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The Omen
review by Anthony D.
Rated R
Studio: Fox
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner,
Billie Whitelaw
Directed by Richard Donner
Retail Price: $24.99
Features: "666: The Omen Revealed" documentary, "Curse
or Coincidence," short film, Commentary with Richard Donner
& Stuart Baird, Jerry Goldsmith (composer) on four of
his favorite themes, Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby Digital 2.0
Surround English, Dolby Digital 2.0 French Mono, English
Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, Chapter Search (20
Chapters)
"Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate
the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His
number is 666."
Revelation 13:18; King James Version
On the 6th day of the 6th month at 6:00 am, in an unnamed
year, a child is born in "The Eternal City" of Rome to
Robert and Kathy Thorn (Gregory Peck and Lee Remick).
Unfortunately for Kathy, the child is stillborn. Fortunately
for the viewer, Robert is convinced by a priest to adopt an
orphaned child and raise it as his own. With unexpected
twists and turns, "The Omen" is the ultimate in switched at
birth tales, for Kathy after a five-year lapse, begins to
suspect that this child, now called Damien (precocious
Harvey Stephens) is evil. The years spent as an Ambassador's
wife in the outskirts of London make Robert write her fears
off to psychosis, that is until a mysterious priest (Patrick
Troughton) enters his office at the American Embassy with a
warning to "Accept Christ as your personal savior."
As Damien enters his 6th year, unexpected and unexplained
events surround the Thorn family. A joyous birthday party is
interrupted by a suicidal nanny, who hangs herself shouting
, "It's all for you, Damien." A new nanny promptly arrives
unannounced and takes Damien under her wing. An attempt to
take Damien to a wedding results in a serious temper
tantrum. A trip to London's Wildlife Preserve proves trying
for Kathy and Damien as baboons attack their car. The priest
persistently pursues Robert, spouting Scripture and poetry,
until he is killed in a freak accident.
Leave it to a wily photographer (David Warner), to put
all the pieces of the puzzle in place. It seems that the
photographs he takes are omens of impending doom for the
people in the pictures. His camera is recording
other-worldly signs: a mark resembling a noose is imbedded
in a photo of Damien's first nanny - - a javelin-shaped mark
draws closer and closer to Robert's mysterious priest - -
and now a mark aimed at the neck is threatening his very own
likeness.
On a far-from-merry Italian adventure, Robert and ----
find an abandoned cemetery where the remains of Damien's
true mother, as well as the true Thorn son are ensconced. It
appears that the Thorn child was murdered at birth, and that
Damien's mother was not quite human.
But all of this is merely backstory to the crux of the
plot - - Will Robert do the right thing and kill the boy he
has raised as his son?
Before we reach that moment, director Richard Donner
steers us through several shockingly suspenseful set-pieces
of evil. Donner relies on the psychological terror rather
than the horror aspects of the tale, and rightfully so. If
Damien is the supposed "Anti-Christ," or merely a problem
child is secondary to how Damien is perceived by those
around him, viewers included. Short on gore, but long on
character, "The Omen" is one of those films that remains
with viewers long after its haunting final frame.
Framed in a darkly-lit anamorphic Panavision (2.35:1)
aspect ratio, "The Omen's" presentation is best when watched
in a fully-dimmed room. The beauty of Donner's wide-screen
compositions are well-served on FOX's dvd. What I think
would be a problematic film to transfer, "The Omen" goes
from scenes in near-total darkness to the bright reds of
photographers' darkrooms, turns out to be a nearly perfect
digital transfer! No grain in the darkness and no bleeding
in the darkroom scenes. Colors, subdued though they are, are
honest. As for fleshtones - - WOW! What a contrast! One
doesn't have to look carefully to see that Lee Remick's
porcelain, pale skin is lovely even when up against Gregory
Peck's ruddy, rugged complexion. Every crease is visible in
the priest's careworn facial features. And to see Lee
Remick's crystal blue eyes as crystal blue impresses me to
no end! To see how carefully detailed this print is, I
advise anyone to check out the jacket that Gregory Peck is
wearing in Chapter 9 (A Priest's Confession), here is a
subtly plaid, possibly tweed jacket, that under normal
circumstances would read as one color - - the digital medium
has brought the design back into place with barely a trace
of moiring. Reds though, except for the previously mentioned
darkroom scenes, traverse the red scale from orange to
magenta - - every time an American flag is displayed, the
stripes are a different hue. There is some minor signs of
wear and tear, and occasion speckle will hit the screen, but
those speckles never detract from the presentation. My one
caveat is that "The Omen" on dvd, requires a completely
darkened room to be seen properly, but it is the type of
movie to watch in the dark anyway.
