‘Have no fear, little one… I am here to protect thee...’
While there is a natural lineage between Rosemary’s Baby in 1968, The Exorcist in ’73, and The Omen in ’76, they are different enough from each other to ensure that each film is iconic in its own right. The Omen benefits from a stunning performance from a washed-up, grieving Gregory Peck, still stunned by the suicide of his son Jonathan, as well as a haunting score and superb direction from Richard Donner – the man who would go on to give the world Superman, The Goonies, Scrooged, and Lethal Weapon.
We should know the story by now. Robert Thorne (Peck) and his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) adopt a child (Damien – memorably played by Harvey Stephens) who turns out to be the son of the devil. Probably. Chaos, blasphemy and crazed religious chanting ensue.
What makes The Omen so compelling, outside of the unforgettable death sequences (‘Look at me, Damien! It’s all for you!’), is that Peck and Donner convince us that a reasonable man actually could try and murder a child given the right circumstances. The film earns that hypothesis through a slowly evolving sense of dread and the canny use (and inversion of) religious lore and iconography. It helps that the rest of the cast is on form too. David Warner delivers a suitably grumpy turn as an incredulous reporter, and Stephens plays Damien in such a way that ensures that the character will be always become iconic (his final glare to camera is truly haunting).
Despite having been surpassed by other films within this subgenre, The Omen isn’t dated; it just feels vintage—like a fine wine—although I think all wine tastes like washing up liquid, so maybe not that. Like a fine can of Irn Bru, perhaps. You can’t beat the classics!
