The Omen - Will's Review

The Omen is one of those films who's 'classic' status completely mystifies me - with the exception of one or two scenes (one, if I'm honest) the movie completely fails to hold, or even get, my attention.


If anyone is both reading this, and doesn't know the plot of The Omen (two things unlikely enough separately, yet alone together), it tells of an American diplomat Robert thorn (Gregory Peck) stationed in Rome. Robert's wife Katherine (Lee Remick) gives birth to a boy, who he is told dies moments after being born. Robert is convinced by the hospital chaplain, to illicitly adopt an orphan whose mother died at the same time.


Fearing by that his wife couldn't cope with the loss of thier child, he agrees to secretly adopt the boy, and tell no one. They call the boy Damien, and as I'm sure you already know (unless you've been living under a rock your entire life) he is the anti-Christ.


Sadly what follows is not the apocalypse, there are no appearances from the four horsemen, no trumpets sound, faithful Christians do not ascend in droves; instead, some slightly creepy stuff happens around the child for the next hour and a half, then the movie ends.

The bible jump-cuts from The Christ being born, to him being an adult and doing Christ-stuff; biblical scholars have debated why so much of his story - his entire childhood, no less, goes untold. I put it to them that the answer lies in The Omen; the early life of a Demi-God is simply not that noteworthy, and the film feels very much like an overly long introduction.
There's a scene at Damien 5th birthday party where something interesting / shocking happens (near him, mind, not to him or even directly because of him); I'll not say what on the off chance you haven't seen it, as it's the best part of the film... In fact the only part that I really cared about.

Eventually a priest (played by Second Doctor Patrick Troughton) encourages Robert to investigate the truth about Damien, but by then it's too little too late.

As I say, not one for me.