THE OMEN

Directed by Richard Donner.  Written by David Seltzer.
Starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Leo McKern
1976, 111 minutes, Color, Rated R, Panavision 2.35:1

SPOILERS BELOW- READ WITH CAUTION

A diplomat (Gregory Peck) discovers that his son was switched at birth with the spawn of Satan.  When one of the priests involved in the deception recants years later and tries to make amends by confessing his sins to the diplomat, the diplomat is initially skeptical.  When people start dying under mysterious circumstances he slowly comes around to the notion.  When his wife (Lee Remick) is killed he becomes a believer and with the help of a journalist (David Warner) decides to try and take care of the problem himself.

Like all films that deal with Satanic issues, THE OMEN offers up a vast conspiracy of people working together for evil--knowing nods, subtle glances, all but winking at each other as they effortlessly work together to complete complicated plans.  I think this encourages the viewer to lose themselves to something much bigger than themselves, or at least the idea of something much bigger.  THE OMEN is very much a story of faith, but rather than faith in something better it instead plays upon the faith of something worse.  Evil with a big supernatural 'E' is real in the world of THE OMEN, but THE OMEN's faith of evil is stylized enough to simplify one's response to it.  Since one cannot relate the events in THE OMEN in the real world it is easier to go along with the "what if" scenario it puts forth.

What sets THE OMEN apart from other examples of this genre is the degree of subtly regarding the Satanic aspects of the story.  For the most part this is achieved by simply avoiding the typical trappings of the Satanic film--there are no pentagrams, cloaked and hooded characters, or blood sacrifice rituals overtly on display in THE OMEN.  These symbols are replaced almost completely by Jerry Goldsmith's tremendous film score and the wildly inventive death scenes. Unlike most Satanic films, we only see a few people actively involved in the plot at hand. By comparison 1975's RACE WITH THE DEVIL seemingly involves the entire southwest United States.  In THE OMEN, it is almost is if the entire thing was carried out solely by the participants we see on the screen.

Shots like these work best in widescreen presentations

The story is nominally constructed so that one can take it either as a supernatural thriller or a story of a man undone by a series of coincidences.  Gregory Peck at some point becomes convinced that his son is, in fact, the spawn of Satan, and the fact that this feels organic to the story and not unbelievable is a testament to the fine film-making at work.   That said, you can't truly take the film two ways.  Oh, I suppose if you weren't paying attention too hard it would stand, but if you look at it closely the film unequivocally plays its hand as a supernatural film.  If the filmmakers really wanted to try and sell the "maybe it was all in Gregory Peck's head" angle they needed to clearly show his point of view during the scenes of coincidence, i.e. the supernatural goings on.  When the nanny is instructed by the hound of Hell to hang herself to make room for Mrs. Baylock, this occurs with no one else around.  The possibility that the nanny was simply having a psychotic break is not seriously entertained due to the presence of tense music during the exchange.  Maybe it's best not to think too hard about it.

While primarily all about the spawn of Satan, the film does touch on a few other themes.  For instance, Lee Remick grows to feel that the son is not hers and does not to want to be around him.  I'm sure every parent has had feelings of this sort at one point or another about their children, but it is usually in the heat of the moment and once calmed down things go back to normal.  Remick's character comes to feel this way over time with no real "reason".   This could be a symptom of depression, but the film doesn't dwell on this aspect.  Ultimately, it's too bad that Remick is not used much beyond what these few sentences set up, and in the end her role is underdeveloped.

The cast is first rate from top to bottom, and it helps immeasurably that everyone involved takes it seriously.   Gregory Peck lends a certain aura of respectability to the proceedings, and his earnestness helps keep things in the believable range far longer than it should.  David Warner is fun as the photographer trying to piece the story together.  Billie Whitelaw as Ms. Baylock steals the movie, however.  She is so chilling that I have never been able to see her in any other role without thinking of her work here.

