Directed by: Richard Donner
Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Leo McKern, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson
Robert Thorn (Peck), soon-to-be U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, unknowingly makes a deal with the devil and lives to regret it in The Omen, which is effectively creepy and marches toward a conclusion which is as horrifying as it is inevitable. The Omen is not a schlocky horror thriller in which things jump out at the characters for a quick jolt of fright, but it is a slow build for Thorn to learn what we already know: He has adopted the Antichrist.
Before you assume you will be watching a Z-grade horror film, you must first learn about director Donner's telling of the story. He does not lean on the supernatural, but grounds The Omen in realism. The happenings can be written off as very eerie coincidences, which is what Thorn and his troubled wife Katherine (Remick) do initially. Who would ever believe their five-year-old son Damien is evil incarnate? But, after the boy scares off animals and deadly accidents occur all around him, the Thorns know something is afoot. They never expected this kind of truth, but there you have it.
As the film opens, Katherine gives birth to a child who the doctors tell Robert is stillborn. They offer another newborn whose mother died giving birth as a replacement, which Robert agrees to. He does so to prevent his already emotionally fragile wife from learning of the newborn's death, but after what happens later, he should've just told the missus her child was stillborn. It was much better than the alternative. Why would those who set up this ruse even tell Robert about the other child? Why wouldn't they just pretend that Damien is indeed the Thorns' child and leave it at that? This isn't the movie where you ask such questions.
Five years later, Damien's nanny mysteriously commits suicide off the balcony of the Thorn home in London (in full view of attendees at Damien's fifth birthday party), and an even more stoic and sinister nanny (Whitelaw) is hired shortly after. She protects Damien with the help of a vicious, evil dog whose only job is tear anyone who comes close to Damien to shreds. Photojournalist Keith Jennings (Warner) is on hand to take photos of the first nanny's death and makes a gruesome discovery once the pictures are developed; ones that can't be dismissed as mere coincidences, and leads him to assist Robert in learning of Damien's true nature.
What works best about Peck's performance is how well he displays Robert's ambivalence. He learns the truth, alright, but Damien is still a five-year-old child and not responsible for his actions. Does he have it in him to kill Damien when the time comes, knowing full well what will happen should he be allowed to live (according to the Book of Revelations)? Damien himself has a permanent grin on his face which suggests the evil which lies inside, but he doesn't exactly plan to kill anyone, so he has a plausible deniability which only adds to Robert's conflict.
Shot on mostly cloudy days, The Omen has a pall hanging over it like its title suggests. The feeling of the film is ominous, threatening, and sinister. Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-winning score suggests malevolence in every frame. Those looking for a happy ending better look elsewhere, since it ultimately spawned two sequels.
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