The Omen (1976) - Lisa's Review

The Omen is one of those infamous movies that pretty much everybody has seen.  Anyone too young to be bothered has probably seen the crappy 2006 remake.  I say crappy, but to be honest, I'm not that big a fan of the original.  I'll shoot from the hip right from the start, I found the original movie extremely dull, save for a few key scenes.  I found the 2006 remake hilariously bad.  Given that, I'd be very surprised if there was any horror fan who hadn't watched this movie, it isn't one I'm going to bang on about for too long.

The Omen follows a couple who have had their actual child replaced by another child at birth.  The father is aware.  He has been told his child has died during the delivery and another babies mother (who delivered the same night) has died leaving the child an orphan.  The hospital chaplain convinces the father to agree to swap the children, saying nothing to his wife.

As the child, Damien, grows, the family are plagued by a series of inexplicable events.  Damien is a surly child who seems to have an aversion to churches on a hysterical level.  His nanny commits suicide and all animals appear to be terrified or enraged by Damien.  All apart from large rottweilers who appear to guard him.  He seems to hate his mother but can do no wrong in the eyes of his father. A local priest, Father Brennan tries to warn the family that Damien may not be as he seems, but in one of the few good scenes in the movie, he is found impaled in the church grounds by a lightening rod.

The story progresses with more 'something isn't quite right' scenes, until finally, after it seemed there wasn't much going on in his noggin', the father starts to suspect Damien is evil and may be even more.

For me, although this is a very popular, almost iconic movie, I have always found it dull.  I've given it a try several times, but with the exception of a few scenes, which I will admit are very effective, it makes me want to snooze.  The performance by Harvey Spencer Stephens as Damien is wonderful in that is plays an evil little shit very convincingly.  The other main leads are played well also, but sadly it isn't one that will ever be a favourite of mine.

I know my viewpoint is purely down to my own personal preference and not down to the quality of the movie, so I won't tell you to avoid it, but due to my feelings on it, I can't recommend.  I'm sure most movie lovers will have their own opinions.