The Omen (1976)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The Omen
Original title The omen
Country of production USA , UK
original language English
Publishing year 1976
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Richard Donner
script David Seltzer
production Harvey Bernhard
music Jerry Goldsmith
camera Gilbert Taylor
cut Stuart Baird
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
Damien - Omen II

The Omen is a feature film by US director Richard Donner from 1976. The horror film is based on an original script by David Seltzer and was produced by the 20th Century Fox film studio , among others .

action

At the 6th hour of the 6th day of the 6th month, Katherine Thorn, the wife of the US Ambassador to Rome, gives birth to a child who, however, dies immediately after birth. Her husband, Robert Thorn, is shaken but worried about his wife, who does not know that the child has died. Father Spiletto, who works in the hospital, recommends that he swap the dead baby for a boy born at the same time, but whose mother died giving birth and who has no other relatives. He hesitates at first, but then lets himself be persuaded so that his wife does not mourn the dead baby. He leaves her in ignorance of this, and Katherine is very happy with the newborn child she thinks is her own; it is given the first name Damien. The exchange of the dead son for the dead mother's son is already a negative omen, a bad omen .

Five years later, Robert Thorn becomes the US ambassador to Great Britain . Damien grows up like a normal boy and shows no noticeable abnormalities until then. But soon afterwards, mysterious incidents occur around young Damien. At his birthday party, for example, his nanny hangs herself in front of the guests by jumping from the roof of the villa with a rope around her neck. Damien is completely unimpressed and only waves to a Rottweiler who is nearby.

Thorn receives a visit from the clergyman Brennan. He tells him that he knows about the exchange of babies in the hospital. Brennan explains to Thorn that Damien is not a normal boy, but the son of Satan . The devil conceived the child with a jackal in order to usurp world domination. Brennan warns against the evil power that Damien exudes. Thorn doesn't believe him, however, and has the security service throw him out. Shaped by rational thinking, he first qualifies the clergy's warnings as phantasms.

A Mrs. Baylock is applying to be Damien's new nanny. Although she seems a bit strange to the Thorns, she is discontinued. The new nanny develops a close relationship with Damien and seems to understand him well. One day when the parents want to go to church with their son, Mrs. Baylock tries to talk them out of it. However, she does not succeed. While driving, Damien had a panic attack in the car when he saw the church, injuring his mother's face.

One day Robert Thorn sees a Rottweiler in his house, who growls angrily at him. The nanny claims that the dog ran up to them and that Damien likes him very much. Nevertheless, Thorn demands that she bring the dog to the shelter.

When visiting London Zoo, Katherine and Damien drive through the baboon enclosure. Suddenly the herd of baboons living there is apparently aggressive due to the presence of Damien and attacks the car. Deeply shocked, Katherine escapes with Damien. After this incident, Thorn met Father Brennan again in a park. He claims that Katherine is pregnant again and that Damien will see to it that the unborn child dies. Damien would also kill him and his wife if he didn't do anything about it. He therefore advises Thorn to seek out an exorcist named Bugenhagen, who is working on excavations in Megiddo in this connection, as it is possible that only he could help the parents and Damien. However, Robert still doesn't believe Brennan and thinks the priest is insane. Shortly after meeting Robert Thorn in the park, a storm approaches. Brennan wants to take shelter in a church nearby, but the gates are locked. The priest is impaled and killed by a falling lightning rod in front of the church during the thunderstorm.

Despite the bizarre incident, Thorn continues to refuse to believe Brennan's prophecies. But then it turns out that his wife is actually pregnant. Katherine suffers a mental breakdown and increasingly suspects that Damien is not her birth child. She also fears that she will not survive the second birth, whereupon the doctor recommends an abortion. However, Robert fears that this would fulfill the priest's prophecy and therefore firmly rejects the abortion.

A little later, Katherine is on a chair in her mansion to straighten a hanging plant. Meanwhile, the nanny opens the door to the nursery for Mrs. Baylock. Damien drives out in his pedal car and apparently deliberately collides with the chair his mother is standing on. Then she falls from a gallery in the house and comes to the hospital. In addition to the injuries, they diagnose that she miscarried as a result of the fall. Meanwhile the housekeeper, Mrs. Horton, has suddenly disappeared from the house. The nanny claims that she simply left without giving any explanation.

Then the photographer Keith Jennings contacted Robert Thorn. He had taken several pictures of the Thorn family and their surroundings out of professional interest. He shows Thorn a few photos that show unusual lighting effects. They seem to have predicted the nature of the death of the first nanny and the priest. Jennings also owns a photo in which a flash of light separates the head of his reflection from his own body. He accompanies Robert to Rome for further research.

