The Omen (1976)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.6/10   

Director:

Richard Donner

Guionista:

David Seltzer (written by)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

25 junio 1976 (USA)

Género:

Horror | Misterio | Suspenso

Frase comercial:

OUR FINAL WARNING.

Plot:

An American ambassador learns to his horror that his son is actually the literal Antichrist.

Plot Keywords:

Ambassador | Priest | Hospital | Stillborn Child | Death

Premios:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Always avoid people born on the 6th June!

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 8

11:45 AM

MAX

Reparto

Gregory Peck	...	Robert Thorn
Lee Remick	...	Katherine Thorn
David Warner	...	Jennings
Billie Whitelaw	...	Mrs. Baylock
Harvey Stephens	...	Damien
Patrick Troughton	...	Father Brennan
Martin Benson	...	Father Spiletto
Robert Rietty	...	Monk
Tommy Duggan	...	Priest
John Stride	...	The Psychiatrist
Anthony Nicholls	...	Dr. Becker
Holly Palance	...	Nanny
Roy Boyd	...	Reporter
Freda Dowie	...	Nun
Sheila Raynor	...	Mrs. Horton

También conocida como:

Omen I (reissue title)
Omen I: The Antichrist (reissue title)
Omen I: The Birthmark (reissue title)
The Antichrist (USA) (working title)
The Birthmark (USA) (working title)
La profecía (Spain) [es]

Duración:

111 min | Germany:107 min (cut version)

País:

UK | USA

Idioma:

Inglés | Latin

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Mono

Clasificación:

New Zealand:(Banned) (video release, 1989-1991) | New Zealand:R16 (1992 re-rating) | New Zealand:R18 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | UK:X (original rating) | UK:15 (DVD rating) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2006) | Sweden:15 | Spain:18 | South Korea:15 | Canada:R (video rating) | Portugal:M/16 | UK:18 (tv rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Brazil:16 | Australia:MA (25th anniversary special edition) | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R (certificate #24560) | West Germany:16

Locaciones de Filmación:

All Saints Church, Fulham, London, England, UK

Compañía:

Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Trivialidades:

As part of its pre-release publicity campaign, and to point out the significance of "the three sixes" as The Sign of Satan, the movie was sneak-previewed nationwide in the USA on 6 June 1976. While audiences inside the theatres were being scared witless by the film, theatre employees were out front, busily putting up specially made posters declaring: "Today is the SIXTH day of the SIXTH month of Nineteen-Seventy-SIX!" Hokey though it was, the gimmick worked quite well, as many a theatre patron literally "freaked-out" upon seeing those posters as they left the previews.

Errores:

Continuidad: As Katherine falls from the hospital window, she waves both arms on the way down even though her right arm and shoulder had previously been solidly immobilized in a cast.

Citas:

[first lines]
Father Spiletto: [voiceover] The child is dead. He breathed for a moment. Then he breathed no more. The child is dead. Dead. The child is dead.

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in "Dancing with the Stars: (#6.1)" (2007)

Banda de Sonido:

Ave Satani

Always avoid people born on the 6th June!

Always avoid people born on the 6th June – especially if they are called Damien and bizarre violent accidents seem to happen to those around them!

Since this film has recently been remade, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the original – a horror classic!

In 1973, 'The Exorcist' broke all boundaries; previously, horror movies had only concentrated on the dark side, there were hardly any references to main stream religions. The basic rule was if the Devil was in it, God wasn't. Even Rosemary's Baby released five years before has hardly any reference to God or a more heavenly supreme being. The reaction that followed the release of The Exorcist was that the public loved it but the censors didn't and it was banned in the UK for twenty five years. The Exorcist may have fallen foul of the censors but it opened the flood gates for this sort of movie and three years later The Omen was released on 06/06/1976.

What do you think a good horror movie should have? Is it a superb cast, a brilliant score, a battle of good versus evil artfully portrayed on screen, or maybe a sinister and ambiguous open ending? No matter which of these sways your opinion 'The Omen' has all these and much, much more!!!

Firstly, let's look at the cast, Lee Remick and Gregory Peck are the leads, these two names are nothing short of Hollywood elite. Lee Remick is perfect as the mother who as the movie progresses realises there is something very wrong with her child. (I'm not sure what tipped her off – was it the baboons attacking her car or her son's feral reaction at the thought of entering a church?) Gregory Peck again is perfectly cast, as no one does noble and principled like Mr Peck. However, it is not only the leads that are terrific, the supporting cast includes David Warner and Tommy Duggan who both put in notable performances but it is Billie Whitelaw that eclipses them all as Damien's overly polite yet sinister nanny.

The score of a horror movie is very important, it has to chill to the bone and help create and maintain a feeling of an ever present danger. Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack is probably one of the best scores ever written for a horror movie. It is perfect for The Omen, gloomy, disturbing, chilling music, interlaced with what sounds like religious choirs portending the end of the world. It really is that good and if you don't believe me, consider the fact that it won Jerry Goldsmith an Oscar the following year.

By this stage, I know that most of you who were considering going to see the new Omen film at the cinema are now thinking to yourselves 'maybe I will rent the old one instead!' but for the few that are still on the fence here are a few other points to convince you. The 1976 version had a great plot, a child adopted into the corridors of power, whose destiny is to destroy the world, this is a simple and perhaps unoriginal premise however David Seltzer quotes Revelations at every turn and comes up with very original ideas to kill people off. Today, we are used to seeing a lot of blood and gore when people get killed in this genre but this is one thing that the omen lacks. Gore is pre-empted by well choreographed violent outbursts, each one being more frightening and compelling than the last, from a priest being impaled by a church spire to a reporter being decapitated by a pane of glass. These events all build to the foreboding finale. In the last scene we see a little boy, holding the hand of the President of the United States, turning around and smiling at his father's funeral. What greater ending could there be!?!

The Omen stands out in this genre and has stood up to the test of time. To-day horror movies are packed with the latest teenage idols and gratuitous violence has replaced good plots and imaginative thinking. (There are exceptions to this of course, Dog Soldiers, The Ring etc.) The Omen combines, a great cast, a great score, and brilliant storytelling without a teenage idol in sight.