What's The Bottom Line special Toxic Tuesday presents The Omen

presents

The Omen (1976)

Starring Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird), Lee Remick (Anatomy of a Murder) and Harvey Stephens (The Omen 1976 and The Omen 2006)

Introduction

I think I picked The Omen for my Toxic Tuesdays because anywhere or everywhere this child Damien goes, trouble follows him....You have to feel sorry for Damien right? WRONG! He is the spawn of Satan himself, he looks innocent, charming, polite but deep down he is an evil you don't want to wreck-en with.

First Impressions Before Seeing The Film?

It's actually a weird story how I came to watch this film, I was just finishing a religious studies lesson at college, and on my way home, there's this market that does really cheap DVDs and there was The Omen 1, 2 and 3 in a box set for £6. I didn't really know much about The Omen, only that Damien is suppose to be the son of the devil and has 666 in-bedded in his head somewhere that's about it. I didn't know anything else, that's basically all I knew but at the time of college I was actually a huge horror fanatic, from Year 10 in High School to the very end of college I was just a horror freak. This film caught my eye and was wondering how a kid really can do so much hurt and destruction and get away with it? Well, if you haven't seen it I won't spoil it for you.

After I Watched The Film?

I think it's interesting to take into account that Damien here, is also in remake for the 2006 version of The Omen. But, I have to say am excited and my heart was pacing at the time because it was something I've never seen before. I think I watched this, then The Exorcist, then Saw in one huge go because Saw just came out on DVD. But, there's something about Damien, that makes you pause and stare and the ending is striking with the music, he does this smile that just creeps you out. Totally, creeps you out. The gore content and disasters were brilliant you have to remember 1976 didn't have huge special effects like we do today, it's a simple horror film with literally a devil child. I actually, thought it was weird when they brought the nanny in, who's played by Holly Palance...I thought this film couldn't get more psycho and uncomfortable for me to watch. But, when I saw Holly Palance "OMG! 991 Emergency please!". She just plays out this incredible performance of this evil person. And, it's quite sad that she didn't do much with her career but we all know her mainly from this film. The attire, scenery, camera angles are just like what you expect in today's films. I don't think people would like it as much, because it's just a straight forward film. But, a really really nice surprise for me personally because am a HUGE HUGE Doctor Who fan was the fact Patrick Troughton is in this film and he plays Farther Brennan. I did feel the suspense, the drama, the evil throughout the entire film. There were moments you actually forget Damien and who he is, and what he stands for. But, then you get sudden jumps and thrills in the movie which I think lacks in some of the horror films we see today.

What Makes The Omen Such A Unique Film? 

I think the caption of the film already makes it unique without seeing the film. "Good morning. You are one day closer to the end of the world. You have been warned". It's like something from a flight conductor, in a relaxed atmosphere and then you get this bombshell! I think it really really makes it unique because I notice Damien hardly speaks! He hardly ever speaks, and the looks Damien gives can be striking and powerful and then innocent and sweet. I think for an actor, especially a young actor! To do this at this level at this time, surrounded by huge stars, no wonder this film got 1 Oscar, 2 wins and 8 nominations! I think the music as well, it's The Omen music, it's saying here's danger staring you right in the face and you can never escape him. And, I think the villain because people forget Damien is a villain, he is the son of the devil I think that ranks Damien number 2 on the villain level really. The villain Damien is captured so beautifully, and just in that moment that stare has hypnosis you and you are captured, the stare is like a hunter and a prey, that's what this film is like. Damien is the prey, the people who know him are the hunters. BUT, it turns out Damien is the hunter and everyone else is the prey. And, I didn't notice this transaction till nearer the end of the film really. So, I think the script, the casting, and the budget was only $2,800,000, and in the opening weekend it make $4.273.886 and it wasn't a simple month recording film. This film started filming on 12th October 1975 and didn't finish till 2 January 1976. But, the crew did have some hicks along the way which we will get into. And, I think to make this shorter The Omen is a unique film because it's the first of many Omen films, it has the presence of the son of the devil and it's even believable in parts. You can believe this stuff about Damien.

Facts About This Film

1. This fact alone will make you think THAT'S CREEPY! Having changed its title from "The Antichrist" to "The Birthmark," the film seemed to fall victim to a sinister curse! Where's the mystery inc van when you need them hey! Scooby. Anyway, Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer took separate planes to the UK...yet BOTH planes were struck by lightning. While producer Harvey Bernhard was in Rome, lightning just missed him. Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers. A hotel at which director Richard Donner was staying got bombed by the IRA; he was also struck by a car. After Peck cancelled another flight, to Israel, the plane he would have chartered crashed...killing all on board. On day one of the shoot, several principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash. The jinx appeared to persist well into post-production... when special effects artist John Richardson was injured and his girlfriend beheaded in an accident on the set of A Bridge Too Far (1977). This is one of the most iconic fact about this film, which makes you want to pause and god..."help".
2. One of the main problems with shooting with Mrs Baylock's ominous dog was that the animal was nothing like the creature he was supposed to be portraying. He wanted to lick and play with his co-stars rather than threaten them.#
3. To make the baboons attack the car in the Windsor Zoo park scene, an official from the zoo was in the back seat of the car with a baby baboon, but the baboons had no response at all. They then took the head of the baboons, and the baboons outside went crazy. Lee Remick's terror as the baboons attack the car was real. That would defo be classed as animal cruelty now, what do you think?
4. One of the reasons why Gregory Peck accepted the role of a tortured father, conflicted with guilt, was because he hadn't been around when his son Jonathon committed suicide in 1975.
5. One of Richard Donner's first requests to screenwriter David Seltzer was to remove all suggestions of the supernatural, such as cloven-hoofed demons and witches' covens. The golden rule was that nothing was allowed in the script that couldn't happen in real life. The idea was that there should be some degree of doubt over whether or not Thorn was deranged.
6. Harvey Stephens, as Damien, was largely chosen for this role from the way he attacked Richard Donner during auditions. Donner asked all the little boys to "come at him" as if they were attacking Katherine Thorn during the church wedding scene. Stephens screamed and clawed at Donner's face, and kicked him in the groin during his act. Donner whipped the kid off him, ordered the kid's blond hair dyed black and cast him as Damien.
7. 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.
8. Funny enough, many writers refused to work on this project because of the subject at hand....The Anti-Christ. 
9. The day after filming was completed at the Longleat Safari Park, a Zoo Keeper was killed in the lion area, thereby fuelling the sense of a curse on the film. 
10. Mrs Baylock was originally written as a warm, effusive Irish nanny. For her audition, Billie Whitelaw significantly changed the dialogue to create the cold, slightly sinister character that was subsequently used in the finished film.

My Rankings

I think when you consider the facts, the stories behind the film alone makes it sound like a horror! This is a horror classic! So, that being said I have to give this an Oscar worthy 10 out of 10. I like this film, I love the casting, I love the facts, I just love the weird and wonderful about this film. IMDB users gave this a 7.6, I believe that's fair because not everyone likes these kind of films, some may find it boring, but generally these films interest me.

So, What's The Bottom Line?

This film is truly for new horror film lovers and for the horror fanatics like myself, I shall leave you with something, keep this in mind. 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 6....6....6, and that's the bottom line.

Here is the trailer:

Here is the IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075005/?ref_=nv_sr_1

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