There they both learn that the hospital burned down some time ago and that all archives and documents were destroyed in the process. You are now looking for Father Spiletto, who at the time advised swapping the babies, in his convent to find out more from him. However, he is paralyzed and semi-blind after a stroke. In addition, he can no longer speak and only scribbles the term "CERVET" on the floor - the name of an old Etruscan cemetery outside Rome.

Arriving at the cemetery, Thorn and Jennings open the graves of the then deceased mother of Damien and the child of the Thorns and, to their horror, discover a jackal and Robert's biological son, whose skull was apparently smashed in immediately after he was born. Suddenly several Rottweilers appear from all sides, from which the two can only barely escape.

Thorn then calls his wife in London and tells her to leave the hospital and the city immediately. As Katherine makes her escape preparations, Mrs. Baylock enters the hospital room with a devilish look and approaches her threateningly. The next moment, Katherine falls to her death out of the window.

The shaken Robert travels with Jennings to Megiddo and seeks the exorcist Bugenhagen. He says that one must examine the body of Damien - especially the scalp covered by the hair - for the sign of the Antichrist. In this way one can be certain that the boy is the son of Satan. He also gives Robert seven daggers with which he must execute Damien on the altar in a church if he discovers the sign. Only in this way can the Antichrist be defeated. After they left Bugenhagen again, Robert throws the daggers on the street. Again he has doubts and finds it absurd to kill a child. When Jennings bends down to pick up the daggers again, a parked truck starts rolling. The photographer is beheaded through a pane of glass that has slipped off the loading area - as predicted in his photo.

Thorn travels back to London with the daggers. Once there, he finds the Rottweiler in the house again, but he locks him up. While examining his sleeping son, Thorn finally discovers evidence in the form of a birthmark (the number 666 ) on the back of Damien's head. Now the nanny, Mrs. Baylock, wakes up and angrily pounces on Thorn. During the fight, Thorn stabs the nanny with a roasting fork in the neck, killing her.

He then pulls Damien into the car and drives him to a nearby church. Pursued by the police, Thorn dragged Damien to the altar to kill him with the consecrated daggers. At that moment, the police arrive and shoot Thorn after being asked to drop the daggers.

As a former ambassador, Robert Thorn receives a state funeral in the USA, which the President of the United States - an old friend of Thorn's - and his wife also attend. The film ends with a setting that Damien at the hand of the First Lady shows as he turns to the audience of the film and devilish smiles at the camera.

History of origin

The Omen is based on an original script by the American David Seltzer. The direction was entrusted to Richard Donner, who in the mid-1970s attracted attention mainly by directing television series such as The Streets of San Francisco (1972) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). The male lead was initially offered to Charlton Heston , Roy Scheider and William Holden , but they all turned down the role of Robert Thorn . Eventually Gregory Peck , who had previously played a role in Ted Kotcheff's western Burying the Wolves in the Gorge (1974), was hired. Theater and film actress Lee Remick was cast for the female lead . Harvey Stephens , five years old at the time of filming, was hired to play the part of the demonic son Damien . To make Stephens look even more sinister, the boy's blond hair was dyed black.

The shooting of the film lasted from October 12, 1975 to January 2, 1976 and took place almost exclusively in England , including in London in Bishop Park and Grosvenor Square. In Surrey the shooting took place a. a. at Guildford Cathedral , Brookwood Cemetery in Woking and Pyrford Court in Ripley, and Staines, Middlesex. Outside of England, Jerusalem and Rome were filming locations for The Omen . During post-production, Richard Donner and film producer Harvey Bernhard asked Alan Ladd Jr. , then President of the Twentieth Century Fox film studio, for more money to win the eight-time Oscar- nominated composer Jerry Goldsmith for the film music . Donner and Bernhard heard about Goldsmith at a live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1976 and were sure that he would be the right man for the production. In fact, Ladd let himself be persuaded to approve $ 25,000 to hire the composer Goldsmith.

reception

The omen began nationwide in the US on June 25, 1976. Before that, sneak preview performances had already been held in various US cities . The date of these screenings was June 6, 1976. (The date 6/6/76 was an allusion to the 666 symbol appearing in the film .) With screenings in 515 cinemas and revenues of 4.27 million, the film was able to reach production costs of as early as on the opening weekend Bring in 2.8 million again. Richard Donner's directorial work, which grossed $ 60 million in gross US dollars, received critical acclaim, and the film is now one of the classics of the horror genre. Richard Donner attributed the film's success not least to the score by Jerry Goldsmith - especially to the intro Ave Satani .

