he has never been sick a day in his life. However, on Damien's fifth birthday, life as the Thorn's know it begins to go terribly awry. It begins with the strange arrival of a "watchdog" at the home of the Thorn's during the birthday party. Soon after, Damien's nanny commits suicide (proclaiming "it's all for you Damien"), making room for a new nanny (Billie Whitelaw) to enter the picture. This new nanny is somewhat suspicious in that she arrived out of nowhere, as the Thorn's hadn't yet tried to replace the previous nanny. However, Kathy and Robert are a trusting couple and allow the nanny to come into theirs, and Damien's, lives. Nothing seems too out of place until Robert is confronted with a strange warning from a priest and even further warnings from a photographer. The priest quickly dies, leaving Robert and this photographer (David Warner) to investigate Damien's origins further. They just don't make them like they used to. Nowadays, horror films are chock full of in-your-face gore, action and effects. What I love about this film is the subtlety. Eerie music, wind effects, and bone-chilling suspense help to make this the great film that it is. In addition, the fact that there are no ghosts, goblins, ghouls, or undead roaming about adds to the film's realism. Sure, you can argue semantics about whether or not the "hounds of hell" and the evil nanny were really similar to "goblins and ghouls," them being servants of Satan, but my point is that a child, a strange woman and a dog are far more believable than, say, godzilla, the blob, or aliens from outer space. This is truly a classic horror film that should be seen, if not enjoyed, by all. The acting is great (especially compared to several films of the era), the score incredibly creepy, and the plot subtly intense. Gregory Peck and Lee Remick both deliver stellar performances and do a great job of showing the raw emotion involved with having life as one knows it turned upside down. If you can appreciate good horror films without the expensive make-up and special effects, then give this one a try. You won't be disappointed! The extras on the DVD are pretty cool as well!
Rating:
Summary: Scary!!!!
Review: Son of Satan..need I say more? Great performance by the legendary Gregory Peck. This movie is of course about the anti-christ (who, as I understand will appear shortly) and the possibility of him living in our day in time. After The Exorcist sparked a lengthy trend of supernatural thrillers, this 1976 horror film scored a hit with critics and audiences for mixing gothic horror and mystery into its plot about a young boy suspected of being the personification of the anti-Christ. This movie isn't scarier than The Exorcist, but it is scarier than another horror classic by the name of Rosemary's Baby. This one has to be taken seriously for the viewer to actually get scared in it. The Omen gained a lot of credibility from the casting of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as a distinguished American couple living in England, whose young son Damien bears "the mark of the beast." The Omen has the scariest soundtrack to any movie, and the acting in this movie is incredible, even from the kid! This is one you HAVE TO WATCH ALONE IN THE DARK for the full effect. This is a classic chiller and should be seen by all who are in need of a great scare.
Rating: 
Summary: Pure Evil Definitely Has Beautiful Face
Review: By late 1970's, the worldwide film-watching public had already been brutally exposed to an utterly inconceivable cinematic vision of evil in William Friedkin's unforgettable horror classic The Exorcist (1973). With world society forever changed by its outrageously revolting cinematic visuals, morally offensive religious implications about modern civilization, and very profitable box office success, it seemed very unlikely that any film in the future would be able to substantially pull that public chord again. Subsequently, Hollywood filmmakers impressed with the rising commercial viability of the horror film (enhanced by the success of Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Stephen Spielberg's Jaws (1975)) realized definite financial opportunities in the horror genre. Unfortunately, this realization leads to a new depressing trend of uninventive horror films that plagued commercial horror through the late 70's and into the Reagan years. In spite of this, one modestly-budgeted suspense thriller/gothic horror film (made for around a scant $2,125,000 dollars) directed by then relative newcomer Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie, The Lethal Weapon series, Conspiracy Theory), released by 20th Century Fox, and starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, and David Warner began receiving marvelous critical raves and gained almost an instant place among horror's finest films. Though slightly tainted by dated acting and a time-specific screenplay, the Omen (1976) remains a magnificent ensemble