The Omen (1976) Dir: Richard Donner
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This Richard Donner directed psychological horror is a classic piece of 70's cinema. It's known for its macabre, gothic aesthetics and unsettling, disturbing themes, which permeate the screen and leave audiences uncomfortable and frightened. I was very keen to see if the film held up to my modern eyes.
The film built suspense remarkably well, with its tension growing scene by scene at an insidious rate. The use of sound, or lack there of, was a huge factor in creating eerie scenes. All this suspense was only exacerbated by an excellently sinister soundtrack, which accompanied the narrative pretty much perfectly.
The prominent religious themes work extremely well throughout, and the film plays on some classic Christian tropes and stories in order to build what is ultimately a fairly strong narrative with plenty of creepy moments and developments. The pacing was consistent too, and I found myself invested the whole way through.
I enjoyed some of the cinematography involved, particularly a number of the exterior shots, in which the use of space was pretty effective. I also really enjoyed the shocking and very explicitly violent deaths involved. They were so out of nowhere that I actually laughed a few times, which I guess is both good and bad.
Gregory Peck's performance was a high point for me. He was by far the strongest member of the cast, and provided the film with an excellent protagonist, who was able to effectively build tension. I also think his acting in the last twenty minutes was actually really good, and helped the film's climactic scene hit even harder.
Lee Remick had a progressively stronger performance, which admittedly started off somewhat mediocre, but improved greatly by the end. I think she had the shrill fear part of her performance on point, but her more composed scenes were where she fell down slightly.
The supporting cast had some decent performances, most notably from David Warner, who I really enjoyed for the most part. Credit too belongs to the child actor Harvey Stephens for his very creepy portrayal, as well as Billie Whitelaw for a relatively small, but well played supporting role.
Overall, I think this was a really solid psychological horror that, while not scary by today's standards, was definitely unsettling. The dark mood created by the story is good, but the film's biggest strength comes from its exemplary and menacing score.
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