October Horror 2015 - The Omen 1976

"'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 666.' Book of Revelation Chapter 13 Verse 18"


It's only fair we talk about a masterpiece, a classic horror film worth talking about. One can only appreciate the horror of now and after by looking at a piece that had great influence (and also a couple sequels and an... interesting remake). So, let's talk about... The Omen.

Robert Thorn is given the terrible news that his first child had died during birth, but is approached by a priest in the hospital who offers him another child to adopt; the mother had apparently died, the father is nowhere to be seen, so the infant, who was born on the same day as Robert's deceased child, has no family other than Robert's. Not wishing to upset his wife the news, Robert takes the child and names him Damien. Five years pass and Damien is living a happy life with his new family, his mother Katherine unaware of the circumstance, and father Robert granted the role of ambassador. However, things turn wrong when the caretaker happily commits suicide in honor of the young Damien, hanging herself in front of the estate celebrating his birthday. Day by day the parents become afraid of their child, with him inexplicably getting a new nanny, the overbearing Mrs. Baylock, and the constant approaching of a Father Brennan who foretells the end of days. As Robert digs deep into the dark mystery surrounding his adopted child, he soon learns that the young Damien is not a normal child, perhaps not even human but instead something far more sinister...

The Omen is a slow movie, purposefully so. You are brought along the ride with Robert as you both piece together what exactly Damien is, his purpose, and exactly the awful origins that brought him to life. With that said, being a slow movie requires a great deal of investment, which the film handles well by mixing scenes of both suspense, intrigue, and horror. At no point does it drag too long, but that's just me as a lover of films saying that; if you're not like that, I wouldn't hold it against you if you lose a bit of interest at any point.
The characters are very well written, well acted, and well casted. The child who plays Damien is believable for someone his age, which is a huge plus; everyone else is absolutely great, especially Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn, whom you can easily sympathize. There is no complaints.
There is gore, but this being the 70's and in addition a film that relies more on the horror of its narrative than its imagery, it isn't at all noticeable; in fact, I can almost say that the violence that is seen in the film is a little underwhelming, at least up till the climax. The violence serves the story, as well to provide tension, but in no way is it supposed to be gratuitous (*COUGH*2006 remake! *COUGH*). In short, there's nothing for us gore-loving crowd.
A lot of the religious explanation and ideas brought up in the film is interesting, but it feels more like background details; like the violence, it's there to serve the story, so don't expect some obvious symbolism or anything similar to that.

Honestly, I wish I can say more about this movie, but I feel it's only right of me to just tell you to see it. The film is so old that I can't really spoil anything, but at the same time I feel you should experience as I have. I must say again that the film is slow, and, at close to an hour and 50 minutes, quite long. But if you can get past the way it paces itself and get invested into the investigation... you may enjoy this film as much as I had.