piece luminously filled with superb performances by a seasoned cast, unforgettably haunted by an eloquently shocking Academy Award winning music score by Jerry Goldsmith (Alien, Planet of the Apes), helmed conservatively but extremely effectively by young Richard Donner, augmented with a fantastic philosophical atmosphere that provokes the mind as well as the jugular, and astonishingly peppered by Harvey Stephens's mesmerizing portray of Damien. The Omen remains a 1970's hallmark to the cinema's unequalled ability to make distinct characters and places that haunt the mind's eye forever. Followed by three unremarkable sequels that have recently been packaged with the original into an Omen DVD Box Set. As for the Omen's DVD edition, it contains a Richard Donner commentary track, a 44-minute Omen Making-Of documentary, theatrical trailers, Jerry Goldsmith interviews about his score, and much more. A definite must-buy for any serious horror fan. P.S. Never forget that grin
Rating:
Summary: Excorcist-Schmexcorcist
Review: 1976's "The Omen" has always been my favorite horor film of all time. I found it more frightening than "Halloween", "Friday The Thirteenth" or even "The Excocist", simply because it does not frighten you with blood and gore (despite bloodshed every now and then). It is meant to frighten you with the plot, which, while fictional, seems disturbingly realistic. "The Omen" stars Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as Robert and Kathy Thorn, wealthy political figures who have everything they want... except a child. When Kathy unknowingly gives birth to a stillborn baby, Robert quickly adopts another child in place of the real child, which Kathy apparently never finds out about. Young Damien seems like the perfect child, but strange mortalities soon arise when Damien turns five. First, his nanny hangs herself at his 5th birthday. Next, a priest who tries to watn Peck about his son's birth mother is impaled by a lightning rod. These strange deaths attract the attention of a photographer, ably played by the grossly underrated David Warner. Together, Warner and Peck go looking for Damien's real mother. A new nanny, played with fervor by Billie Whitelaw, comes along, knowing who Damien really is. Remick's character soon suffers a miscarriage, and she and the photographer both meet an untimely end. Peck receives seven daggers from an aging archeologist named Bugenhagen. Peck then realizes his son's true identity, building up to a terrifying closing sequence. Overall, "The Omen" is a horror masterpiece. The acting is superb, Richard Donner directs exceellently and Jerry Goldsmith's score is breathtakingly scary (I'm still haunted by the music played in the opening credits). Extras include a making - of documentary and trailers.
Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps a Classic in its Own Time, But Not Now
Review: Robert and Kathy Thorn give birth to a stillborn child. Robert hides this truth from his wife by adopting another baby and pretending that it is their own so as to protect Kathy from the painful truth. As the child grows, strange things begin to happen and a seemingly crazy priest attempts to warn Robert of the true origins of their child, Damien. Robert soon begins to realize that their adopted son is the antichrist and begins to try to prevent the prophecies from occuring. While this movie may have been a hit in its own time, I found it very slow-moving and boring. The film quality, however, was excellent and the colors were vibrant and the focus was sharp. Even the little boy who played Damien looked evil and convincing. I know this movie has a following, but it's not a wagon I'll be jumping on anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: "IF THIS IS THE TRUTH, WHERE DOES IT END?"
Review: One of the most successful horror films of all time in the mid-70s was "The Omen", starring Gregory Peck & Lee Remick as Mr. and Mrs. Thorne who are desperate to have a child. They adopt and decide to name their little boy Damien. Little do they know that Damien is more than what he appears to be. A sweet child on the outside, but on the inside all hell is about to break out! After numerous "accidental" deaths, Robert Thorne (Peck) investigates in order to find a solution to Damien's evil powers. And that's where I'm going to stop cause I don't wanna spoil it for you. Just watch it! And be sure to also see "Damien: Omen II" (1978), it's a lot better than this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Watchable...
Review: ...But its no Exorcist. Gets three stars from me for decent cinematography, Gregory Peck's performance and the scene with the mad baboons in the zoo attacking Damien and Lee Remick. The score by Jerry Goldsmith whose music I usually love is just awful. The direction is so so. Richard Donner still has not been able to top his work in Superman and the first two Lethal Weapon movies.
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