The Omen

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This article is about the 1976 film. For the remake, see The Omen (2006 film).
The Omen

Theatrical poster
Directed by Richard Donner
Produced by Harvey Bernhard
Written by David Seltzer
Starring Gregory Peck
Lee Remick
David Warner
Patrick Troughton
Billie Whitelaw
Harvey Stephens
Leo McKern
Martin Benson
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography Gilbert Taylor
Editing by Stuart Baird
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) UK June 6, 1976
USA June 25, 1976
Australia December 23, 1976
Running time 111 min.
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Followed by Damien: Omen II
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Omen is a 1976 suspense/horror film directed by Richard Donner. The film stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo McKern. It is the first film in The Omen series and was scripted by David Seltzer, who also wrote the novel.

Though similar to The Exorcist in several ways, The Omen has gained prestige over time for a number of reasons: its respectability (as a profitable major-studio film with renowned actors), its seriousness (it plays as a contemporary thriller, rather than with the knowing excesses of certain aspects of the horror genre), and the originality of the movie's Jerry Goldsmith score.

The movie followed a cycle of 'demonic child' movies, such as Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, and was itself followed by sequels (see below) and a number of copycat films such as the Italian-made Kirk Douglas movie Holocaust 2000.

A remake was released on June 6, 2006, a release date chosen to reinforce the "666" (6/6/06) motif.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The premise of The Omen comes from the end times prophecies of Christianity. The story, set in Fulham, England, tells of the childhood of Damien Thorn, who was switched at birth with the supposedly stillborn child of a wealthy American diplomat with only the husband's knowledge, in order to keep it from affecting his wife. Damien's family is unaware that he is actually the offspring of Satan and destined to become the Antichrist. His father, Robert Thorn (named Jeremy Thorn in the original book), eventually begins to realize this with the help of a photographer named Keith Jennings, after numerous people connected to Damien die in tragic accidents. After Damien's first nanny hangs herself at Damien's fifth birthday party, a new nanny, Mrs. Baylock, arrives to tend to him. A priest who knows about Damien begins stalking Robert, and is eventually the one to first point out that Damien is the Antichrist, and that he intends to kill everyone in his way. The priest later dies in a bizarre accident (he is impaled by a church spire hit by lightning), and Katherine Thorn, Damien's mother, suffers a fall after being knocked over a railing by Damien.

Robert and Keith go seek out the hospital in which Damien was born, to find his true mother. They find that the hospital burned in a horrible "accident," along with several people and all of the records. They then learn where one of the survivors, the head priest at the hospital, can be located, then are led there to find he is in a severe condition. After telling them where to find the mother, he dies.

The mother turns out to have been buried at an ancient and abandoned Etruscan graveyard. They then find her grave, and next to it, Robert's true son's grave. They take off the cover of the grave to find the mother was a jackal. This confirms the realization that Damien is not human. They then uncover the grave of the child in hopes that it is a dog, which would mean Robert's true son may still be alive. But to his horror they find that the grave holds a human child, and the skull of this child has a large hole in it--the child was murdered. Then they are attacked by a pack of Rottweiler dog's and barely escape the cemetery.

During this, Katherine is thrown out of the hospital window by Mrs. Baylock, and dies. Robert is devastated when he finds out, and later he and Keith journey to Israel to find a man named Bugenhagen, an archaeologist who knows how to stop the Antichrist. Robert learns that he has to stab Damien with the seven daggers of Megiddo to prevent Damien from killing again. Sickened by the fact that the archeologist asked him to kill a small child, he throws the daggers away. Keith runs to retrieve them, but is decapitated gruesomely by a pane of glass atop a runaway truck. Robert returns to London with the daggers, intending to kill Damien.

Returning to his mansion, Robert finds Mrs Baylock's guard dog also a Rottweiler awaiting him. He manages to lock it in a cellar and then goes upstairs to check whether Damien has the "666" birthmark (as explained by Bugenhagen). Seeing it on Damien's scalp after cutting away some hair, Robert has no doubt about Damien's true identity.

Mrs. Baylock attacks him and after fighting her off, Robert attempts dragging Damien down the stairs, only to be confronted with the nanny once again. Robert wrestles violently until he manages to acquire a kitchen knife, which he stabs her with. She dies and Robert leaves the house towards a church to finish off Damien. But en route to the church he breaks through the gate of his mansion, and is chased by the security.

When he arrives at the church, he lays Damien on the altar. He reaches for the daggers and pulls the first one out, when the policeman that was chasing him tells him to drop the knife, or he'll shoot him. Robert, thinking only of killing the Antichrist, and ridding the world of evil once and for all, is shot dead as he thrusts the dagger toward Damien's neck.

