The Omen (1976 Film Review)

1976 20th Century Fox
Directed by: Richard Donner; Written by: David Seltzer
Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, and Billie Whitelaw
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 111 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 6/10

Robert and his wife Kathy are living in Rome, where Robert works as an American diplomat. Robert comes from wealth and power, and is on a sure track to become President, but none of that can save the life of his newborn son, who dies immediately after childbirth. A hospital priest makes Robert an offer. Another woman has just died in childbirth, but her son survived. Robert and Kathy can take the baby as their own, with Kathy never having any knowledge that her actually child has died. Robert agrees, the happy new parents name the child "Damien," and soon move their family to England, where Robert is the new American Ambassador. Everything is roses for a half-decade, until strange...really strange things begin to happen: Damien's nanny hangs herself in public view during Damien's fifth birthday party, while shouting "It's all for you Damien!"; Damien has an extreme reaction to his family driving up to a church; a new nanny shows up all on her own, with a big black dog that seems strangely protective of Damien; a priest starts stalking Robert, telling him that he and Kathy are in great danger...and that their child is the Antichrist.
The Omen may have been scary to audiences in 1976, but 46 years later, it feels like a very silly film. Kids can act pretty well now, but up until Haley Joel Osment said "I see dead people" in 1999, the standard was very low. Very little is asked of young Harvey Spencer Stephens as Damien, and the little fellow is never very scary. While watching the film today, I couldn't help but wonder how much more effective The Omen would be if Damien was, say, 12 (divisible by 6!), and old and big enough to pose an actual physical threat. Director, Richard Donner, made what may be his masterpiece, Superman, just two years later, and The Omen is strangely a sort of inverse of that film, the (very early) origin of a super-villain. I feel like Donner is still honing his craft a bit here, and the pacing and tone don't quite congeal, though from Superman onward, Donner would go on a run that included The Goonies and four Lethal Weapon films.
As Robert, Gregory Peck has to do a lot of heavy lifting here. Peck is, of course, one of the greatest actors of his generation, but once the nanny throws herself off the balcony ten minutes in, it's tough not to yell "Your son is the Antichrist, do something, you idiot!" at the screen for the next 90. The film also doesn't really give Robert and Damien many heartfelt scenes together, so when the big lug finally starts to suspect the truth--and that he might just have to send Damien back to hell--it's tough to find much pathos in his struggle. 

Speaking of Academy Award winner, the legendary composer, Jerry Goldsmith, won one Oscar over the course of his entire career, and it was for his score for this film. The music here is centered around an inverse of a Latin mass chant, where the words are changed to praise the Antichrist. It's over-the-top and feels incredibly campy, nowhere near Goldsmith's best actual work.
If it seems like I'm being too hard on The Omen, it's only because I feel like this concept could be carried out much better, and indeed WAS, just three years prior in William Friedkin's masterpiece, The Exorcist, whose coattails The Omen grips with all its strength. However, I don't want to give the impression that I hate The Omen--it's actually a lot of fun. Even if it's not scary, the movie is imbued with a fun, campy, creepy atmosphere, and full of truly bizarre and shocking moments, like the aforementioned nun scene, a Final Destination-like death by metal rod, and one of the most gnarly beheadings ever put to film. While Stephens might not be scary, it's still fun to see him break the fourth-wall, turn to the camera, and give an evil smile. That Goldsmith score might be campy and over-the-top, but it's fun! And the priest who follows Robert around and spouts apocalyptic warnings? It's DOCTOR WHO HIMSELF!, the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, who brings a welcome otherworldly energy to this film, a film which may not be great, and might not even be that good, but sure is a good time.