Horror Origins: The Omen

            Unlike dramas and (to a lesser extent) comedies, horror films do not so easily stand the test of time.  Ones that rely on special effects are especially susceptible film evolution, as new audiences have a harder time being scared by rubber masks and silly creatures.  So when you get my generation or younger talking about ‘classic’ horrors, they usually mention those that are psychological in nature. 

Movies like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen are the ones we remember fondly.  They don’t need a whole lot of effects (except maybe some green vomit?) in order to be scary.  It’s much easier, and more rewarding, to let the audience scare themselves.

            While I really liked Rosemary’s Baby when I saw it a few years ago, I felt that I was maybe just too old to be frightened by The Exorcist when I finally got a copy of it in the mid-2000’s.  The same thing happened when I finally watched Steven King’s It.  It just didn’t impact me, because I’d seen too many newer films that had taken the model and improved on it.

            So the big question for today:  Where does The Omen fall on the scale?

            On to the review!

            Well, this is embarrassing.  I realized that I actually had seen The Omen before.  What I didn’t understand was why I didn’t figure it out until I was an hour and 45 minutes into a 1 hour and 51 minute movie.

            It’s not a bad movie by any means; I just tried it out far too late in life.  So for those of you who may still be interested, I’ll try to be gentle.

            The Omen stars Gregory Peck as Mr. Robert Thorn, an American Ambassador to the UK.  He and his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) finally have the child they’ve always wanted in Damien (mostly played by Harvey Stephens).  The problem is, their son may or may not be something…otherworldly.

            You first get a hint that something’s not quite right when the nanny hangs herself in front of over a hundred guests at little Damien’s birthday party.  Soon after, a priest named Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton) tries to convince Mr. Thorn that his child is actually a product of Satan.  While Mr. Thorn doesn’t really buy that bull, he eventually comes to see its potential thanks to the eye-opening photographs of Jennings (David Warner).  It seems that Jennings had been tasked by a local paper to cover the Ambassador for some time, and his photos reveal some startling imagery.

            The best parts of The Omen when the film merely suggests something is wrong with the world.  Subtle scenes like when Damien becomes more and more freaked out as they near a church, or when the new nanny tries to influence Damien’s surroundings to better encourage his inner demons.  (See what I did there?)

            The worst part of The Omen is when the movie takes those subtle scenes and shoves molten lava into your earholes.  There’s nothing wrong with delivering a musical cue to inform the audience that something’s about to happen.  There’s everything wrong with making that musical cue the LOUDEST PART OF THE MOVIE, repeating it CONTANTLY and making the music itself ATROCIOUS. 

            Gee, I think I found out why I don’t care much for The Omen.  Unlike Rosemary’s Baby, this film lacks subtlety.  The plot is great, the acting is fine, and the ideas are all there.  Unfortunately for the audience, the entire film is choreographed minutes ahead both by the way the scenes are assembled and by the wretched, horrible musical cues.