When I was a kid, there were a number of films that could genuinely scare me: “The Haunting” (the original Robert Wise version), “The Innocents”, “The Uninvited.” These were all films that dealt in the shadows; that tantalized and scared us with what might be hidden in that half open closet in the bedroom versus what actually was. The filmmakers who made these groundbreaking thrillers were hip to one key rule of horror and that is that our imagination is often times more frightening than the man in the rubber monster suit who jumps out and shouts “boo!” The “Omen” qualifies with the above films as being genuinely frightening, if not disturbing, albeit for a slightly different, perhaps even cleverer way.
The brilliance of Richard Donner’s 1976 classic horror film, “The Omen” is that it revels in ambiguity. The plot, pulled right out from the old pulp novels and Lovecraft stories from the 1930s in a brilliant manner by author David Seltzer, is simple enough at first blush: A U.S. Diplomatic Ambassador and his wife are expecting their first child. During the delivery, the mother sinks into unconsciousness and the doctor informs the distraught husband that the child has not survived. The surgeon offers Ambassador Robert Thorn a solution that might spare his fragile wife any mental anguish: He proposes a switch out from the deceased child to one who has been born alive and healthy that same night to a mother who apparently did not survive the birth. It’s best not to think too hard on the reality of such a thing actually happening; film is, after all, the suspension of disbelief. Thorn — expertly essayed by veteran movie star Gregory Peck — reluctantly goes along with the ruse, convincing himself that this is the best solution to a tragedy. In time, and in typical Hollywood montage fashion, the husband and unwitting wife form a solid and loving family with the young boy whom they name Damien. All appears to be well until odd things begin to happen, one happening right on top of another: Damien’s nanny commits suicide at the boy’s birthday party, a local outing at the local zoo with the young boy turns into a terror as the animals all react with open fear and hostility seemingly directed at the Ambassador’s only child, a visit to a church sends young Damien into a frenzy. Coinciding with all of this is a visit to Robert Thorn from a catholic priest who hints that there is a dark origin indeed behind Damien, that he might in fact be the son of old Beelzebub himself (also known as Lucifer, the Devil or Satan). Shortly after the warning, the priest is mysteriously killed in a freak accident. And on and on the coincidences pile up, ad infinitum.
Richard Donner has stated on more than one occasion that he always had intended “The Omen” to read as the veritable definition of ambiguity, almost as a Rorschach Test. If you are a viewer who might be predisposed to believe in God and the Devil and any number of supernatural things that go bump in the night, then you’ll probably view it as a foregone conclusion that Damien Thorn is indeed the Anti-Christ. Or if you see the world in a “practical” way and believe in the possibility of multitudes of coincidences stacked randomly on top of one another with no deep, ulterior motive, then it’s possible to watch Donner’s film as story of a husband and father who is slowly losing his mind with nothing supernatural or otherworldly about it. This is why, I think, the film has stood the test of time for the last forty years, disregarding four sequels and a remake: It’s a scary film no matter which road you decide to go down, plot-wise.
And speaking of disregarding: The creative folks behind A&E’s television spin-off, “Damien” have wisely decided to ignore all of the subsequent sequels that followed Donner’s quiet and understated masterpiece. Instead, they’ve decided to make this new show a direct follow-up to the ’76 movie. That’s smart, perhaps the smartest decision made in relation to the new weekly show. Sadly, it also chose to throw out the very ambiguity that made the original film such a gem.
As the show opens, we’re confronted with a Damien who is now thirty years old and has no real memory of his childhood, let alone his supposed heirship to the throne of ol’ Satan. Then things start coming back to him in quick bursts, usually accompanied by edited together scenes from Donner’s film. By the end of the first episode, two people who have come into contact with Damien have met untimely ends and young Master Thorn finally seems to accept his role as foretold in the Book of Revelations.
See that short paragraph above the line you’re now reading, dear and constant reader? That I could summarize the whole plot in just a few simple lines is disheartening, at least to this fan of creepy and unsettling television and film. Simply put, there is no suspenseful buildup, no taking the time to unwind the mystery of just who — or what — Damien Thorn is. It’s all grunts and moans with no discernible foreplay, just right down to business and please don’t mind the absence of whispered sweet nothings in your ear. Ambiguity, in this series, does not exist. Which is a shame, because there could have been some incredibly compelling character moments as everyone questions anything and everything they hold dear and true. Instead, everything is spelled out for us in very rudimentary ways (our titular character reaches out to touch a large crucifix and it promptly crumbles to pieces. Hmmmm. Nope, no Rorschach Test needed in this instance).
Not helping matters is a cast that seems directly culled from either a Clearasil commercial or an ad for the GAP. Everyone looks too clean and too well put together, too well coifed to be believable. There’s no snap to their dialogue and worse no conviction in the deliverance. Everyone looks bored, as if they’re just killing time waiting for a better acting gig to come down the pike. “The Omen” offered us actors we could believe in: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw. Here we’re just presented with caricatures and cardboard cutouts.
My recommendation if you want to watch something with real suspense and horror? Skip “Damien” and just go out and pick up a copy of Richard Donner’s “The Omen.” You’ll be glad that you did.
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