''The Omen'' is a 1976
supernatural horror film directed by
Richard Donner and written by
David Seltzer
David Seltzer (born February 12, 1940) is an American screenwriter, producer and director, perhaps best known for writing the screenplays for ''The Omen'' (1976) and '' Bird on a Wire'' (1990). As writer-director, Seltzer's credits include the ...
. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...
,
Lee Remick
Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film ''Days of Wine and Roses (film), Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), and for the 1966 ...
,
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to:
Sports
* Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor
* David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier
* David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer
Oth ...
,
Harvey Spencer Stephens
Harvey Spencer Stephens (born 12 November 1970) is an English actor and animator. He played the role of devil child Damien Thorn in the 1976 film ''The Omen'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture ...
(in his film debut),
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was al ...
,
Patrick Troughton,
Martin Benson, and
Leo McKern. The film's plot follows
Damien Thorn, a young child replaced at birth by his father, unbeknownst to his wife, after their biological child dies shortly after birth. As a series of mysterious events and violent deaths occur around the family and Damien enters childhood, they come to learn he is in fact the prophesied
Antichrist.
Released theatrically by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
in June 1976, ''The Omen'' received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, grossing over $60 million at the U.S. box office and becoming
one of the highest-grossing films of 1976. The film earned two
Oscar nominations, winning
Best Original Score for Jerry Goldsmith, his only Oscar win. A scene from the film appeared at number 16 on
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
's ''
100 Scariest Movie Moments
''The 100 Scariest Movie Moments'' is an American television documentary miniseries that aired in late October 2004 on Bravo.(November 2004)Liner Notes '' Starlog'', p. 20 Aired in five 60-minute segments, the miniseries counts down what produc ...
''. The film spawned a
franchise, starting with ''
Damien: Omen II'', released two years later, followed by a third installment, ''
Omen III: The Final Conflict'', in 1981, and ''
Omen IV: The Awakening'' in 1991. A
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
was released in 2006.
Plot
American diplomat Robert Thorn and his wife Kathy are living in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, where she gives birth to a boy who dies. Hospital chaplain Father Spiletto persuades Robert to secretly adopt a baby whose mother just died in childbirth. Robert does not tell Kathy the child is not their own. They name him
Damien
Damien is a given name and less frequently a surname.
The name is a variation of Damian (given name), Damian which comes from the Greek ''Damianos''. This form originates from the Greek derived from the Greek word δαμάζω (damazō), "(I) con ...
.
Five years later, Robert is Ambassador to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
when mysterious events plague the Thorns: a menacing
Rottweiler
The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered mea ...
appears at their home, Damien's nanny publicly hangs herself during his fifth birthday party, new nanny Mrs. Baylock arrives unannounced, Damien violently resists entering church, and Damien's presence terrifies animals at a wildlife park. Father Brennan warns Robert about Damien's origins, hinting that he is not human and insisting Robert take
Communion. He tells Robert that Damien is the son of Satan, that Kathy is pregnant, and that he will kill his unborn sibling and parents unless he dies. Later, Brennan is killed by a falling pole. Kathy tells Robert she wants an abortion, which he opposes. Damien knocks Kathy over a railing to the floor below, injuring her and causing a miscarriage.
Photographer Keith Jennings notices shadows in photographs of the nanny and of Father Brennan that presage their deaths. Keith shows Robert the photos along with news clippings and biblical passages that suggest the coming of the
Antichrist. He accompanies Robert to Rome to investigate Damien's birth. They learn that a fire destroyed Kathy's maternity records and killed the staff on duty. They find Father Spiletto in a monastery, mute, blind in one eye, and partly paralyzed. He directs them to the cemetery where Damien's biological mother is buried. In Damien's mother's grave, Robert and Keith find a
jackal carcass and, in the next plot, a child's skeleton with a shattered skull. Robert realizes that the jackal is Damien's mother and the child is his own murdered son, killed so Damien can take his place. A pack of Rottweilers drives Robert and Keith from the cemetery.
Robert calls Kathy in hospital to tell her she must leave London. Before she can do so, Mrs. Baylock throws her to her death from a window. Robert and Keith meet Antichrist expert Carl Bugenhagen who says if Damien is the true Antichrist, he will bear a birthmark in the shape of
three sixes. Carl gives Robert seven daggers with which to kill Damien on hallowed ground. Afterwards, Keith is decapitated by a sheet of glass.