The movie ends with Robert's and Katherine's double funeral, where they are given an honorable burial, and are blessed by a Catholic priest. The last scene is of Damien holding the hand of the President. The camera focuses on Damien, and he gives a sinister smile. The credits begin to play.

The Omen was characterized by the chillingly effective use of symbolism, such as the birthmark of the number 666 on Damien's scalp, the effective use of crosses and statuary for foreshadowing, and the wallpapering of a room with pages from a Bible to ward off evil spirits.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Deaths

Character Cause of death
Holly, Damien's nanny After an encounter with the demon Rottweiller, she happily hangs herself from the roof of the Thorns' house. The dog hypnotized her to do this so that Mrs. Baylock would become Damien's new nanny.
Father Brennan Impaled by a church spire that was knocked down by a lightning bolt.
The Thorns' unborn child Dies following Kathy's fall from the landing.
Father Spiletto Dies naturally and possibly from the damage caused to his body 5 years ago in the fire that destroyed the original hospital in Rome.
The Thorn's Firstborn Son Was killed by a fracture in the skull as soon as he was born. It was then called a stillbirth so the Thorns would adopt Damien. The body was found buried in the grave next to the demonic jackal that gave birth to Damien in a cemetery 50 kilometers north of Rome.
Maria Avedici Santoya Died giving birth to Damien. Her tomb was opened by Robert Thorn and Keith Jennings, and her canine-like corpse was discovered.
Kathy Thorn Pushed out of hospital window by Mrs. Baylock and lands on ambulance below.
Keith Jennings Decapitated by a pane of glass that slid off the back of a truck.
Mrs. Baylock Stabbed in the neck by Robert Thorn.
Robert Thorn Shot by diplomatic police when he tries to kill Damien.

[edit] Music

The Omen
Soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith
Released 1976
Genre Film music
Length 34:16
Label 20th Century Fox
Producer Jerry Goldsmith
Professional reviews

Original album:

Deluxe Edition:

An original score for the film was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant. The refrain to the chant is, "Sanguis bibimus, corpus edimus, tolle corpus Satani" (Latin, "We drink the blood, we eat the flesh, raise the body of Satan"), interspersed with cries of "Ave Satani!" and "Versus Christus" (Latin, "Hail, Satan!" and "Hail, Antichrist!"). Aside from the choral work, the score includes lyrical themes portraying the pleasant home life of the Thorn family, which are contrasted with the more disturbing scenes of the family's confrontation with evil.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Ave Satani" – 2:32
  2. "New Ambassador" – 2:33
  3. "Killer's Storm" – 2:51
  4. "Sad Message" – 1:42
  5. "Demise of Mrs. Baylock" – 2:52
  6. "Don't Let Him" – 2:48
  7. "Piper Dreams" – 2:39
  8. "Fall" – 3:42
  9. "Safari Park" – 2:04
  10. "Dog's Attack" – 5:50
  11. "Homecoming" – 2:43
  12. "Altar" – 2:00

On October 9, 2001 a deluxe version of the soundtrack was released with eight additional tracks.

  1. "Ave Satani" – 2:35
  2. "On This Night" – 2:36
  3. "The New Ambassador" – 2:34
  4. "Where Is He?" – :56
  5. "I Was There" – 2:27
  6. "Broken Vows" – 2:12
  7. "Safari Park" – 3:24
  8. "A Doctor, Please" – 1:44
  9. "The Killer Storm" – 2:54
  10. "The Fall" – 3:45
  11. "Don't Let Him" – 2:49
  12. "The Day He Died" – 2:14
  13. "The Dog's Attack" – 5:54
  14. "A Sad Message" – 1:44
  15. "Beheaded" – 1:49
  16. "The Bed" – 1:08
  17. "666" – :44
  18. "The Demise of Mrs. Baylock" – 2:54
  19. "The Altar" – 2:07
  20. "The Piper Dreams" – 2:41

[edit] Reception

The movie boasted a particularly disturbing scene, in which a character willingly and joyfully hangs herself at a birthday party attended by young children. It also features a violent decapitation scene (caused by a horizontal sheet of plate glass), one of mainstream Hollywood's first: "If there were a special Madame Defarge Humanitarian Award for best decapitation," wrote Kim Newman in Nightmare Movies (1988), "this lingering, slow-motion sequence would get my vote."