Richard Donner had primarily done television work prior to this, and one feels that he was trying to impress with his work here.   He displays a deft hand by mixing the patently absurd and realistic by disguising the absurd behind a sheen of style.  THE OMEN features strong compositional choices throughout, and Donner does a great job of using closeups for maximum effect.   The film remains tense and scary even after multiple viewings, and this is due to the craftsmanship of the British crew and the Richard Donner's direction.  Have I mentioned Jerry Goldsmith's music yet?  I'm not sure there has ever been creepier music to a horror film.  It takes all of the opening credits to put the viewer into the mood for the dark tidings to come.   There is an isolated score included on some of the DVD versions and the latest Blu-Ray version that includes some tracks not used in the final movie and it's fun to listen to it.

This was not the first movie that ever scared me silly* but was one of the first, and it scared me silly without my actually having seen it.  When I was quite young someone told me the story of the film and it gave me nightmares that night.  I woke up convinced that there was a line on my pillow and that my head was going to be cut off.   I was six so I am going to cut myself some slack.

When I did see the movie proper several years later it was on a crappy Beta rental.  I greatly enjoyed that first viewing and have consciously or not spent the rest of my life collecting it on home video.  I think I've bought this movie more than any other: I bought it on VHS, I bought it on laserdisc, letterboxed for the first time though the print was beat up and featured distracting splice marks**. I bought it again on laserdisc, this time remastered with Jerry Goldsmith's score isolated in stereo on the analog channels.   There was extra music that was mixed out of the final mix and the splice marks were reduced.  Then I bought the four-disc DVD box set from a number of years ago.  I was pretty sure that the DVD box set was going to be it, but then it was released again with a new transfer and new extras, so I got it once more.  At that point surely I was old enough to be able resist buying the movie yet again, right?  What could they possibly add to make me want to buy it again?

I bought THE OMEN again on Blu-Ray in 2008.  It was on sale and, well, I am weak.  The Blu-Ray came with the two theatrical sequels and the truly awful remake from 2006.  It also gathered just about every special feature that ever graced a home video release for this title.  That isolated score on laserdisc?  It's there.  The "The Omen Legacy" documentary that was on the last DVD release?  It's there.  The "666: The Omen Revealed" documentary that was on the original DVD release--but not the last release?  It's there.  There are a couple two-three new things as well.  Really, it was a no-brainer.  The splice marks are gone, though they are still visible in some of the older "making-of" features.

The film features a preponderance of earth tones, as well as a filtered look that has always kept it from sparkling on home video.  When there are lush greens at the end of the film it is borderline startling.  It looks the best it ever has on this Blu-Ray. 

Update:  In 2019 Shout Factory released the films again in their THE OMEN COLLECTION: DELUXE EDITION.  This has all three of the original films, the awful 2006 remake and the 1991 TV Movie OMEN IV: THE AWAKENING, which while nice to have is not at all essential.  The original film has again been remastered, this time from a 4K master, and again looks the best it ever has on home video.  It probably looks better than theatrical prints at this point as well.  The earth tones are still there, but whites are a lot better balanced.  The original mono mix is included again, this time in lossless sound.  I believe all of the extras from the 2008 set is here, save for a trivia track.  There are new extras as well.  Not sorry I got it.  Screen captures are from the 2019 version.

* I believe the first movie to scare me silly was FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY (1973).  I had fallen asleep in front of the TV and woke up not knowing what it was.  I would have been 5 or 6.  That said, the first movie to scare me past the point of silly was Tobe Hooper's SALEM'S LOT (1979).  I was visiting family and unhappy with the noise in the main gathering room took up watching TV in a back room, which was very, very dark.  When the little Glick boy sat up in the coffin I almost wet myself.   To this day I have never been as scared watching anything as I was that night watching SALEM'S LOT.

** I know the damage I'm talking about is not truly a splice mark.  It's just what it looks like.  What I think the damage is a result of the film (negative?) being pulled too hard which left stress damage.  Mind you this is just a guess.  Here's an example.  I had to pull it from one of the older SD special features.  I added the arrows.