countchocula
10-24-2002, 12:53 PM
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6300247104.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
HEAVY SPOILERS
I was apprehensive about even watching this flick for the fear of being let down by it. Why? Because it’s a “classic,” heralded as a shocking, gripping genre offering. I knew that there was no way that The Omen could live up to my expectations, and to an extent, I was quite accurate with my prediction. It didn’t floor me, but I enjoyed the dark elegance of it all. Dark because we’re dealing with the antichrist, and elegant because we’re in London where pretty much all of our characters carry themselves with class and refinement, even in the most harrowing of situations. Gregory Peck possesses an excess of sophistication as an English ambassador who is dealt with the burden of fathering Satan’s brat. He delivers a strong performance, as does Lee Remick who does an adequate job of playing the naive wife. David Warner is surprisingly fleshed out as the photographer with a bullseye on his forehead. Harvey Stephens is cute, innocent, and menacing as Damien, but this is where one of my complaints comes into play. Damien is basically the epicenter of this film, right? Well, why isn’t he allotted enough screen time? I simply couldn’t buy this kid as the main threat since he’s not really in the foreground here. I felt that he needed to be the focal point, but instead, we spend the bulk of the running time examining the relationships between the adult characters. This isn’t necessarily an atrocious thing. As I stated, the acting is more than competent from the key performers, and their respective quandaries are engaging, but I never sensed the presence of a core antagonist. Nannies go haywire, dogs get hungry, and an intense thunderstorm claims a life, but Damien doesn’t do much of anything.
The good outweighs the bad, though. I lapped up The Omen’s baleful, foreboding atmosphere. Richard Donner knows precisely when to stir things up in the violence department. This being a slow-paced genre film from the mid-70’s, my mind wasn’t in splatter mode. So, the visceral instances of gore that are peppered throughout jarred my equilibrium! Right when I said to myself, “Ok, the camera will cut away at this point,” the camera didn’t flinch! The “birthday suicide” was particularly disturbing. Since I didn’t see it coming, the nanny’s body violently jerking into the window smacked me senseless! I also drooled at the sight of the priest being impaled during the apocalyptic storm. Now, for most of the duration, I was gearing up for the infamous decapitation. This is the only death sequence that had been spoiled for me, so I knew that it wouldn’t catch me off guard like the others did, but I was still impressed by the special effects. I loved the head’s trajectory! The film’s sluggish pace dulled the mood at around the hour mark. As Robert and Keith are rummaging around in the Italian cemetery, there’s a good portion of dead time. Nothing AT ALL is happening. I’ve always despised sequences where the characters take their precious time searching for artifacts, clues, documents, etc. You could sleep right through those scenes and not miss a damn thing. At least The Omen makes up for it with a relatively suspenseful climax and a fun “there will be a sequel” last frame.
Out of the three demonic heavyweights (the other two being Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist), I’d have to say that this flick is my favorite for two reasons…A) It’s a compelling, well-directed slab of brooding horror. B) It’s the only one out of those three heavyweights that I’ve seen thus far!
My rating-4/5
HEAVY SPOILERS
I was apprehensive about even watching this flick for the fear of being let down by it. Why? Because it’s a “classic,” heralded as a shocking, gripping genre offering. I knew that there was no way that The Omen could live up to my expectations, and to an extent, I was quite accurate with my prediction. It didn’t floor me, but I enjoyed the dark elegance of it all. Dark because we’re dealing with the antichrist, and elegant because we’re in London where pretty much all of our characters carry themselves with class and refinement, even in the most harrowing of situations. Gregory Peck possesses an excess of sophistication as an English ambassador who is dealt with the burden of fathering Satan’s brat. He delivers a strong performance, as does Lee Remick who does an adequate job of playing the naive wife. David Warner is surprisingly fleshed out as the photographer with a bullseye on his forehead. Harvey Stephens is cute, innocent, and menacing as Damien, but this is where one of my complaints comes into play. Damien is basically the epicenter of this film, right? Well, why isn’t he allotted enough screen time? I simply couldn’t buy this kid as the main threat since he’s not really in the foreground here. I felt that he needed to be the focal point, but instead, we spend the bulk of the running time examining the relationships between the adult characters. This isn’t necessarily an atrocious thing. As I stated, the acting is more than competent from the key performers, and their respective quandaries are engaging, but I never sensed the presence of a core antagonist. Nannies go haywire, dogs get hungry, and an intense thunderstorm claims a life, but Damien doesn’t do much of anything.
The good outweighs the bad, though. I lapped up The Omen’s baleful, foreboding atmosphere. Richard Donner knows precisely when to stir things up in the violence department. This being a slow-paced genre film from the mid-70’s, my mind wasn’t in splatter mode. So, the visceral instances of gore that are peppered throughout jarred my equilibrium! Right when I said to myself, “Ok, the camera will cut away at this point,” the camera didn’t flinch! The “birthday suicide” was particularly disturbing. Since I didn’t see it coming, the nanny’s body violently jerking into the window smacked me senseless! I also drooled at the sight of the priest being impaled during the apocalyptic storm. Now, for most of the duration, I was gearing up for the infamous decapitation. This is the only death sequence that had been spoiled for me, so I knew that it wouldn’t catch me off guard like the others did, but I was still impressed by the special effects. I loved the head’s trajectory! The film’s sluggish pace dulled the mood at around the hour mark. As Robert and Keith are rummaging around in the Italian cemetery, there’s a good portion of dead time. Nothing AT ALL is happening. I’ve always despised sequences where the characters take their precious time searching for artifacts, clues, documents, etc. You could sleep right through those scenes and not miss a damn thing. At least The Omen makes up for it with a relatively suspenseful climax and a fun “there will be a sequel” last frame.
Out of the three demonic heavyweights (the other two being Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist), I’d have to say that this flick is my favorite for two reasons…A) It’s a compelling, well-directed slab of brooding horror. B) It’s the only one out of those three heavyweights that I’ve seen thus far!
My rating-4/5