[edit] Curse

In 2005 a documentary entitled "The Curse of 'The Omen'" was shown on British television. The production of The Omen was plagued with a series of incidents which some members of the crew attributed to the operation of a curse. They wondered if these events were due to supernatural forces trying to prevent the filming of the movie.[1] Instances include the following:

  • Scriptwriter David Seltzer's plane was struck by lightning.
  • Star Gregory Peck, in a separate incident, had his plane struck by lightning.
  • Richard Donner's hotel was bombed by the Provisional IRA.
  • Gregory Peck canceled his reservation on a flight. The plane he had originally chartered crashed, killing all on board (a group of Japanese businessmen).
  • A warden at the safari park used in the "crazy baboon" scene was attacked and killed by a lion the day after the crew left.
  • Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers.
  • On the first day of shooting, the principal members of the crew got in a head-on car crash.

[edit] Influence

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (May 2008)
  • Damien Thorn appeared as a character in the South Park episode "Damien", and had a cameo in "Professor Chaos". Also, the episode "Tsst" ends in a similar fashion to the film. Again, in the episode "Britney's New Look", a variation of the satanic chanting in the film's score is sung by everyone several times.
  • In an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati in which Arthur Carlson's son, Arthur Jr., calls the WKRP staff insulting nicknames, Johnny Fever responds by giving Arthur Jr. an insulting but appropriate nickname: The Omen, referring to Arthur Jr.'s Damien-like attitude toward them all.
  • "Damien" is a song written by the American metal band Iced Earth on their 2001 Horror Show album. The lyrics of the song include references and direct quotations from the Omen series.
  • The popular British sitcom Only Fools & Horses features a recurring joke in which Rodney Trotter fears that his nephew is the anti-Christ (because he is 'Son of Del'). The boy's name is Damien, and Omen-like music (usually the "Carmina Burana") often plays whenever Rodney sees him.
  • The opening musical sequence for The Omen, which features a grimly-singing Catholic chorus and tolling bells, was sped up slightly and used as background music in the anime Hellsing. This shortened (roughly 45 seconds long) version of the opening can be found on the tenth track of the soundtrack titled Raid.
  • Popular Belgian hip hop group 't Hof van Commerce uses a pitched-down sample of the aforementioned chorus (the sanguis bibimus part) throughout the song "Tussen Eemle en Elle" (lit. Between Heaven and Hell) on their third album Rocky 7.
  • The novel Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman satirizes many aspects of the movie.
  • Rap star DMX has a song titled "Damien" on his debut album It's Dark and Hell is Hot. On his second album, Flesh of my Flesh, Blood of my Blood, he has a track titled "The Omen" which features the controversial artist Marilyn Manson. The final in the series of songs is on his album The Great Depression with the song titled "Damien III".
  • The short film Six stars Matt Frewer as a new father who awakens one morning to realize that he bears a birthmark which reads "665" behind his left ear. When he frantically telephones his mother (also played by Frewar) with the news, she reassures him that he has always had the mark and that in any case, he shouldn't worry seeing as "your father was 664!."
  • In an episode of the television show Roseanne, her mother Beverly acts out of character. Roseanne then brushes her mother’s hair out of the way and says "667, close enough."
  • The film is mentioned in the little-known Go-Betweens song "Lee Remick".
  • In an episode of That '70s Show titled "Drive In" Kelso tells Eric that he should take (his girlfriend) Donna to see The Omen at the drive in describing the movie as "Make-out city" stating that "horror movies turn chicks on faster than a porno". The episode also featured a trailer of The Omen.
  • A reference of the movie appears on Family Guy, on an episode called "Death is a Bitch", where Stewie Griffin tries to kill his mother by pushing her off the stairs with his tricycle.
  • The band Fantômas made their own version of Ave Satani for their album Director's Cut.
  • Metal band Machine Head used Ave Satani as the introductory sound clip to their shows until recently. It is now used by fellow metallers Arch Enemy for the same purpose.
  • In the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast episode "Sweet For Brak", Space Ghost claims to have watched "all four Omen movies, including the crappy third one where he was President."
  • In the animated show, Total Drama Island the character Heather states that her brother, Damien is evil.

[edit] The name "Damien"

The name "Damien" sounds vaguely like the English "demon," but is not at all etymologically related. Damien is the French form of the English name Damian (Latin Damianus), popular as the name of, ironically, a martyred Christian saint of the third century (see Sts. Cosmas and Damian). Another prominent Damien was Father Damien of Hawaii, who died while establishing leper colonies there — a saintly rather than demonic figure. Damien is also the first name of Father Karras in The Exorcist. The success of the Omen series inspired Marvel Comics to revive the Son of Satan series, whose eponymous hero has the civilian name of Daimon Hellstrom. Hellstrom, despite his ancestry, wielded his pitchfork for the side of good — at least until the end of this series, and a revival under the slightly-altered name of Hellstorm. Marvel Comics reportedly promised not to revive the "Son of Satan" name, in response to pressure from Christians concerned about glorifying Satanism. In June 2006, a new Hellstrom limited series was announced for the Marvel MAX line of adult comics, to debut in October of that year.[2]

[edit] Novels

  • David Seltzer, The Omen. (Futura, 1976).
  • Joseph Howard, Damien: Omen II. (Futura, 1978).
  • Gordon McGill, Omen III: The Final Conflict. (Futura, 1980).
  • Gordon McGill, Omen IV: Armageddon 2000. (Futura, 1983).
  • Gordon McGill, Omen V: The Abomination. (Futura, 1985).