Kudos to Fox for having given us purists a choice! The
original mono track in Dolby Digital, or a newly mixed Dolby
Digital 2.0 surround track. But what a difficult choice is
now is: Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-winning score benefits
greatly from the new mix, and after 1999's "The Mummy," this
is my personal favorite Goldsmith score, but the original
mono track is often harsh, especially where the strings in
the orchestra are concerned. Had Fox isolated Goldsmith's
score, I would have been heaven bound! The animated menu
screens are presented with a nifty Dolby Digital 2.0 sound
as well.
f course the first feature I accessed was the Jerry
Goldsmith chat, and Jerry introduces clips from the film
containing his favorite themes: "The Love Theme," which lead
to his wife's recording a vocal version of on the soundtrack
album, "Damien to Church" justly compared to John Williams'
themes from "Jaws," "Dog Attack," which incorporates
elements from his avant-garde score of "Planet of the Apes"
and was used in "The Omen's" most suspenseful scene, and
"666 and Mrs. Baylock," with its subtle rise to terror. Once
again, though, the scenes are shown without isolated score.
Both documentaries are interesting talking head variety.
Non cast members are interviewed, sadly, so the interviews
are restricted to screenwriter, producer and director. The
documentaries, due to their nature, could easily have been
combined into one 55 minute documentary.
The audio commentary turns out to be as delightful a
listen as
"Charade's"
audio commentary. Once Donner and Baird get going, they
personalize the presentation with their story-telling, and
even address the viewers on occasion.
The trailer is presented full-frame, and features a
doom-laden voice over.
"The Omen" works on a variety of levels, despite the
flaws inherent in its conceit. As a tale of psychological
terror it is at it's best: here's Gregory Peck, an American
icon of the Iron John variety, married to the
never-more-beautiful Lee Remick rearing a child who could
possibly be the son of Satan. Without these two strong
leads, "The Omen" could have turned into a sub-standard
horror flick delegated to the bottom of a drive-in theater's
double bill. The believability these two actors bring to
their roles - - they both play each and moment straight - -
only adds to the ongoing suspense. The Mrs. Baylock of
theater actress Billie Whitelaw presents a true force to be
reckoned with - - if Damien is the Antichrist, then
Whitelaw's Mrs. Baylock is the Anti-Mary-Poppins. "Doctor
Who" fans will delight in seeing Patrick Troughton light
years away from his element and "Rumpole of the Bailey"
himself, Leo McKern puts an interesting spin into his cameo
appearance.
But it is the direction of Richard Donner that ultimately
makes this movie the thrill ride that it is. The widescreen
compositions contain clues and keys needed to unravel the
riddle of "The Omen," and Fox has certainly done right by
him. After years of lackluster television work, and grade B
movie work, Donner's acheivement in creating a real world
with many shades of evil is highly commendable. It is to his
credit that this becomes a highly personal journey film for
one character, the roller-coaster ride that Robert Thorn is
emotionally bound to is brought to the foreground, while the
evil remains silently waiting off in the corners of the
screen - - one of the most realistic thrills is activated
when Robert walks into his son's bedroom late at night, only
to be startled by a snarling rottweiler hidden in plain
sight amongst Damien's stuffed toys.
This digital presentation of "The Omen" is most
definitely a keeper for fans of this genre. "The Omen" holds
its place in cinema history right up there with Polanski's
"Rosemary's Baby," with its tale of "normal" people beset
with "unusual" problems. And like "Rosemary's Baby," dies
not rely on scenes of graphic violence to make it's point -
even the most graphic scene in "The Omen," - and it's most
notorious - - is relatively tame by today's horror
standards. It pays not to analyze the fantastical tale too
much for fear of finding the holes, so, sit back, turn off
all the lights and enjoy! Once seen, the final shot will
certainly haunt you.
Side Note: Also available as part of a four DVD boxed
set, though NONE of the sequels can hold a candle to the
original.
 (3.5/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
 (4.5/5)
(4/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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