THE OMEN

Although having recently watched 'The Exorcist' and being a bit underwhelmed I thought why not give this film, made a couple of years later in a similar vein, a go?

It turns out to be a competently made piece of tosh but not especially memorable.

Gregory Peck is Thorn, a wealthy US diplomat who hopes to be US President one day.  We are introduced to him in a Rome hospital, making a fateful decision - to go along with a Catholic priest's suggestion to replace his dead new-born son with another baby born at the same time.  And not to tell his wife Kathy (Lee Remick).  And to name the boy Damien.

(At the start of the film, there is a caption telling us the time and date: 6am on 6 June - I totally failed to clock the significance of this).

We fast forward 5 years, with the Thorn family ensconced in London, Thorn now being US ambassador to the UK.

At Damien's birthday party his nanny commits suicide in spectacular fashion.  What drives her to this is never explained but it provides an opportunity for her to be replaced by sinister Mrs Baylock, played by Billie Whitelaw.

The nanny's death is the first of several.  Although each is memorable in its own way they are  presented in a schlocky way which has the cumulative effect of cheapening the film.

In  'Rosemary's Baby', which is about giving birth to the Devil's offspring, the parents are put at the heart of the film, for maximum dramatic impact.  In contrast this film isn't able to extract much juice from what should be an horrific situation, coming to realise that your child might be evil personified.

Part of the problem is that Kathy's character is underdeveloped and, typically for female characters at this time, given very little agency.  She switches very quickly it seems from doting mother one minute to not wanting to have anything to do with Damien the next; she becomes convinced he is evil but the film doesn’t show us why.  

It is typical of the film's attitude to Kathy that her death is presented in a jokey fashion.

She never gets to learn that Damien isn't her child, because Thorn doesn't feel the need to enlighten her, which typifies his attitude to her.  At one point she becomes pregnant and wants an abortion, but he disagrees (as though it is his choice!).  The only reason seems to be that he was warned that the unborn child will be killed by Damien and he stubbornly wants to prove the warning is wrong.  

The warning comes from a Catholic priest, played by Patrick Troughton (my favourite Doctor Who).   We later learn, after his spectacular death, that he has a 666 birthmark, but why this should be is never explained. 

Because London is the main setting, we are treated to several British actors in supporting roles.  Leo McKern turns up near the end, but he doesn't get a lot to do, which is a shame. 

I was hoping that David Warner, as a news photographer who gets involved, would liven things up but his character gets reduced to just traipsing around Italy and the Middle East with Thorn until his inevitable death. 

Thorn is an unsympathetic character, especially since Peck is not an actor I warm to.  At least this means I found it quite believable that he is prepared at the film's conclusion to kill Damien.  But the climactic scenes are disappointing - they need a director who is less restrained than Richard Donner.   

My final thought at the end was that the fact that Damien's real mother was a jackal (!) really warrants more attention than it gets.  Thorn seems not to be much interested in this extraordinary fact.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do