The Omen: Antichrist Horror
I mentioned earlier on the Spooktacular that I was a bit of a chicken as a kid. I think that’s why The Omen was my first favorite horror movie. It’s not particularly gory or grotesque or suspenseful — nothing to make me go fleeing from the room — but it has some good inventive kills, some interesting mythology, and some pretty chilling moments. I remember being legitimately disturbed, but captivated, by The Omen. Having just rewatched the film I can tell you that it still rips.
I think people know the plot of the film, even if they don’t think that they do. The son of a prominent diplomat dies shortly after being born, so the Catholic hospital convinces him to secretly take a child born at the same time (June 6, at 6am!) so as to not upset his fragile wife. Five years later, the kid starts to appear a bit off, people start dying, and unsettling details start to emerge about Damien’s parentage.
The Omen is the originator and/or propagator of a whole lot of stuff people confuse as actual religion: the idea that the antichrist is Satan’s son and the emphasis on 666 as the Devil’s favorite number entered popular culture through this film. Apparently, most churches really didn’t put much thought or focus on Revelations or this particular rapture narrative either, but it became much more widespead in the years after The Omen’s release.
I can still recall watching the movie for the first time and being particularly disturbed by one horrific revelation. A repentant priest named Father Brennen shows up at Ambassador Thorn’s (Gregory Peck) office. He’s clearly disturbed and rambling about his role in the baby switcheroo five years earlier. The two go back and forth for a bit with Brennen repeatedly mentioning Damien’s mother. After some final forceful prodding he shouts “his mother was a jackal!”. This was body horror for my fertile imagination. A dog giving birth to a human baby? Yikes.
Just when I’m beginning to let that mental image go, the story takes Thorn to a cemetary in Italy where he uncovers Damien’s mom’s grave and the dog skeleton inside. Buried next to it is an infant skeleton with a cracked skull. Thorn’s son didn’t die, he was murdered, just so those devious Catholics could put their antichrist scheme into motion. Jesus! This was a lot for young Jacob, but I can’t say I wasn’t enjoying myself.
On rewatching the film, I was reminded of a whole bunch of other fun details and scenes. David Warner plays a nosy photojournalist who discovers his photos can predict how people are going to die (including himself). On a trip to the zoo, giraffes flee from Damien’s presence and baboons attack their car. I wonder how they riled up those baboons… Supposedly, the actors were legitimately freaked out while filming that. Gregory Peck is also just the picture of class in this (no surprise). He plays it totally straight and each new outfit is better than the last. I guess a bunch of other actors didn’t want to take a role that would end in them manhandling and trying to stab a small child, but Atticus Finch himself wasn’t afraid.
Speaking of performances, get a load of Damien (Harvey Stephens) in the still above! He is staring a hole in that oncoming church. I suppose it’s a credit to Richard Donner’s direction and a less-is-more approach, but he is great, giving just the right expressions to make you buy into him as the son of Lucifer. Stephens didn’t continue in acting, but he does have a cameo in the 2006 remake.
I guess I’ll touch on the remake really quick. I saw it, of course, but I don’t remember much about it. I don’t believe it deviated from the original much at all. I think they only made so they could release it in theaters on June 6, 2006. Get it? 6/6/err….06. Well, it almost works.
Is it scary? Not very, unless the dog stuff bothers you as much as it did me. The film telegraphs when bad shit is about to go down by breaking out the loud, sinister, latin choir singing. But I still think it’s a lot of fun and moves at a nice pace, so it doesn’t feel its nearly-2-hour runtime.
Streaming: The Omen, its three sequels (never seen ‘em), and the remake are all available on HBO Max.
