I’m a significant fan of The Omen. Now, let’s be clear about what I’m truly saying right here—I’m a fan of the 1976 Richard Donner movie concerning the Antichrist. And yeah, I’m even a little bit of a fan of the primary two sequels. What I’m not a fan of is the abysmal, pointless hack-job remake that got here out in 2006. The First Omen—considerably higher—but when I’m being sincere, nothing has come near dwelling as much as the promise of that unique movie.
You see, the unique Omen teased one thing actually terrifying—the Antichrist being current within the higher echelons of world energy. And what’s probably the most highly effective place on the planet? For higher or worse, it’s the President of the US. The primary Omen hinted that this was maybe Damien Thorn’s future, but all the subsequent movies chickened out from following the collection to its inevitable, hopeless conclusion. As such, we missed out on what might have been the most effective horror franchises of all time, as The Omen, in contrast to The Exorcist, truly left the door open for extra.
So let’s return a bit and study what made the unique Omen so nice. Whereas some would say The Omen was an unique thought—and it was—it could possibly’t be denied that its path to the large display screen was paved by the discharge of 1973’s The Exorcist, which was not solely the most well-liked horror movie of all time when it got here out however probably the most fashionable movies ever made. As such, everybody needed to make a film concerning the satan, however nobody had a greater thought than producer Harvey Bernhard. A mover and shaker who made his bones in Hollywood producing the ultra-successful blaxploitation film The Mack, Bernhard had the germ of the thought for The Omen and employed author David Seltzer, who spent a yr turning it right into a screenplay. The idea was nice—the American ambassador to England has a son who simply so occurs to be the Antichrist.
Enter director Richard Donner, who was a great distance from changing into the A-list filmmaker he would later be. On the time, he was a middle-aged TV director who had made just a few low-budget films, together with Salt and Pepper with Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford (cue the “I’m Pepper, he’s Salt” line from the trailer). This may be his first main film, and initially, Donner favored ambiguity—the concept that the viewers ought to by no means know for certain whether or not or not Damien was the Antichrist. In fact, that was thrown out, because the film makes it specific that he’s the son of Devil, actually born from a jackal.
In addition to Donner and the screenplay, there have been arguably two substances that made it a basic—the forged and the soundtrack. Chief among the many good casting decisions was Gregory Peck, who was an actual coup to play Robert Thorn, the ambassador who unwittingly finally ends up the daddy of the Antichrist. On the time, Peck was a Golden Age Hollywood star who had misplaced some relevance with the altering occasions and was getting older. But Peck had performed maybe cinema’s most enduring father—Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird—and the thought of him enjoying a father attempting to kill his little one was irresistible. He was additionally an aesthetic, A-level actor working within the horror style, and his presence elevated the standard of the supporting forged, which included Lee Remick as Damien’s adopted mom, Thorn’s spouse Katherine (who believes Damien is her personal little one), in addition to David Warner, Leo McKern, Billie Whitelaw, and a terrifying little scamp named Harvey Stephens, who performed Damien and was apparently a hellion on set—kicking Donner within the balls throughout his audition.
Then, in fact, there’s Jerry Goldsmith’s unbelievable rating, with its choral components and Latin chants. The film was an enormous blockbuster—the sixth-highest-grossing movie of the yr. Critics on the time truly hated it, and lots of had been offended that it starred an icon like Peck. In fact, the years have been variety to it, and Peck’s efficiency is little question one of many issues that helps it stand the check of time. His portrayal of Robert Thorn, an ageing bureaucrat married to a youthful lady who will get an opportunity at fatherhood later in life solely to lose all the things, is touching—earlier than it turns into terrifying. The film was so large it popularized the E book of Revelation’s notion of 666 being the mark of the beast.
Now, the movie ended with it wanting just like the President and First Woman had been going to undertake Damien, however the sequel—Damien: The Omen II—chickened out. It adopted Damien as an adolescent, and it’s not as high-quality a movie as the unique. Seltzer didn’t return to write down the screenplay, and Donner was directing Superman at this level. As an alternative, it’s a less expensive, B-level film, the place Damien is raised by a household good friend of the Thorns, performed by one other ageing Golden Age star—on this case, William Holden. Holden is nice, although not as dedicated to the position as Peck, however there are good components. One is that Damien is proven to wrestle together with his horrible future, which is an fascinating side. He’s additionally proven to have many individuals serving to him alongside the best way, and a number of the gore kills are even higher than the unique, together with a chilling demise underneath a frozen lake and one other when a personality will get minimize in half. It did have Goldsmith again to do the rating. It solely made about half as a lot as the unique, but it surely did properly sufficient to greenlight a sequel—The Ultimate Battle.
Now, right here’s the place they actually screwed it up. On this sequel, we comply with Damien as an grownup as he slowly rises to energy. Sounds good, proper? Nicely, they kill him earlier than he may even get near changing into President. They ended what might have been an incredible collection prematurely, leaving us all with blue balls. Granted, the third film did at the very least one factor proper—they acquired the proper actor to play Damien: a younger Sam Neill. And so they acquired Goldsmith again. Every little thing else they botched, and that was it for the franchise, save for a awful TV film.
The Ultimate Battle truly does have its moments—I like the thought of Damien being obsessive about discovering and killing “The Nazarene,” which entails a demented montage the place we see infants being murdered left and proper—some Previous Testomony shit proper there. It additionally has Jerry Goldsmith again to write down the rating, though he took a distinct strategy this time, eschewing the Ave Satani theme from the unique. Apparently, a fourth Omen film referred to as Omen: Armageddon was speculated to be made instantly afterward, however I don’t know the place they might have gone, as Damien is proven to be undoubtedly lifeless by the point the credit roll. You even get the resurrection of Christ on the finish, which, I believe, is perhaps laying it on just a little thick—however I digress.
After I heard The Omen was being remade in 2006, I wasn’t lifeless set towards it, as I’ve at all times felt it was a saga that by no means performed out the best way it might have. Nevertheless, what I didn’t understand was how badly the film’s hack director, John Moore, would rip off the unique, with it being a scene-for-scene remake, albeit with none type or gravitas. It was so carefully based mostly on the unique that they simply reused David Seltzer’s script. The casting is atrocious, with Julia Stiles out of her depth within the Lee Remick half, whereas Liev Schreiber—who’s normally a great actor—was twenty years too younger for his position. Now he’d be a great Robert Thorn, however again then he was baby-faced. The one factor they acquired proper was Mia Farrow within the Billie Whitelaw position, however the film stinks, particularly with Marco Beltrami’s replace of the Jerry Goldsmith rating. Only a putrid movie throughout that also one way or the other made cash—however fortunately by no means acquired a sequel.
That mentioned, although, I type of preferred The First Omen. I don’t assume we would have liked a prequel, and it’s a bit too PC in that it makes the Church a keen confederate to the satan and ties just a little an excessive amount of into the entire “down with the patriarchy” factor that was sizzling for a short time when the film got here out. But, it was stylishly directed by Arkasha Stevenson, with Nell Tiger Free delivering an ideal efficiency within the lead. I additionally love that in its continuity, Gregory Peck continues to be Robert Thorn, and I want it hadn’t bombed, as they might have ignored the second and third movies and adopted Thorn into the presidency. And let’s be actual—how spooky wouldn’t it be to get a film the place Damien Thorn, who could be in his fifties following the film’s continuity, was an Antichrist president answerable for a nuclear arsenal? Forged a man like Michael Shannon, and also you’ve acquired a horror film that may little question scare the shit out of individuals—and perhaps hit just a little too near house. Once more—name me, Hollywood. We’ll speak.
