Omen (2-Disc Collector's Edition) (1976)

Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
Once was that Catholic priests in the movies were played by Bing Crosby and Spencer Tracey and went about dispensing folksy wisdom, halftime pep talks and pats on the back. Times have so changed, alas, that these days movie priests are almost inevitably engaged in titanic confrontations with the forces of darkness. Jason Miller and Max von Sydow were killed in their efforts to drive the evil spirit from poor Linda Blair in "The Exorcist," and now here's another priest, in "The Omen; " wickedly substituting the spawn of Satan for the newborn son of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick..."The Omen" takes all of this terribly seriously, as befits the genre that gave us "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist." What Jesus was to the 1950s movie epic, the devil is to the 1970s, and so all of this material is approached with the greatest solemnity, not only in the performances but also in the photography, the music and the very looks on people's faces...As long as movies like "The Omen" are merely scaring us, they're fun in a portentous sort of way. But when they get thoughtful . . . well, how about the movie's interpretation of the Biblical prophecy that the son of Satan will return when the Jews return to Zion, a comet is seen in the sky, and the Roman Empire rises again. Right enough with the first two, the characters agree. But -- the Roman Empire? - Roger Ebert
 
FilmCritic.com 6 of 10
The Omen is not as serious a movie as it appears. Coming to the modern audience as the infant in a Holy trinity of satanic, apocalyptic horror films, including The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby, The Omen arrives leaden with reputation and expectation. Its story is renowned, its sequences remembered, and its delicious score is an iconic pop-cultural phenomenon. On the surface of things, Richard Donner's film matches its Trinitarian peers shock for shock. However, as little Damian proves, not everything is as it seems. Though garbed in the accoutrements of its satanic predecessors, it is at its core a story of gross implausibility and squandered potential, a schlocky piece of fluff shot and cut with unwarranted earnestness. When poked and prodded, when the hair is cut away, the film is essentially a pretty good bad movie...Donner directs all of this action with a master's handle. Every moment of terror, every death, hits hard with suddenness and a certain ingenuity. The nanny suicide is a particularly well orchestrated ballet of close-ups, crazed eyes, and well, leaping nannies. Donner attacks the ears with barking animals and a ludicrous yet effective score courtesy of Jerry Goldsmith. Cloying Hallmarkish pianos follow the family around their English manor before harps, trumpets, and Latinized choirs join in to herald the film's sporadic explosions of violence. - Joel Meares