The Omen (25 June 1976)
directed by Richard Donner
starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Stephens, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, Leo McKern
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MPAA rating: Studio: 20th Century Fox Script: David Seltzer Music: Jerry Goldsmith Running time: 111 minutes Award: 1977 Academy Award for Best Musirc, Oiginal Score Tags: ambassadors; antichrist; apes; armageddon; birthday parties; Catholic church; Horror; murder; Mystery; suicide; Thriller Tactical strength: [8/10]
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So after seeing the recent remake of The Omen directed by John Moore, I decided to rewatch the original Richard Donner version from 1976. Visually, Moore has created a much more appealing film, but in almost every other way, Donner's original version surpasses the remake.
Briefly, the story: Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) serves in the U. S. Embassy to Italy. While in Italy, Robert's wife, Katherine (Lee Remick) has their first child who dies at birth. A priest in the hospital offers Robert another child in the place of his own. The substitute's mother died giving birth, and Robert accepts the child to avoid having Katherine learn that her real son died. Five years later, strange events start to happen around Damien (Harvey Stephens). First, his nanny hangs herself at his birthday party in front of hundreds of people and the press. Animals at the drive-through safari park go crazy in Damien's presence. Katherine has a terrible fall first from her balcony and then a fatal fall from her hospital room window. A Catholic priest, Father Brennan, starts harassing Robert with a theory about Damien -- that Damien fulfills the prophecy in the book of Revelation and is the literal son of Satan. Robert goes on a fact-finding mission to Italy with a local photo journalist, to try to find out the truth about Damien's origins.
Both Donner and Moore use essentially the same shooting script for their versions of The Omen, but Donner's version has numerous advantages that make his version better, and I'll list a few here.
- Gregory Peck. Peck makes a much more convincing ambassador than his counterpart Liev Schreiber in the remake. Peck also seems to have a better understanding of the implications surrounding his actions and provides much more latitude in our interpretation of events. With Peck, you could still conclude that coincidental events have caused Thorn to draw irrational conclusions about his adopted son.
- David Warner. Warner plays photographer Keith Jennings with a greater determination to preserve his own life. Also, his demise in the original version provides a much more spectacular display.
- Jerry Goldsmith's academy award winning soundtrack. The haunting Gregorian chants emphasize the religious nature of the plot while creating a heightened tension that the remake fails to achieve.
Donner has created a horror classic that lives on in popular culture and has done so without resorting to the pools of blood and gore employed much of today's horror genre.
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