Both the movie and the novelisation were written by David Seltzer (the book preceded the movie by two weeks as an effective marketing gimmick). For the book, Seltzer took liberties with his own material, augmenting plot points and character backgrounds, and changing details (such as character names - Holly becomes Chessa Whyte, Keith Jennings becomes Haber Jennings, Father Brennan becomes Father Edgardo Emilio Tassone, etc). The second and third novels were novelizations of their respective movies, and reflected movie continuity, more or less. Interestingly, Gordon McGill retroactively changed the time period of The Omen to the 1950s, in order to make The Final Conflict (featuring an adult Damien) take place explicitly in the 1980s. Although neither the first Omen movie nor its novelisation mention what year the story takes place, it can be assumed that its setting was intended to be the year the movie was released (i.e. 1976).

The fourth novel, Omen IV: Armageddon 2000, was entirely unrelated to the fourth movie, but continued the story of Omen III. Its premise is based on the one-night stand between Damien Thorn and Kate Reynolds in Omen III. This affair included an act of sodomy, and thence Kate gave the (rectal) "birth" of another diabolical entity called "the abomination" (presumably after the "abomination of desolation" from the book of Daniel) in Omen IV. This novel attempted to patch one of the Omen series' more glaring plot-holes, namely the question of whether the Antichrist could be slain by a single one of the "Seven Sacred Daggers of Megiddo" (which occurred in Omen III) or only by all of them (as stated in the first book and movie). The solution reached was that one dagger could kill Damien's physical body, but not his soul. This explanation was also explicitly stated in the first movie. Damien's acolyte Paul Buher (played by Robert Foxworth in the second movie and mentioned, though not seen, in the third) is a major character in the fourth book, and achieves redemption in its climax.

This story was concluded in the fifth novel, Omen V: The Abomination. The novel begins with a "memoriam" listing all of the characters who had been killed throughout the saga up to that point, and which states Damien's life as having taken place in the period of 1950-1982. The story ends with the death of Damien's son, and the character Jack Mason deciding to chronicle Damien's story in book-form. The opening lines he writes are the exact same words which begin David Seltzer's novelization of the first film - bringing the series full-circle.

[edit] Trivia

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)
  • This film was #16 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
  • David Seltzer's original script was entitled The Anti-Christ. The movie began production under the title The Birthmark and was changed to The Omen during filming.
  • Charlton Heston, Roy Scheider and William Holden all turned down the role of Robert Thorn (Holden would play Robert's brother, Richard Thorn, in Damien: Omen II). According to David Seltzer, Charles Bronson and James Coburn were both interested in the Robert Thorn role.
  • The church featured in one of the final scenes, when Robert Thorn takes Damien to the Altar is St Peters Church, Staines.
  • The church at the top of the hill in the early scenes of the film where Damien attacks his mother because he does not want to go inside is Guildford Cathedral, Surrey.
  • In the original book, the character Robert Thorn actually had the first name of "Jeremy." His name was changed for the movie and the subsequent novels.
  • In the graveyard scene, during the time when several dogs are attacking Keith while he is trying to climb the fence, three men can be seen in the bushes to the right. Possibly dog trainers or other crew members.
  • The film's original ending had Damien dying and three coffins at the funeral instead of just two. Alan Ladd, Jr. suggested to Richard Donner that Damien should survive at the end of the movie. Donner agreed and re-shot the film's famous ending.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ TV Documentary "The Curse of 'The Omen'". www.imdb.com/title/tt0487890/
  2. ^ Comic Book Resources - CBR News: Shout at the Devil: Irvine talks "Son of Satan"

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Omen Series
Original Films
Remakes
Other films
Characters
v • d • e
Films directed by Richard Donner
X-15 • Salt and Pepper (1968) • Twinky • The Omen (1976) • Superman (1978) • Inside Moves (1980) • The Toy (1982) • The Goonies (1985) • Ladyhawke (1985) • Lethal Weapon (1987) • Scrooged (1988) • Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) • Radio Flyer (1992) • Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) • Maverick (1994) • Assassins (1995) • Conspiracy Theory (1997) • Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) • Timeline (2003) • 16 Blocks (2006) • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
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