The Omen, (1976)/(2006), Directed by Richard Donner/John Moore
Both Films - Grade: A
There's always been a classy filmmaking aspect about The Omen that has made it one of my favorite horror films. Perhaps it's the plotline about the existence of evil and how much power it has over the world if it is not fought against, or the presentation of Satan incarnate as a young child.
Whatever it is, the presentation given on film of The Omen makes for great horror cinema. The set design, the cinematography, the eerie Oscar-winning music by Jerry Goldsmith, and all the performances contribute. And strangely enough, as hard as it is for the blogger to admit, the 2006 remake of The Omen is just as well done as the original.
Robert Thorn and Katherine Thorn are the proud parents of a young baby boy. The problem is, this boy is the son of Satan and has plans to take over the human race and unleash a never-ending reign of terror across the world. With Robert Thorn as a U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, this adds an element of spookiness among the political world and the elements that surround it.
Both films use to an extent identical approaches. Scenes are basically the same and the plot is the same. However, while the original was a masterpiece, the 2006 version also establishes itself as the same, but without ruining any of the power the original had.
As I've said, I hate it when remakes are just remakes for the sake of making a quick buck and trying to be "hip", and with the box-office failure of the 2006 Omen, I guess this is one instance where I'm glad it failed. With a remake, all producers want to do is "make it cool" for the young crowd and draw in all the audiences they can. While this is all well and good I guess for Hollywood, it diminishes from the quality, and usually we end up getting something that will easily be discarded as nothing. (Psycho remake anyone?)
With The Omen, something different happened. The remake was a flop, nobody saw it, and many critics continually bashed it. And basically, if this had been the first time the film had been released and it wasn't remake, it probably would have been hailed as a great horror flick with tons of originality.
To be sure, that's the way I felt about the remake. It's a great film. Every little detail is handled carefully. There are even some parts that are added that do not deter or ruin anything about the film, such as the still from the following scene:
Perhaps the case being that the camera does not linger on this image for very long, and it could very well be subliminal. That's what makes the scene work. It creeps into your mind and stays with you, all the while in front of you the movie continues to unfold on the screen. It's little touches like this that make the remake just as memorable as the original.
While many may feel that screen legend Gregory Peck could not be replaced as Robert Thorn, Liev Schreiber does a commendable job and even evokes (in an eerie way), the persona of Peck. Julia Stiles was criticized by many viewers as being too young for the part of Katherine. I disagree. While it would have been interesting to see what an actress such as say, Naomi Watts could have done with the role (and I wouldn't complain about that, and neither would Schreiber), Stiles' performance works very well, and exhibits all the inhibitions of a mother and a terrified woman on the brink of madness.
Then of course, there is Damien himself, played by two very different child actors (Harvey Stephens and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), but both performances are of equal, where both actors play Damien with a subtle wit and an unusual sense of silent malice.
The Omen films are classics. I even liked the two sequels to the original. And whereas I don't think we'll be getting a sequel to the remake any time soon, it's refreshing to know that there are some parts of the industry that want to retain filmmaking as a true art form and not just an excuse for a quick cash grab. More recently, another remake that was every bit as good as the original was Let Me In, which you can read my review for here.
In the meantime, sit back and enjoy one of the greatest horror films ever made. It's something scary that will give any episode of Toddlers And Tiaras a run for its money.
1976 Trailer:
2006 Teaser Trailer (which is actually Davey-Fitzpatrick's screen test):
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