'The Omen' (1976) Movie Review

 

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.  _Revelation 13:18

     If there is any doubt in your mind, when Damien is taken to a wedding at a big church, you will know, the kid isn't right! There is something BIG wrong with him! He is kicking and screaming and won't calm down and has be taken home before they get anywhere near the church! It looms up in the window, and the child stares with wide eyes, like he's scared to death, then starts to freak out when they get nearer. He is not having it! They have to get away! The mom is scratched up pretty bad by the boy. The dad asks later if they shouldn't send for a doctor, and she says she will be alright. And he's like, "No, for Damien. That was not normal." She reassures him that he's just going through a phase or something and he'll be fine, perfectly fine.

     Damien's fifth birthday party is fit for royalty. They hire clowns and have their own carousal that they rented along with a little mini-roller coaster slide with little wheeled child-size cars that the parents push their kids down. There were people carrying around slices of chocolate cake that they were biting into. This really looked like the party of every kid's dreams! Until the nanny jumped off the roof, saying something weird about how "It's all for you, Damien! Everything is for you!" Everyone stared! People started leaving, of course. She was a good nanny before that.

     Damien doesn't have a lot of lines in this film, but the nanny is right, it is all for him! In fact, they should have just named the film Damien, because his name keeps coming up and he's always on people's minds throughout the whole film, not so much an omen, really. The omen we're told to look out for is people dying all around Damien, that that's the sign that something's wrong with him. He is a very sheltered boy, though, so this wasn't really true up to that point, except for the nanny! After that, it just goes all downhill for everyone. It's hard to keep people alive after that point!

     You may think that this film is a horror film, and it may be marketed as such, but it is much more than that, as this movie is biblically based. It was made to be more of a drama/mystery/thriller type movie, with the body count not so surprising, as it is the beginning of the end times that were foretold in the book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Christian experts were consulted all throughout every process of the making of this film. And it was NOT a Hollywood film, but done by a British studio, which allowed them to add more detail to the film than would have been allowed otherwise. Every time you watch this film, you will notice new things, it's that sort of movie!

     I watched the 25th Anniversary DVD, that I got from Netflix, and there were a couple documentaries about the making of the film included on the disc. I always watch them, but I skip the ongoing commentary that you can watch as you view the film, because I like it more simple than that, when I see a movie. I like it to be just me and the movie, so that I can feel like I am really there. That's the way to see a film, in my humble opinion. I recommend this to all true horror buffs, but also anyone interested in the bible theme of the end times. Who you are will determine what type of film it is. But for everyone, it is a warning! Beware of The Omen!