In what was an obvious attempt to ride the coattails of The Exorcist from Hell & back and all the way to the bank, Richard Donner's The Omen, with a few rare exceptions, is an out-and-out predictable snoozefest. Gregory Peck & Lee Remick play the stupidest parents in the world, as the plot blatantly & purposefully unfolds to reveal their mysteriously adopted son as the son of the Devil (gasp!). The audience is let in on this nefarious fact about 15 minutes into the film, yet Peck doesn't fully admit this obvious fact to himself until the final reel. The rest of the film is knee deep in plot contrivance, murky religious symbolism, nonsensical logic & lots and lots of Latin, crucifixes, impalings & hounds from Hell.
Peck's right eyebrow remains raised for nearly the entire movie, which I suppose is his way of conveying emotion. Otherwise, he makes for a fine robot. Remick fares no better as the bewildered in-denial Mom. David Warner (nice scarf) is decent as a doomed photographer who "helps" Peck unravel the "mystery" of his son's origin.
Points to Jerry Goldsmith for a memorably creepy score & for the effective casting of a cherubic child actor as Damien. If you're looking for scares & logic, watch The Exorcist twice. Hell, watch The Exorcist 3 twice. 5 out of 10.
Peck's right eyebrow remains raised for nearly the entire movie, which I suppose is his way of conveying emotion. Otherwise, he makes for a fine robot. Remick fares no better as the bewildered in-denial Mom. David Warner (nice scarf) is decent as a doomed photographer who "helps" Peck unravel the "mystery" of his son's origin.
Points to Jerry Goldsmith for a memorably creepy score & for the effective casting of a cherubic child actor as Damien. If you're looking for scares & logic, watch The Exorcist twice. Hell, watch The Exorcist 3 twice. 5 out of 10.