MOTM APRIL 2010:THE OMEN (1976)

[The Walking Dude]

Robert and Katherine Thorn seem to have it all. He is the US Ambassador to Italy and they want for nothing in their lives, except one thing: they do not have children. When Katharine has a stillborn child, Robert is approached by a priest at the hospital who suggest that he take a healthy newborn whose mother has just died in childbirth. Without telling his wife he agrees to to so but 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

[HNT]

An easy 5 wstars on this one. It is really a hell of a lot of fun. I don't have much at all to complain of here. If anything, the only potential criticism is that it winds up having morte of an action/adventure type tone to it than a true horror tone once it turns into the chase through Europe. It is still a hell of a lot of fun, though

[GL]

I say a 4. Not a true classic (some of the attacks are just too hokey and not that scary, and HNT does have a point about it dropping a lot of horror elements once the Satanic intent has been unveiled, surprisingly) but the main horror scares still work, which is a true shock, the gore is plentiful and the body count is strangely high, the gradual unveiling of the Satanic origins is well-done and still maintains a creepy score and feel to it. Aged pretty well but I had a few problems with it.

[CT]

I've actually never seen this one before so Ill order and watch it this month. I can get it used on Blu Ray for under $10.

[FireStar]

I true horror classic, it gets a 5 easily from me. One little fact about the shooting of the movie that I love is how they got all the monkeys to attack the car at the drive thru zoo. They actuall had the alpha male of the group sedated in the back of the car while they were filming the scene and the other monkeys could smell him in the car and that's why they reacted they way they did.

[Jen]

A 5 from me. I love the pace of the film and the cast. Billie Whitelaw as Mrs. Baylock is one of my favorite performances in horror. And some really good death scenes in this one.

[HNT]

Apr 6, 2010 17:42:42 GMT -5 CT said:

I've actually never seen this one before so Ill order and watch it this month. I can get it used on Blu Ray for under $10.

Wow, you are in for a treat if you've never seen it. It is well worth your time.

[GL]

Indeed, I'll support HNT on this one. Really enjoyable and highly watchable.

[abraxas]

One of the greatest "occult" films to come out in the 70's, one of many classic horror movies from that period, deserves no less then a 5, in fact I have been inspired to do a marathon of classic 70s supernatural horror movies


Yeah Fire they tried it with one of the babies and the other monkey didn't give a shit.

[CT]

I have ordered it and will report back after I see it.

[The Walking Dude]

It sure is a great one. I give it a 4.The premise is great.The score probably one of the best ever laid down for a film,full of superb actors and best of all

SPOILER: Click to show

a bleak ominous unhappy ending.

.And I like Damien:Omen II even more.In fact I toyed with the idea of having Damien as MotM but thought it better to have the original.

A quick aside - I'm no remake hater by any means,but the 2006 version is one movie I havent bothered with,and won't.I really just don't see the point.

[CT]

I thought it was really good. Lots of great and creative deaths. My only problem was it's a bit boring in spots, would have shaved off 15 minutes or so here and there.

4/5

[abraxas]

Really....I think its one of those perfect movies, every shot is classic, the story never drags on, and every shot is there for a reason.

[CT]

I wouldn't say every shot was necessary. But let me give it another viewing and mull it over.

[GL]

Horror films should not be 2 hours long, I don't care how well in-depth the story is. When you're that long and paced out, you're going to get useless filler in there, and this one does have some of those problems (just, once, for a change, can we get someone who actually knows what's going on spill everything he knows the first chance he gets rather than four or five different meetings reciting cryptic messages about doom and the apocalypse, but not say a word about what's going to happen to signify that? That part with the priest here is a prime example) so it could use a trim.