October 4th, 2012: The Omen

I'm super stoked about watching The Omen tonight for many reasons.  The first is because several people that I've been talking about horror movies with in the last few days have asked if it was on my list.  I don't exactly have a set list for this month but I have a good idea of what I want and coincidentally had planned on watching it this week anyway.  The second reason is because I haven't seen this movie since I was probably 10 and it was edited for television.

One of the things I hate most are when horror movies are edited for television.   Sure, it enabled me to watch a lot of them when I was younger and wasn't allowed to rent or go see any of these movies.  The only other way was when I would stay at a friend's house. 

By editing these films I feel that television is completely stripping them of their identity; what made them out to be horror films in the first place.  Look at it this way: Unedited horror movies are like high-quality, hand crafted beers, and horror movies edited for television are like light, shitty beers (think Bud Light).  Yeah, it's ok and the skeleton of what I prefer, but at the end of the day all I want is the good shit.  By cutting out all the blood, guts, and everything else that defines horror, you lose that edge of your seat, don't-wanna-stare-but-can't-look-away, uncomfortable feeling.  Horror is not designed to make you feel comfortable. You're supposed to have intense, and sometimes negative emotional reactions. 

"Robert and Katherine Thorn seem to have it all. They are happily married and he is the US Ambassador to Great Britain, but they want more than to have children. When Katharine has a stillborn child, Robert is approached by a priest at the hospital who suggests that they take a healthy newborn whose mother has just died in childbirth. Without telling his wife he agrees. After relocating to London, strange events - and the ominous warnings of a priest - lead him to believe that the child he took from that Italian hospital is evil incarnate." - Garykmcd for IMDB.com

The Omen was directed by Richard Donner.  If you're not familiar with his name, I guarantee you've seen at least one of his movies without even knowing it.  Superman, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon, and Scrooged, just to name a few.

During the production of the film there were a series of events that led those involved to believe that the film was "cursed."  Both Gregory Peck (Robert Thorn) and executive producer Mace Neufeld's separate flights from the US to England were struck by lightning.  Producer Harvey Bernhard's flight to Rome was also caught in a field of lightning but managed to avoid being struck.  Peck and Neufeld also were eating at a restaurant in England when the Irish Republican Army set off a bomb at the establishment.

ROTTEN TOMATOES RATING: 82%

The Omen received some negative reviews but I believe that people were still haunted by the intensity of The Exorcist (1973).  By the time this film was released the public was ready for something new and possession/Satanism was overplayed (a lot like today, e.g. The Devil Inside, The Last Exorcism, Insidious, The Possession, etc.).  Love it or hate it, The Omen is easily considered a horror classic.  There was a remake in 2006 but the only thing interesting about it is that its theatrical release was on 6/6/06 (yes, I went opening night.)

-Colby.