Robert finds the birthmark on the sleeping Damien's scalp and is attacked by Mrs. Baylock, whom he stabs to death. Armed with the daggers, Robert drives Damien to a cathedral. His erratic driving draws the attention of the police. Robert drags a screaming Damien onto the altar to stab him, but is shot to death by police before he can do so.
The double funeral of Kathy and Robert is attended by the
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
and the First Lady, who have Damien with them. Damien turns and
smiles at the camera.
Cast
Production
Development
According to producer
Harvey Bernhard
Harvey Bernhard (March 5, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American film producer. He frequently collaborated with film director Richard Donner, notably ''The Omen'' (1976), ''The Goonies'' (1985) and ''The Lost Boys'' (1987)
Early life and ed ...
, the idea of a motion picture about the
Antichrist came after a discussion about the Bible with Bob Munger, a friend of Bernhard's. When Munger told him about the idea in 1973, the producer immediately contacted screenwriter David Seltzer and hired him to write a screenplay. It took a year for Seltzer to write the script.
[The Omen Interviews with Gregory Peck 1976]
at YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
The movie was considered by
Warner Bros Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company of the List of assets owned by Warner Bros. Discovery#Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros., W ...
, but the project did not move forward until optioned by
Alan Ladd Jr.
Alan Walbridge Ladd Jr. (October 22, 1937 – March 2, 2022) was an American film industry executive and producer. He served as president of 20th Century Fox from 1976 to 1979, during which he approved the production of ''Star Wars''. He later es ...
of 20th Century Fox.
Seltzer and Donner differed over the film's message. Donner favored an ambiguous reading of the script under which it would be left for the audience to decide whether Damien was the Antichrist or whether the series of violent deaths in the film were all just a string of unfortunate accidents. Seltzer rejected the ambiguity favored by Donner and pressed for an interpretation of his script that left no doubt for the audience that Damien Thorn was the Antichrist and that all of the deaths in the film were caused by the malevolent power of Satan, the interpretation that Bernhard chose to go with.
Casting
Bernhard claims Gregory Peck had been the choice to portray Ambassador Thorn from the beginning. Peck got involved with the project through his agent, who was friends with producer Bernhard. After reading the script, Peck reportedly liked the idea that it was more of a psychological thriller rather than a horror film and agreed to star in it. He was at first displeased with the props and effects for making the death scenes but was relieved to find how restrained and non-exploitative they were in the final film.
Despite Bernhard's claim,
there were other actors considered for the role because studios were reluctant to cast Peck as a child killer.
Warner Bros. Pictures thought the role would be ideal for
Oliver Reed
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...
.
William Holden turned it down, claiming he didn't want to star in a film about the devil. Holden would later portray Thorn's brother, Richard, in the sequel, ''
Damien: Omen II'' (1978). A firm offer was made to
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
on July 19, 1975. He turned down the part on July 27, not wanting to spend an entire winter alone in Europe and also concerned that the film might have an exploitative feel if not handled carefully.
Roy Scheider,
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage.
Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...
, and
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and war ...
were also considered for the role of Robert Thorn.
Filming
Principal photography of ''The Omen'' began on October 6, 1975, and lasted eleven weeks, wrapping on January 9, 1976. Scenes were shot on location in
Bishops Park in
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, London and
Guildford Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. The Thorns' country manor was filmed at
Pyrford Court in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
.
The church featured in the Bishop's Park neighbourhood is
All Saints' Church, Fulham, on the western side of
Putney Bridge Road. Additional photography took place at
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...
outside London, as well as on location in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and Rome. According to Richard Donner, Lee Remick's reaction during the baboon scene was authentic.
Analysis
American scholar Brad Duren argued that ''The Omen'' was part of a trend of films featuring cosmic horror that started with ''
Rosemary's Baby'' in 1968, but the film was unusual at the time because it concerned the "end times" predicted in ''The Book of Revelation'' and used the ideology of
premillennial dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is a system that was formalized in its entirety by John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalism maintains that history is divided into multiple ages or "dispensations" in which God acts with humanity in different ways. Dispensationali ...
favored by American fundamentalist Protestants. Duren further maintained that the box office success of ''The Omen'', which concerned the first stages of the Apocalypse as the Antichrist is born, reflected the ''zeitgeist'' of 1970s America.
