The Omen
Published October 25, 2022
Film info
- Title The Omen
- Director Richard Donner
- Year 1976
- Run time 1hr 51m
- Genres Horror, Thriller
- Tagline It is the greatest mystery of all because no human being will ever solve it
Satan's son has arrived on Earth and He's not about to let human parents get in the way. When his wife Katherine's pregnancy ends in a stillbirth in a Rome hospital, U.S. diplomat Robert Thorn substitutes another baby, whose mother died. Little Damien thrives, but, at this fifth birthday party, his nanny mysteriously dies; Father Brennan also expires after warning Thorn that he has adopted Lucifer's son.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 3:49 | No good plan includes the sentence ‘your wife need never know.’ |
| 7:54 | “It needs some books to warm it up, cosy it up.” Yay for libraries. |
| 9:43 | They should really have been watching him closer next to a river like that. |
| 11:17 | Ooh, David Warner just showed up. |
| 13:03 | That’s a pretty bad birthday party. |
| 20:03 | I’m assuming this suspicious new governess is going to be just like Mary Poppins, yes? |
| 33:30 | Just another reason not to go in the monkey bit at Longleat. |
| 42:54 | Iconic, but I do feel like he had time to move out of the way of that. |
| 49:32 | Kids in scary movies always seem to ride little bikes. |
| 58:35 | 6am on the 6th day of the 6th month. Ooooh. |
| 1:05:41 | “The devil’s child will rise from the world of politics.” Sounds about right. |
| 1:13:10 | Just a suggestion, why not wait until daytime to go to the scary overgrown cemetery? |
| 1:27:04 | Don’t go wandering off on your own, dude. |
| 1:29:34 | Pretty sure ten minutes ago he said he wanted to kill him. |
| 1:30:14 | That was an incredible Final Destination style death. |
| 1:44:18 | Creepiest smile ever. |
Thoughts
I’m not really happy about the setup for this film, I think it’s a pretty terrible thing the husband does to the wife and makes me lose a significant amount of sympathy for him. However, I do like the slow burn of the piece after that - the kid gradually showing signs of devilry and eventually it all getting darker and darker until the surprising ending with that creepy smile. It wasn’t really as full of horror as I thought, although that decapitation was pretty grim. But still a really good movie.
Rating: 4 / 5