Rating: R
Length: 111 minutes

Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 2.0
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 2.0

English, Spanish

A loving husband (Peck) is distraught to learn that the child his wife (Remick) was delivering was stillborn. In an effort to cheat death, and unbeknownst to his wife, he accepts another baby from the church as a replacement. He was told the child's mother died while giving birth at the same time his child died. Once the child turns five, people start suffering some rather bizarre deaths. Could the child really be the Antichrist like a seemingly crazed priest claims?

Everything about this movie works from the script, to the actors chosen to play the roles to the Academy Award winning score. Peck is believable as a caring father and a man of authority. Remick is the ideal loving wife. Whitelaw is the nanny from hell and where did they find this kid? I can't think of anything that could have been done to make this film better with what they had at the time other than making some of the deaths a bit more graphic; and is that really necessary? It will be interesting to see what was done with the remake.

Take the time to check out the extras especially the documentary "The Omen Legacy" narrated by Jack Palance. He will take you through all four movies in the series; excluding the 2006 remake (yes, there were four and all have been made available on DVD). As usual, do not watch any of the extras if you haven’t seen the film for they are full of spoilers.

The only people that will find something wrong with this movie will be those hunting for a lot of gore; this movie has almost none.

• Commentary by Director Richard Donner & Editor Stuart Baird
• Commentary by Diredtor Richard Donner & Screenwriter Brian Helgeland
• Introduction to Collector's Edtion DVD by Director Richard Donner
• "666: The Omen Revealed" Documentary
• "The Omen Legacy" Documentary
• "Curse or Coincindence" Featurette
• Jerry Goldsmith Discusses The Omen Score
• An Appreciation: Wes Craven on The Omen
• A Deleted Scene with Commentary
• Photo Gallery
• Songwriter's Notebook

This is still one of the best movies of this genre after all these years. Yes, suspense and violence can be had without hundreds of gallons of fake blood.

Richard Donner   [Ladyhawke, Lethal Weapon I/II/III/IV, Superman, Timeline]

Martin Benson - Father Spiletto

[Cleopatra (1963), Goldfinger]

Roy Boyd - Reporter

[The Wicker Man (1973)]

Freda Dowie - Nun

Tommy Duggan - Priest

Anthony Nicholls - Dr. Becker

Holly Palance - Young nanny

Gregory Peck - Robert Thorn

[Cape Fear (1962), The Guns of Navarone, To Kill a Mockingbird, MacArthur, Pork Chop Hill, Twelve O'Clock High]

Sheila Raynor - Mrs. Horton

[A Clockwork Orange]

Lee Remick - Katherine Thorn

Robert Rietty - Monk

Harvey Stephens - Damien

John Stride - The Psychiatrist

Patrick Troughton - Father Brennan

David Warner - Keith Jennings

[Cross of Iron, Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil, Planet of the Apes (2001), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Time Bandits, Titanic)]

Billie Whitelaw - Mrs. Baylock