In 1973, an advertising executive and
evangelical Christian, Robert Munger, who had read
Hal Lindsey's book ''
The Late, Great Planet Earth
''The Late Great Planet Earth'' is a best-selling 1970 book by Hal Lindsey with Carole C. Carlson, and first published by Zondervan. ''The New York Times'' declared it to be the bestselling nonfiction book of the 1970s. The book was first feature ...
'', speculated to film producer Harvey Bernard about the possibility that the Antichrist might be walking the earth in the form of a child, unknown to the vast majority of humanity. This conversation inspired Bernard with the idea for the film that became ''The Omen''. Bernard commissioned scriptwriter David Seltzer to write a script for the film. Seltzer in turn borrowed many ideas from premillennial dispensationalism, especially ''The Late, Great Planet Earth''.
, while inventing his own. For an example, a supposed quote from the Book of Revelation featured in ''The Omen'' ("When the Jews return to Zion and a comet rips the sky and the Holy Roman Empire rises, then you and I must die; from the eternal sea he rises, creating armies on either shore, turning man against his brother, 'til man exists no more") is not in fact in that Book. Likewise, the sinister figure who will rule the world for seven years predicted in Revelation, commonly known as the Antichrist, is not described in the Bible as the son of Satan, whereas Satan is the father of the Antichrist in ''The Omen''.
Jim Knipfel in ''The Omen: The Pedigree of a Horror Classic'' on ''
Den of Geek'', opines of ''The Omen'', "
ere is no single source quite as central and clearly influential as "The Devil's Platform", a 1974 episode from the first season of ''
Kolchak: The Night Stalker'', with stars
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', ''Alien'', '' The Dead Zone'', ''Top Gun'', '' A R ...
(credited as "Tom Skerrit") as Robert Palmer, a young politician whose meteoric rise seemed to come out of nowhere. He seems a shoe in to become the new state senator from Illinois, but is already gunning for the White House. ...Palmer is rising quickly in the world of politics, which of course was the subtext of the entire ''Omen'' franchise. Anyone who threatens his rise or stands in his way — major political donors, speechwriters for the opposing candidate, even the opposing candidate himself — ends up dying mysteriously as the result of a tragic and freakish accident, which was the hook that brought most people to the theaters to see the ''Omen'' films in the first place. ...Palmer, again like Damien, also has a very protective Rottweiler
familiar
In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to re ...
, who is impervious to harm. ... Like
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to:
Sports
* Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor
* David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier
* David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer
Oth ...
's photographer in the first film, inexplicable photographic anomalies help point Kolchak in the right direction. ... And finally, in the end the ambitious Satanic candidate is dispatched with a holy instrument (blessed daggers in ''The Final Conflict'', holy water in ''The Night Stalker''). So there. In a way, watching "The Devil's Platform" is a bit like watching all three ''Omen'' films from an outsider journalist’s perspective, except Kolchak is able to wrap the whole thing up neatly in an hour."
The success of the film in 1976 may have been due to a sense of malaise in the West at the time. As film critic
John Kenneth Muir
John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres.
Biography
Born ...
wrote: "What if the Bible is correct? What if all the signs of the Apocalypse are happening around about now? Would we believe them? Heck, would we even notice?" Duren wrote that, although it was unlikely that most people who viewed the film in 1976 accepted the dispensationalist viewpoint, the mere feeling that the world or the West was in terminal decline gave the film a resonance that its subsequent sequels lacked.
Beyond the success of the film, Duren wrote that the impact of the film on popular culture can be seen in the way that many people accept the dispensationalist reading of the Book of Revelation as the correct interpretation whereas in fact, the dispensationalist interpretation was and still is rejected by many churches. Duren wrote that dispensationalism had once been a "fringe" theory within Protestant theology, but due to the popularity of ''The Omen'' it is now widely accepted as doctrine.
Duren notes that in the film it has to be explained to Robert Thorn that the number 666 is the "mark of the beast" and speculates that audiences in 1976 were not familiar with this aspect of the Book of Revelation, but because of the film's popularity, the number 666 has entered popular culture and most people, even those of a secular bent, are aware of the sinister significance attached to the number.
Music
An original score for the film, including the movie's theme song "
Ave Satani
"Ave Satani" is the theme song to the film ''The Omen'' (1976) composed by Jerry Goldsmith. ''The Omen'' won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, with ''Ave Satani'' nominated for Best Original Song.
History
The Latinized title translates ...
", was composed by
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...
