{"id":390824,"date":"2026-04-21T18:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/390824\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:26:07","slug":"the-omen-remains-a-searing-reminder-that-no-good-deed-goes-unpunished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/390824\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Omen\u2019 Remains a Searing Reminder That No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Omen celebrates 50 years in June, and it still feels oddly relevant. Maybe it\u2019s the current apocalyptic<\/a> political climate that\u2019s been keeping the idea of the Antichrist in the spotlight<\/a>. Maybe it\u2019s just that the movie feels so timeless, rooting its tale of helplessness and macabre, globe-trotting detective work in a mood too doom-filled to ever go out of style.<\/p>\n

We all know who Damien is. He\u2019s one of the spookiest horror movie kids<\/a>. He\u2019s the son of Satan<\/a>, summoned to usher in the end times. But the original Omen movie chronicles just the first five years of his life. This kid doesn\u2019t get going on his diabolical journey without a lot of help from some carefully selected grown-ups.<\/p>\n

The recent prequel The First Omen<\/a> offered up some intriguing context for the forces who help Damien find his way. But the 1976 film, directed by future Superman, Goonies, and Lethal Weapon helmer Richard Donner, sticks with a relatively simple baby-swap conspiracy. All it requires is a family so desperate for a child they\u2019ll shrug off anything odd about its provenance\u2014at least initially.<\/p>\n

It really comes down to just one vulnerable guy. That Gregory Peck, who just over a decade earlier had won an Oscar for embodying the integrity-laden Atticus Finch, plays Robert Thorn is one of The Omen\u2019s great successes. (Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s eerie Oscar-winning score is another, along with his Oscar-nominated song \u201cAve Satani,\u201d a literal cult classic.)<\/p>\n

\"Theomenpeck\"\u00a9 20th Century Fox <\/p>\n

You immediately trust this character, especially as The Omen\u2014which doles out instant numerology by opening on June 6 at 6:00 a.m.\u2014introduces you to him at a moment of extreme crisis. His newborn son is dead, and his younger wife, Kathy (Lee Remick), hasn\u2019t yet been told. \u201cShe wanted her own,\u201d he says when adoption is suggested, but his thinking quickly shifts when a nun appears holding an orphaned infant. Behold this miraculous replacement! How convenient!<\/p>\n

In the moment, Thorn agrees, encouraged by the notion that Kathy \u201cneed never know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Omen then proceeds with its demonstration of why keeping big secrets from your partner is generally a terrible idea. The family moves into a sprawling mansion when Thorn becomes the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, but all matters of diplomacy soon take a back seat. At Damien\u2019s fifth birthday party, his nanny cheerfully takes her life in full view of everyone.<\/p>\n

Very soon after, a new governess named Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw) steamrolls her way in as a replacement, with a snarling Rottweiler in tow that she passes off as a stray\u2014though we, of course, know the dog is a backup bodyguard for the little prince of darkness.<\/p>\n

Then a wild-eyed priest, Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton), barges into Thorn\u2019s office, conveying a crucial message in the most unfortunately unhinged way imaginable. Thorn writes him off as a crackpot. But it\u2019s harder to dismiss even-tempered photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner), who suspects irregularities in his images mean that Satan might be dropping hints about who\u2019s next on his kill list.<\/p>\n

But of all the awful things that happen, none are more heartbreaking than when Kathy is the target. While the infamous safari park scene, in which a herd of screeching baboons attacks Kathy\u2019s car\u2014attracted by Damien\u2019s malevolence, no doubt\u2014is a standout set piece, the aftermath, in which Kathy tells Robert that she needs psychiatric help for the doubts and fears she\u2019s starting to feel, is truly emotionally wrenching. If Robert\u2019s not going to tell her the truth about their son right then, when will he?<\/p>\n

The answer is, uh, never, as Robert huddles in his turtle shell of denial until the very last possible moment. He doesn\u2019t confess when Kathy confirms what Father Brennan somehow knew\u2014that she\u2019s pregnant with a child she doesn\u2019t want\u2014and won\u2019t support her when she says she wants an abortion.<\/p>\n

In maybe The Omen\u2019s most horrifying scene not involving devil spawn, Kathy\u2019s doctor fills her husband in on what she\u2019s been telling him about her belief that Damien is \u201cevil\u201d\u2014a casual confidentiality breach\u2014and Thorn still insists he won\u2019t allow her to take charge of her own body and make the decision not to have the baby.<\/p>\n

\"Theomendamien\"\u00a9 20th Century Fox <\/p>\n

It\u2019s another shitty call by Thorn, but it\u2019s all for nothing, because at that very moment Damien, who certainly doesn\u2019t want a sibling, is nudging Kathy into falling over a high railing. She\u2019s badly injured, including suffering a miscarriage, and is tucked away in the hospital for the rest of the movie\u2026 until Mrs. Baylock shows up to shove her through a window. It\u2019s a cruel death, made worse by the fact that Robert never came clean to his wife. In their last phone chat, all he told her was that she needed to leave London ASAP. Too little, too late.<\/p>\n

Would Robert have shared everything with Kathy if the circumstances were different? It\u2019s because of Peck\u2019s charisma that we keep rooting for him as he pinballs around Italy and the Middle East, searching for clues about Damien\u2019s birth mother with Keith, who does get to hear Robert admit that \u201cI don\u2019t know who\u2019s son I\u2019m raising.\u201d Satan\u2019s army could\u2019ve picked any man to raise Damien; clearly, their choice was the right one.<\/p>\n

In the end, every adult who knows the Antichrist is walking among us and might want to intervene is killed in some gruesome way. But Damien\u2014played by wee Harvey Spencer Stephens, whose naturalistic performance suggests Donner wisely guided him with minimal direction\u2014has a supernatural safety net. The secret that Robert kept all too well dies with him, and nobody, including Damien\u2019s new parents, the president and first lady of the United States, is any the wiser.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Omen celebrates 50 years in June, and it still feels oddly relevant. Maybe it\u2019s the current apocalyptic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,409,111,139,69,202172],"class_list":{"0":"post-390824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-the-omen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}