Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12035 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-23
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 106 minutes

Synopsis
A staid American ambassador (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Lee Remick) are heartbroken when their child is stillborn, but their heartbreak is only beginning when they adopt an orphan. As the boy grows, disaster surrounds him, beginning with the suicide of his nanny and as the bodies pile up, his horrified father begins to believe that the boy is evil incarnate and must be destroyed.

Customer Reviews

Yes, it's better than The Exorcist
I sometimes enjoy annoying 'serious filmgoers' by trying to convince them that American Beauty is not as good a film as American Pie. The fact is, I actually believe that. But if you really want to get them, tell them this film is better than The Exorcist. They'll go bananas - but it's true!

I agree that The Exorcist came first, but this is a vast improvement. The best thing about The Exorcist was the sound. That says it all really. It succeeded because, at the time, people thought that being posessed by The Devil was fair enough. In today's more secular age, where even the buses tell you there's probably no God (much less The Devil), it's hard not to find The Exorcist incredibly boring, slow-moving and frequently unintentionally funny. The fact that it has been parodied so often doesn't help either.

The Omen, on the other hand, like Magic and The Medusa Touch which came out at around the same time, builds wonderfully and rests on the performance of the troubled male lead. Is Gregory Peck going mad? Could his son REALLY be The Devil?

Well, of course he is, but from the first hints that this may be so until the penny finally drops (too late), it's a splendidly tense ride - enjoyably so. The sequence where Patrick Troughton's priest meets his end at the hands of a lightning conductor is one of the best in any horror film. Whenever I go to a Fulham match and walk past that church and through Bishop's Park, I get a delightful shiver recalling this film.

Talking of which, avoid the remake at all cost! The script is virtually identical but the London locations which work so well here are missing. They shot it more cheaply in the Czech Republic but pretended it was London. They didn't fool anyone - the shop fronts are clearly all Czech!

This original is one of the best horror films of all time.

Why You Little Devil
A very enjoyable film with excellant set pieces and exciting deaths. I particuly enjoy the crescendo of exhilrating gregorian music before 'the offing' of preists, nanny's and journalists. This film has devil dogs, baboons attacking and a malevolent anti-christ tot on a tri-cycle. Whilst The Exorcist deserves 5 stars this deserves 666.

A good horror film
The Omen was the first horror film I ever saw at the cinema. At the time it made a huge impression on me. I've probably seen in on TV since then, but certainly it didn't have the same impact on me then. So when I came to watch the DVD I wasn't really expecting that much from the film.

Well I was wrong. On DVD in widescreen on a decent size widescreen TV this is still a terrific film. Some of the set pieces are brilliantly done and the cast are all good. Gregory Peck and David Warner steal the acting honours, although Patrick Troughton and Billie Whitelaw who both have small key roles are very good as well.

Of course this film probably wouldn't have happened if The Exorcist hadn't been made. It isn't as good a film as the The Exorcist, but in many ways its much more entertaining. Make sure you see the 1976 original version, before watching the remake from last year. I haven't seen the new version, but apparently its pretty much a shot for shot remake and as such is rather pointless, and therefore it will spoil the original for you if you see it first.