, for which he received the only
Oscar of his career. The score features a strong
choral
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
segment, with a foreboding
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
chant. The refrain to the chant is, "Sanguis bibimus, corpus edimus, tolle corpus Satani", Latin for, "We drink the blood, we eat the flesh, raise the body of Satan", interspersed with cries of "Ave Satani!" and "Ave 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. According to Goldsmith's wife, Carol, the composer initially struggled with ideas for the score until one evening when he suddenly, happily announced to her, "I hear voices", referring to an orchestral chorus or choir. The Latin of this song contains some errors: "We drink the blood" must be ''Sanguinem bibimus'' (accusative form of ''sanguis''), also "Hail Satan!" is ''Ave Satana'' (vocative form), and as for ''Ave Versus Christus'' is nonsense in Latin: the correct form is ''Ave Antichriste'' (vocative form of ''Antichristus'', the Latin name for the biblical
Antichrist).
Original soundtrack (1990)
Deluxe Edition soundtrack (2001)
For the film's 25th anniversary, a deluxe version of the soundtrack was released with eight additional tracks.
40th Anniversary edition soundtrack (2016)
A limited-edition soundtrack was released for the film's 40th anniversary with six additional tracks and a bonus track.
Release
Box office
''The Omen'' was released following a successful $2.8 million marketing campaign inspired by the one from ''
Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' one year prior, with two weeks of sneak previews, a
novelization
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
by screenwriter David Seltzer, and the logo with "666" inside the film's title as the centerpiece of the advertisement. An early screening of the film took place in numerous U.S. cities on June 6, 1976.
The film was a massive commercial success, opening in the United States and Canada on June 25, 1976, in 516 theaters. It grossed $4,273,886 in its opening weekend (a then-record for Fox) and $60,922,980 in total, generating
theatrical rental
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...
s of $28.5 million in the United States and Canada. Worldwide it earned rentals of $46.3 million from a budget of $2.8 million.
In the United States, the film was the
sixth-highest-grossing movie of 1976.
During its release in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
under the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
regime, the
Publication Approval Board cut the final scenes showing the killing of Robert Thorn and Damien's survival.
Critical response
Contemporary
Richard Eder
Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic.
Life and career
For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it "a dreadfully silly film" but "reasonably well-paced. We don't have time to brood about the sillinesses of any particular scene before we are on to the next. There is not a great deal of excitement, but we manage to sustain some curiosity as to how things will work out." ''
Variety'' praised Richard Donner's direction as "taut" and the performances as "strong", and noted that the script, "sometimes too expository, too predictable, too contrived, is nonetheless a good connective fibre."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4.
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' also awarded 2.5 stars out of 4, lauding the "firepower sound track" and several "memorable" scenes, but finding the story "goofy."
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called it "an absolutely riveting, thoroughly scary experience, a triumph of sleek film craftsmanship that will inevitably but not necessarily unfavorably be compared to ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...
''."
Tom Shales
Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...
of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' declared, "It's probably the classiest ''Exorcist'' copy yet, but as a summer thriller, it can hardly challenge the human appeal and exhilarating impact of last year's ''
Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' ... Seltzer, busy justifying his baloney premise with Biblical quotations, forgets about narrative logic or empathetic characters."
Gene Shalit called the film "a piece of junk", and
Judith Crist
Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic.
She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...
said it "offers more laughs than the average comedy."
Jack Kroll of ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' called it "a dumb and largely dull movie." Duncan Leigh Cooper of ''
Cineaste'' wrote, "Despite its improbable story line and abundance of gratuitous violence, ''The Omen'' does succeed in its attempt to frighten, terrorize, and just plain scare the pants off most of the audience. Impressive performances ... plus a chilling mock-religious score by Jerry Goldsmith and the skillful direction of Richard Donner, all contribute to the suspension of disbelief required to draw the audience into the film's web of terror." Richard Combs of ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin'' described the movie as "
matter-of-fact exercise in Satanic blood and thunder, both less grandiloquently and less pretentiously put together than ''The Exorcist'' ... In fact, the narrative is so straightforward, and so mundanely concerned with developing ever more ingenious ways, at a rapidly increasing clip, of disposing of its starry cast, that the spiritual torment is skimped."
Retrospective
In 1978, two years after its release, ''The Omen'' was included in
Michael Medved and Harry Dreyfuss's book ''
The Fifty Worst Films of All Time''. It was the most recent movie featured.
