A fim that creeped out 1970s audiences. A review that creeped out our editor...

You have been warned. If something frightening happens to you today, think about it. It may be the omen.

So says the tag for the movie poster for the original 1976 release of The Omen.

Produced by 20th Century Fox, its cast and crew read like a Hollywood roll-call: Richard Donner – director; Gregory Peck – star; Stuart Baird – editor; Mace Neufeld – producer; Jerry Goldsmith – composer; David Seltzer - writer.

So does this mean that, 34 years later, it stands out as a strong piece of film-work?

The Omen is a strange...beast. At a running time of just over an hour and a half, it feels surprisingly slow in telling the story of an American politician whose first-born son dies shortly after birth and, in an attempt to not break his wife’s heart, replaces the child with another born at the same time and whose mother did not survive.

Peck plays the anguished new father well and, being an actor of some repute, I guess this isn’t surprising. His guilt at knowing that the progeny they name 'Damien' isn’t theirs is subtly portrayed (at this point it occurs to me if they actually had Damien christened!), and Lee Remick, playing his wife, retains this ignorance throughout the film, up to and beyond the moment she…

It’s clear that something’s not quite right with Damien, who has some odd connection with stray Rottweillers, most especially with his nanny, played with great relish by Billie Whitelaw. Patrick Troughton offers a marvellous angst-driven turn as Father Brennan, who is desperate to convince Peck what his son actually is - and his line in revealing to Peck as to what Damien’s mother was is wonderfully edited for ambiguity.

As each of the characters take their places, there is a sense of foreboding. Peck dismisses those around him who are convinced that Damien is the anti-Christ, yet still finding the prophecies they foretell coming violently true.

It is only when David Warner’s nosy journalist character arrives fully on the scene that the plot really starts to move. Peck and Warner create a surprisingly successful partnership in investigating the events surrounding Damien – yet it is only Warner losing his head that triggers Peck into finally accepting exactly what Damien represents.

"Richard Donner captures the essence of a British horror movie exceptionally well"

A man wishing to murder his own child (albeit a child swapped at birth) because he is convinced it is the son of the Devil, is of course not a subject matter to be taken lightly. There is a drive, something within Peck’s portrayal of a man who has lost everything, that allows you to be swept along.

It’s important to mention the other strong voice in this story – that of composer Jerry Goldsmith.

I’m a huge movie score fan, and rank Goldsmith among the greatest of all. He won an Oscar for his work for The Omen, and it’s easy to hear why. He punctuates each scene with undercurrents and emotion that allow Peck and Remick to be whole characters, expressing their feelings when words can’t. That said, it can be argued that in places, the music is perhaps intrusive – but that is down to the director and music editor, and I could write a separate, lengthy piece on when and where film music is not welcomed.

Nevertheless, it adds to The Omen as a whole, and Richard Donner captures the essence of a British horror movie exceptionally well. It is rather reminiscent of the later entries in the Hammer canon (To the Devil…A Daughter, for a start) and for that reason, it's wholly satisfying as a result.

The Omen spawned two sequels, Damien: Omen II (1978) and Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981), taking the Damien Thorn saga through a logical progression and resolution. And I might just sit down and give them a spin in my DVD player for old time’s sake...

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The first thing I do when a writer sends in a Microsoft Word document containing a feature is to check the word-count. What you see on the left is honestly what I saw when I opened Elliott's feature and clicked the button. It did make me look over my shoulder a tad...

- Ed

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