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The Omen (1976): Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and David Warner. Directed by Richard Donner, Screenplay by David Seltzer.

While both “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby” were based on novels prior to being movies, “The Omen” is notable as being the opposite, the novel being written from the screenplay, released only shortly before the film hit cinemas. In this respect, I guess, “The Omen” was a sign on the tide turning away from Hollywood making films based on hot literary properties, now zeroing in on what made money and creating more of the same.

Still, “The Omen” is a cracking good film, and, for me anyway, was part of growing up in the 70’s with all the devil hype and resurgence of supernatural films (which was about to peak as “Star Wars” proved that box office gold could suddenly change genres without warning). The film was definitely an A-list picture, with Gregory Peck and Lee Remick in the lead roles and in terms of marketing, equaled the supposed “Exorcist curse” with rumors of “The Omen curse” (I dunno, did “Amityville Horror” have a curse too?) all leading to big ticket sales.

Although the plot is basically just people getting killed in ingeniously different and seemingly accidental ways, somehow it all comes together, probably because of the seriousness with which the material is treated. Who knew The Bible could be so scary? The chilling Jerry Goldsmith score certainly helps a lot, and has become a benchmark by which all other spooky scores are ranked.

If you’ve only seen the recent remake (which I could go on and on about, but, for once, won’t) with passing interest, do yourself a favor and check out the original, if for nothing else, for the performance of young Harvey Stephens. At least the first sequel, “Damien Omen II” is very much worth watching as well.

Get it at Amazon.com:
The Omen (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition)

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