Retrospective reviews of the film have been more favorable. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it has an
approval rating
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
of 84% based on 50 reviews and an average rating of 7.20/10. The site's consensus reads: "''The Omen'' eschews an excess of gore in favor of ramping up the suspense—and creates an enduring, dread-soaked horror classic along the way". On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a
weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
''The Omen'' was ranked number 81 on the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
's ''
100 Years... 100 Thrills'', and the score by
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...
was nominated for
AFI's ''100 Years of Film Scores''. The film was ranked #16 on
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
's ''
100 Scariest Movie Moments
''The 100 Scariest Movie Moments'' is an American television documentary miniseries that aired in late October 2004 on Bravo.(November 2004)Liner Notes '' Starlog'', p. 20 Aired in five 60-minute segments, the miniseries counts down what produc ...
''. Similarly, the
Chicago Film Critics' Association named it the 31st-scariest film ever made. It has also been ranked as one of the best horror films of 1976 by
Filmsite.org
Filmsite is a film-review website established in 1996 by senior editor and film critic-historian Tim Dirks, and continues to be managed and edited by him for over two decades.
Overview
The site contains over 300 detailed reviews of English langu ...
.
The film was criticized by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, which accused it of misrepresenting
Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology, a major branch of study within Christian theology, deals with "last things". Such eschatology – the word derives from two Greek roots meaning "last" () and "study" (-) – involves the study of "end things", whether of ...
. On the other hand, some Protestant groups praised the film, and the
California Graduate School of Theology
The California Graduate School of Theology is an institution of higher learning in Garden Grove, California.
History
The California Graduate School of Theology was founded and chartered in the state of California in 1969 by William S. McBirnie, ...
in
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
presented the filmmakers with a special award during its 1977 commencement ceremonies.
Accolades
Home media
''The Omen'' was released on
VHS by
20th Century Fox Home Video
20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...
in 1980. A VHS reissue was released by Fox under their "Selection Series" in 2000. The same year, a special-edition
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
was released by 20th Century Fox Home Video as a standalone release as well as in a four-film set that included its three sequels. A newly restored two-disc collector's edition DVD of the film was issued in 2006, coinciding with the release of the remake.
The film had its debut on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in October 2008 as part of a four-film collection, featuring the first two sequels—''Damien: Omen II'' and ''The Final Conflict''—as well as the 2006 remake.
The fourth sequel, ''Omen: The Awakening'', was not included in this set.
On October 15, 2019,
Scream Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released a deluxe-edition box set—featuring the original film, along with all three sequels and the remake—and featuring newly commissioned bonus materials.
The Scream Factory release features a new
4K restoration of the original film elements.
Related works
Novelization
A novelization of ''The Omen'' was written by screenwriter David Seltzer and released two weeks before the film. For the book, Seltzer augmented some plot points and character backgrounds and changed minor details, including some character names: Holly became Chessa Whyte, Keith Jennings became Haber Jennings and Father Brennan became Father Edgardo Emilio Tassone.
Sequels and remake
''The Omen'' was followed by three sequels: ''
Damien: Omen II'' (1978), ''
Omen III: The Final Conflict'' (1981), and ''
Omen IV: The Awakening'' (1991).
A
remake of the same title was released in 2006, starring
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...
and
Julia Stiles in the roles of Robert and Katherine, and
Mia Farrow portraying Mrs. Baylock.
The film was also remade into
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
as
Jenma Natchathram
''Jenma Natchathram'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Thakkali Srinivasan. A remake of the American film ''The Omen'' (1976), it stars newcomers Pramod, G. Anandharam, Sindhuja and Baby Vichi ...
.
See also
*
List of fictional Antichrists
Antichrist characters have been the continuing subject of speculation and attraction, often explored in fiction and media, and the character has developed its own fictional mythology apart from biblical scripture. For example, the Book of Revela ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
* ''The Omen'
script
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omen
1976 films
1976 horror films
1970s mystery films
1970s psychological thriller films
1970s English-language films
American supernatural horror films
American mystery horror films
British supernatural horror films
British mystery films
20th Century Fox films
Films set in Israel
Films set in London
Films set in Rome
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot at Shepperton Studios
Films shot in London
Films shot in Rome
Films directed by Richard Donner
Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith
Films shot in Israel
The Omen (franchise)
Films set in country houses
Fictional depictions of the Antichrist
Films shot in Surrey
1970s American films
1970s British films