Sequels

The great success of the film led to a number of sequels. In 1978 Don Taylor directed Damien - Omen II , in which 15-year-old Jonathan Scott-Taylor took on the recurring role of Damien, based on a script by Harvey Bernhard, alongside William Holden and Lee Grant . In 1981, in Barbara's Baby - Omen III , Sam Neill appeared as an adult antichrist. Both sequels were financially successful, but could not repeat the worldwide success of the first part. In 1991, Jorge Montesis and Dominique Othenin-Girard followed the television film Omen IV: The Awakening , in which nine-year-old Asia Vieira took on the role of daughter Damiens. A remake under the same title The Omen was released on June 6, 2006. Under John Moore's direction played Liev Schreiber , Julia Stiles , Mia Farrow and David Thewlis , and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as the young Damien. Again the script was written by David Seltzer.

In 2016, a series called Damien started which continued the original film. Damien is an adult here and is played by Bradley James .

Reviews

“This effective horror classic by Richard Donner is not only superbly cast, but also a shocking horror film with high moments of tension. [...] Composer Jerry Goldsmith was awarded an Oscar for the music. "

“Parallels in terms of content to the“ exorcist ”seem entirely deliberate and annoyingly continue into detailed picture quotations. The four million dollar speculation with the irrational, brought onto the market with twice as high an advertising budget, is technically careful, but unoriginal and sterile. Instead of a creepy shudder, 'Das Omen' conveys well-tended boredom. "

- The time , 1976

"As long as films like 'The Omen' only scare us, they are fun in a meaningful way."

"Subtle genre pearl with a horror guarantee."

"A materially simple-minded horror film, staged with a great sense of scenic tension and shock technique."

Remarks

  • For a scene in the film in which a fishbowl fell on the floor, dead sardines that had been painted orange were used instead of live goldfish. Director Richard Donner spoke out against killing animals for filming.
  • As an advertising campaign for the film, posters were printed to alert moviegoers after watching the film that the film was sneak previewed in several US cinemas on the sixth day of the sixth month in 1976 . In fact, the posters referring to the 666 symbol used in the film , the mark of the devil, shocked a moviegoer so much that he suffered a nervous breakdown .
  • After the film was shown in the US, the popularity of the Rottweiler dog breed declined because Damien had a Rottweiler as a pet in the film.
  • Originally, English director Mike Hodges had been offered directing , but he turned it down. When he was directing the sequel Damien - Omen II , he was fired after three weeks due to creative differences.
  • The meaning of the name Damien is derived from the ancient Greek damian , which means something like " tame " or "conquer". The name was widely spread through Saint Damianus , a doctor and martyr .
  • Despite the great financial success of The Omen , the young actor Harvey Stephens was unable to establish himself as a serious actor. After a role in Fielder Cook's TV film Gauguin the Savage (1980), in which Stephens can be seen in a supporting role as young Emil , the actor now works in the construction industry.
  • Gregory Peck received only a small fee for participating in this film ( US $ 250,000 ), but received ten percent of the box office earnings of US $ 60 million (in the US alone). “The Omen” thus became his most lucrative film.
  • Many names in the film correspond to actual people and places, such as the Megiddo mountain in northern Israel , the Etruscan cemetery of Cerveteri 40 kilometers west of Rome and the reformer Johannes Bugenhagen .

Awards

Richard Donner's horror film was nominated in two categories at the 1977 Academy Awards. While the Academy Award for the best film song passed Jerry Goldsmith's Ave Satani , the American film composer received the award for the best film music after eight unsuccessful nominations. Goldsmith was nominated for a Grammy that same year for his work on The Omen . The English actress Billie Whitelaw was nominated for the role of Mrs. Baylock for the British BAFTA Award and honored with the Evening Standard British Film Award . 5-year-old Harvey Stephens received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Young Actor for the part of Damien . Has also won awards Gilbert Taylor's camera work.

Oscar 1977

  • Best film score
  • nominated in the Best Movie Song category

BAFTA Award 1977

  • nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Billie Whitelaw)

Golden Globe 1977

  • nominated in the category Best Male Acting Debut in a Film

Further

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films 1977

  • nominated as best horror film

British Society of Cinematographers 1976

  • Best camera

Edgar Allan Poe Awards 1977

  • nominated as best film

Evening Standard British Film Awards 1978

  • Best Actress (Billie Whitelaw)

Grammy 1977

  • nominated in the category Best Film Music

Writers Guild of America 1977

  • nominated in the category best film script (drama)

literature

  • William P. Blatty, David Seltzer, Ira Levin: Omen . Area, Erftstadt 2003, ISBN 3-89996-021-1 .
  • David Seltzer: The Omen . Signet, New York 1976 (New American Library). (English edition)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for The Omen . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2001 (PDF; test number: 5C 485 C).
  2. IMDb - filming locations
  3. IMDb - start dates
  4. Box Office Mojo - The Omen (1976)
  5. The omen on prisma.de
  6. Film tips . In: Die Zeit , No. 42/1976
  7. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  8. The omen on cinema.de
  9. The omen. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

Web links