The Omen Series...my critique.
I was 14 years old in my first year of high school. Right by Yankee Stadium on 161st street there was this stationary store where now stands a diner. A novel caught my attention one late August day…The Omen by David Seltzer. I bought the book and read it. I couldn’t put it down. By the end of my ninth grade year I had read the book about five times.
Mind you I had not seen the movie yet. I was only beginning to get into horror films at this point and I had a lot of catching up to do. When I finally did catch it a year later on television, I must say I wasn’t very impressed initially. Part of it is that they cut out a lot of the graphic death scenes due to its nature. I didn’t get the full effect. The other part of it is the whole “The book is better” thing. And it’s true. Reading opens your mind to create the movie in your head. My advice, watch the movie AFTER you read the book. It makes no sense to do it vice versa.
I actually believe that reading this book and the other books, Damien, Omen II, The Final Conflict, Armageddon 2000, and The Abomination were in a very real way the beginning of my faith walk. I actually think God kind of used my interest in horror to lead me to Him. I became very interested in end time prophecy and biblical writing pertaining to eschatology…the study of the end times. It was one of the motivating factors to embracing my faith when I turned 16 and I have not turned my back on that since. God is quite funny, isn’t He?
In any case, the other truth is that fear of the Devil has been a fear as old as the human species itself. Some would say it’s a creation of our own inner fears and insecurities about the evils of this world so we slapped a name on it and gave it horns. Others say that the Devil is real…which is why it’s an ancient fear…it’s been with us from the beginning…and we are just projecting what we know about the subject on both book and film. I believe the latter. It’s tied into what I stated earlier about our instinctual craving for understanding the unknown and being afraid of it.
As I learned more about the concept of the Antichrist I realized more how much Hollywood and David Seltzer had changed the original idea. It was creative, effective, and downright scary. Some Christians would complain and protest such a film…I on the other hand embrace it. I take it as it is…a horror film.
I eventually saw all three films and absolutely loved how The Final Conflict ended. Damien Thorn, the dreaded Antichrist, having been stabbed by one of the sacred daggers of Megiddo, looks up to see Jesus Christ looking right back at him before he finally kicks the bucket! The novels continued the story funny enough following the formula of the daggers from the late great Bugenhagen. All SEVEN daggers had to be implanted into the Antichrist to completely kill him, body and soul. The first one only kills the body. This brought about two more novels…Armageddon 2000 and The Abomination…two books which, if were made into film would have rocked the box office in my opinion. What does FOX do instead? They make OMEN IV the Awakening. If anyone sees this film being a diehard fan of the original trilogy like myself they would have walked away with “What the #$$^%&$ was that $^&$^? Somebody clearly did not even see the first three in making this one. It was complete and utter garbage.
Had to get that off my chest…
The Omen series is by far one if not the most awesome Satanic tales told right up there next to The Exorcist. The late sixties and early seventies saw a great influx of satanic horror stories released. This may have been due to the counter culture of the time or the opening of Anton LaVey’s legal Church of Satan in San Francisco in the mid sixties. All of a sudden the concept of the Devil was fascinating in the public eye. Even Rock Bands jumped on the bandwagon with groups like Slayer and Grim Reaper. In any case Hollywood was smart to take advantage of the zeitgeist and produce some amazing films like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Omen. The tradition still continues to this day. The remake of The Omen back in 2006 was like a breath of fresh air to me, and I don’t say that often in regards to remakes. This film stayed true to the original and even made some references from the David Seltzer novel which were not mentioned in the 1976 classic. I know because that novel is still up here between my ears. I remember the details. I remember the superb writing and its ability to keep my eyes on the pages. The remake was great in keeping my butt on the movie seat.
Whether there is an actual Devil or not is a topic for another time and another place. Needless to say The Omen films will go down as one of the most creative and most scariest of the horror films ever made.
Except for Omen IV the Awakening….eeesh…. Doesn’t even deserve a coffee cup.
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