The Omen

The Omen is a 1976 horror film directed by Richard Donner and starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo McKern.

Related Topics:
1976 - Horror film - Richard Donner - Gregory Peck - Lee Remick - David Warner - Harvey Stephens - Billie Whitelaw - Patrick Troughton - Martin Benson - Leo McKern

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The premise of The Omen comes from the end times prophecies of fundamentalist Christianity. Unlike the Left Behind series, this movie had no obvious evangelistic intent and its reading of the prophecies is fairly superficial, using them only as a premise from which to build the larger plot. The story tells of the childhood of Damien Thorn, who was switched at birth with the murdered child of a wealthy American diplomat. Damien's family is unaware that he is actually the offspring of Satan and destined to become the Antichrist.

Related Topics:
End times - Prophecies - Fundamentalist Christianity - Left Behind - Evangelistic - Satan - Antichrist

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The movie followed at the tail end of a cycle of 'demonic child' films such as Rosemary's Baby, I Don't Want To Live, To The Devil A Daughter, and most notably The Exorcist, and was itself followed by sequels (see below) and a number of copycat films such as the Italian-made Kirk Douglas movie Armageddon 2000. As a rule of thumb, the children concerned get older as the cycle continues, from the newborn of 'Rosemary' to the teens of such films as Carrie and The Fury (1978).

Related Topics:
Rosemary's Baby - I Don't Want To Live - To The Devil A Daughter - The Exorcist - Armageddon 2000 - Carrie - The Fury (1978)

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The Omen was memorable for its chillingly effective use of symbolism, such as the birthmark of the number 666 on Damien's scalp, the effective use of crucifixes and statuary for foreshadowing, and the wallpapering of a room with pages from a Bible to ward off evil spirits. Some critics contended that the movie's attempt to portray apocalyptic symbology reflected the lack of a scholarly grounding in actual prophetic texts. Nevertheless, the movie has chilled and terrified generations of viewers. The movie boasted one of the most disturbing scenes in cinema as a character whose face appeared joyful hanged herself at a birthday party attended by young children.

Related Topics:
Symbolism - 666 - Bible - Apocalyptic

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An original score for the film was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant. The refrain to the chant is, "Sanguis bebimus, corpus edimus" (Latin, "We drink the blood, we eat the flesh"), interspersed with cries of "Ave Satani!" (Latin, "Hail, Satan!"). Aside from the choral work, the score includes lyrical themes portraying the pleasant home life of the Thorn family, which are contrasted with the more disturbing scenes of the family's confrontation with evil.

Related Topics:
Jerry Goldsmith - Oscar - Choral - Latin

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During the course of filming, the production was plagued with a series of "curses", which the crew suggested were perhaps supernatural forces trying to prevent the filming of the movie. Such "curses" included: the plane for scriptwriter David Seltzer was struck by lightning; Richard Donner's hotel was bombed by the Provisional IRA; Gregory Peck canceled a flight to Israel, only for the plane he'd chartered to crash, killing all on board; and on the first day of shooting, the principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash.

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Tagline: Good morning. You are one day closer to the end of the world. You have been warned.

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The Omen spawned several sequels.

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• ' (1978)
• ' (1981)
• ' (1991, made-for-TV).
• The Omen 666 (2006, remake of the original).
 
The Omen: Cast ►