With the release of The First Omen in cinemas, it is worth returning to the true origin of a great horror franchise, one that was successful in the 1970s and which also has one of the most striking soundtracks in cinema, signed by Jerry Goldsmith.

The Omen, grossed more than 60 million dollars in the United States, starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, and Harvey Stephens where we follow the conspiracy surrounding the Thorn family, who believe that their 5-year-old son could be the Antichrist.

After the enormous success of The Exorcist, Hollywood understood that the public appreciated what came to be known as “psychological horror” and bet on an original story that would forever mark the genre, with ideas copied in several other films since then.

The creation of prophecy

Although many people may have memorized what is said in the 1976 film, the end of times predicted in the Book of Revelation does not have exactly the prophecy mentioned in the film, it was created by screenwriter David Seltzer and is not in the Bible.

The idea of having a film about the Anti-Christ had already been on the agenda of producer Harvey Bernhard since 1973 when he discussed with a friend the possibility that the Antichrist could already be walking the Earth in the form of a child, unknown to the vast majority. of humanity. With the fever for The Exorcist and even before that, the success of Rosemary’s Baby, it was easier to gain interest from the studios and they soon hired Seltzer to develop the script and it took a year.

When 20th Century Fox bought the project, director Richard Donner was hired and soon artistic differences began. Donner wanted something less definitive, leaving a space of doubt for the audience as to whether Damien really was the Antichrist and whether the series of violent deaths that surrounded him from an early age was just a series of unfortunate accidents. The screenwriter was determined to get straight to the fact that Damien Thorn was who he was and it was all part of Satan’s evil power.

Talking about spoilers 48 years later is not possible, right? So, the film leaves no doubt about who Damien is, what we are left wondering is precisely where he comes from and who his mother was, something that is FINALLY being addressed in the 2024 film.

The plot of the original

In the film The Omen, we follow the lives of diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick), who are in Rome awaiting the birth of their son. To Robert’s shock, he is informed that the baby is stillborn. Desperate, he is approached by a priest and a nun who suggest that he lie to Katherine and exchange the child for an orphan whose mother died in childbirth and was born on the same day, time, and hospital. He accepts and we then follow his professional rise, being appointed as United States ambassador in London, just a shortcut to one day becoming President.

From then on, the couple’s life took a sinister turn. For five years they are happy with Damien, but some strange things begin to happen, with Katherine becoming more and more suspicious about her own son. At the same time, Robert is sought out by a priest, Brennan (Patrick Troughton), who warns him that Damien is actually the son of Satan and that he will never let Katherine and Robert have heirs, as their lives are at risk.

Even trying to ignore the warning, Robert begins to put the pieces together and the help of photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner) is essential for him to finally be convinced, however, too late. Obviously, there are details, but I leave it for you to enjoy when you see the original.

A cast of stars

Getting strong names to lead the cast proved to be a problem because even with the potential to be a commercial success, the most prestigious actors preferred to avoid participating. The first guest was Charlton Heston, the biggest star of the decade, but he thought the risk of tackiness was too high for him.

Then, the producers went after William Holden, who found the demonic theme something he didn’t even want to go near (as we know, he regretted it and joined the sequel), so when they reached Gregory Peck he was also afraid to commit, but liked the psychological thriller aspect that was bigger than a horror film. There were considerations to bring in Oliver Reed, then Roy Scheider, Dick Van Dyke, and Charles Bronson, until Peck signed, giving up his million-dollar salary and taking 10% of the box office total.

The most complex thing was finding an actor who could play Damien and more than 500 boys auditioned until they arrived at Harvey Spencer Stephens, who was just four years old at the time. Legend has it that when encouraged to do an aggressive scene, Harvey scratched director Richard Donner’s face and kicked him in the groin, revealing himself to be a perfect “devil”.

The tradition of strange things in the backstage

Every self-respecting horror film has stories of strange things behind the scenes. It’s no different with The Omen.

Shot on location in Rome, Jerusalem, and London (Bishop’s Park, in Fulham, Guildford Cathedral, in Surrey, Pyrford Court mansion, also in Surrey) they say that the baboon attack was orchestrated with real animals, without interpretation by Lee Remick, terrified in the car.

Another scare was when several team members were in a car that suffered a head-on collision on the first day of filming. On different occasions, the planes where Gregory Peck, Mace Neufeld, and David Seltzer were traveling were struck by lightning. A flight originally chartered for the production team – and used for other passengers – crashed and killed everyone on board. And the most traumatic of all, because it recalls the death scene of the photographer in The Omen, special effects designer John Richardson was in a car accident and his assistant, Liz Moore, who was in the passenger seat, was cut in half. It was Friday the 13th and the accident was close to a sign that said they were 66.6 kilometers from the city of Ommen. Terrifying.

The sequels and the prequel

The franchise gained its sequels: The Omen II, with Damien being adopted by Robert’s brother, Richard Thorn (William Holden), and The Final Conflict, in 1981, with Sam Neil playing an adult Damien Thorn. In 1991 they tried to revive the franchise with The Awakening and, in 2006, they remade the original with Julia Stiles and Liev Schreiber. Finally, in 2024, they released the prequel in theaters, The First Omen.

Regarding the new attempt, no spoilers here, there was a space that was really surprising that hadn’t been explored yet. After all, what happened to Robert and Katherine’s son? Yes, he died, but the skeleton was that of a child at least a few years old, not a newborn. Furthermore, who was Damien’s mother? How was the Church involved with the plan? In The Omen, Robert discovers that a fire destroyed the hospital where the baby was born, and this included Kathy’s maternity records as well as all the staff on duty who were also there. Father Spiletto, who made the exchange of the children, is living in a badly burned monastery, mute, blind in one eye, and partially paralyzed. Still, it indicates the cemetery where Damien’s biological mother is buried, where the only thing found is the carcass of a jackal and the skeleton of a child with a broken skull. It’s a very strong scene and one that now leads to the beginning of the franchise that is being highly praised. We’ll talk more!

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