The Omen
The Omen is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer Stephens (in his film debut), Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo McKern.
The film's plot follows Damien Thorn, a young child replaced at birth by his father, unbeknownst to his wife, after their biological child dies shortly after birth. As a series of mysterious events and violent deaths occur around the family and Damien enters childhood, they come to learn he is in fact the prophesied Antichrist.
Plot
American diplomat Robert Thorn and his wife Katherine are living in Rome, where Katherine gives birth to a boy who Robert is told died immediately. Hospital chaplain Father Spiletto persuades Robert to secretly adopt another baby whose mother just died in childbirth. Robert does not tell Katherine the child is not their own. They name him Damien.
Five years later, Robert is Ambassador to the United Kingdom in London when mysterious phenomena begin to plague the Thorns: a menacing Rottweiler appears at their home, Damien's nanny publicly hangs herself during his fifth birthday party, new nanny Mrs. Baylock arrives unexpectedly, Damien violently resists entering a church, and Damien's presence frightens animals at a safari park. Father Brennan warns Robert about Damien's origins, hinting that he is not human and insisting Robert take Holy Communion. He tells Robert that Damien is the son of Satan, that Katherine is pregnant, and that Damien will kill his unborn sibling and parents. Later, Father Brennan is killed by a falling lightning rod. Katherine tells Robert she wants an abortion, which he opposes. Damien knocks Katherine over a railing to the floor below, injuring her and causing her to miscarry.
Photographer Keith Jennings notices shadows in photographs of the nanny and Father Brennan that presaged their deaths. Keith shows Robert the photos along with news clippings and Biblical passages that Father Brennan had suggesting the coming of the Antichrist. He accompanies Robert to Rome to investigate Damien's birth. They learn that a fire destroyed the hospital, including Katherine's maternity records, and killed the staff on duty. They find Father Spiletto in a monastery severely burned, mute, blind in one eye, and partially paralyzed. He directs them to the cemetery where Damien's biological mother is buried. In the grave of Damien's mother, Robert and Keith find a jackal carcass and, in the next plot, a child's skeleton with a shattered skull. Robert realizes that the child was his own son, murdered so that Damien could take his place. A pack of Rottweilers drives Robert and Keith from the cemetery.
Robert calls Katherine in the hospital to tell her that she must leave London. Before she can do so, Mrs. Baylock throws Katherine to her death from the window of her room. Robert and Keith befriend Antichrist exorcism expert Carl Bugenhagen in Israel who says that if Damien is the true Antichrist, he will bear a birthmark in the shape of three sixes. Carl gives Robert seven daggers with which to kill Damien on hallowed ground. Robert refuses to do so, but Keith remains convinced about the necessity of it. Afterward, Keith is decapitated by a sheet of glass from a truck. Robert then reluctantly accepts his task.
Robert finds the birthmark on the sleeping Damien's scalp and is attacked by Mrs. Baylock, whom he fatally stabs. Armed with the daggers, Robert drives Damien to a local cathedral. His erratic driving draws the attention of the police. Robert drags a screaming Damien onto the altar to kill him and begs God to forgive him, but the police arrive on the scene and kill him before he can do so.
The double funeral of Katherine and Robert is attended by the U.S. President and the First Lady, who have Damien with them. Damien turns and smiles at the camera.
Production
According to producer Harvey Bernhard, the idea of a motion picture about the Antichrist came after a discussion about the Bible with Bob Munger, a friend of Bernhard's. When Munger told him about the idea in 1973, the producer immediately contacted screenwriter David Seltzer and hired him to write a screenplay. It took a year for Seltzer to write the script.
Donner favored an ambiguous reading of the script under which it would be left for the audience to decide whether Damien was the Antichrist or whether the series of violent deaths in the film were all just a string of unfortunate accidents. Seltzer rejected the ambiguity favored by Donner and pressed for an interpretation of his script that left no doubt for the audience that Damien Thorn was the Antichrist and that all of the deaths in the film were caused by the malevolent power of Satan.
Casting
According to separate interviews with Donner and Harvey Stephens, over 500 boys had auditioned for the role of Damien. The then four-year-old Stephens won the role after Donner encouraged the boys to attack him during a group audition, following which Stephens reportedly clawed at Donner's face and kicked him in the groin. Because Stephens had curly blonde hair, Donner had Stephens' hair straightened and dyed black, and gave him colored contacts to make him look scarier.
Filming
Principal photography of The Omen began on October 6, 1975, and lasted eleven weeks, wrapping on January 9, 1976. Scenes were shot on location in Bishops Park in Fulham, London and Guildford Cathedral in Surrey. The Thorns' country manor was filmed at Pyrford Court in Surrey.
The church featured in the Bishop's Park neighbourhood is All Saints' Church, Fulham, on the western side of Putney Bridge Road. The church used in the final climactic scene is St Peter's in Staines-upon-Thames. Additional photography took place at Shepperton Studios outside London, as well as on location in Jerusalem and Rome.
Analysis
American scholar Brad Duren argued that The Omen was part of a trend of films featuring cosmic horror that started with Rosemary's Baby in 1968, but the film was unusual at the time because it concerned the "end times" predicted in The Book of Revelation and focused on a form of premillennialism favored by American dispensationalists.
Duren notes that in the film it has to be explained to Robert Thorn that the number 666 is the "mark of the beast" and speculates that audiences in 1976 were not familiar with this aspect of the Book of Revelation, but because of the film's popularity, the number 666 has entered popular culture and most people, even those of a secular bent, are aware of the sinister significance attached to the number.
Release
The Omen was released following a successful $2.8 million marketing campaign inspired by the one from Jaws one year prior, with two weeks of sneak previews, a novelization by screenwriter David Seltzer, and the logo with "666" inside the film's title as the centerpiece of the advertisement.
Reception
The film was a massive commercial success, opening in the United States and Canada on June 25, 1976, in 516 theaters. It grossed $4,273,886 in its opening weekend (a then-record for Fox) and $60,922,980 in total, ($334,414,696 in 2024,) generating theatrical rentals of $28.5 million in the United States and Canada.
Worldwide it earned rentals of $46.3 million from a budget of $2.8 million.
The Omen earned two Oscar nominations, including a win for Jerry Goldsmith's musical score.
The film was criticized by the Catholic Church, which accused it of misrepresenting Christian eschatology. On the other hand, some Protestant groups praised the film, and the California Graduate School of Theology in Glendale presented the filmmakers with a special award during its 1977 commencement ceremonies.
Sequels
The Omen was followed by three sequels:
- Damien - Omen II (1978)
- Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
- Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)
A remake of the same title was released in 2006, starring Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles in the roles of Robert and Katherine, and Mia Farrow portraying Mrs. Baylock. A prequel to the first film titled The First Omen was released on April 5, 2024.
Television
In 1995, a television pilot titled The Omen aired on NBC, on September 8 of that year. Directed by Jack Sholder, the hour-long episode was intended as an attempt to develop The Omen franchise into a TV series
A television series called Damien was in development at the network Lifetime before it was moved to A&E with Bradley James starring in the title role. The series aired from March 7 to May 9, 2016.
Legacy
During his trial for a triple homicide in West Memphis, Arkansas, occultist Damien Echols was questioned by the prosecuting attorney about whether he changed his name after being inspired by the depiction of the child Damien as the Antichrist in The Omen. Echols explained that it was not the case and he chose the name for unrelated reasons.