Love the original Omen. Donner's control over the widescreen frame is impeccable. I absolutely LOVE that graveyard impalement scene. The beheading is like something out of a Fulci film. Never connected it to Final Destination but it totally makes sense. As always your obvious enthusiasm and love for horror is a joy and makes these videos loads of fun to watch. Another banger from mr. Fish!
Thank you! And yeah I probably should've spent more time in the video discussing Donner's work here. Very creative and fluid with great framing... I guess it is easy to take such things for granted, until you compare it directly against the direction in the remake which is just so relatively 'flat', uninspired. The Fulci likening is spot on actually, and is right from his era too. I wonder if there was some genuine inspiration from either side.
Funny you mention Fulci. I think there is a LOT of Italian Giallo influences on The Omen, The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby. If Star Wars was the high point of B-Movie sci-fi, these three films represent the high point of New Wave/Giallo horror which began in the late 60s.
Also “peak Peck” is Thorn’s reaction to the phone call telling him of his wife’s death. The shock, the slow realization, the grief, the tears welling up-an amazing few seconds of acting. Gregory Peck was one of the Greats.
The Omen is one of those films where you forget how good it is till you see it again. Honestly i think its become underrated at this point... like people KNOW the name, but its not discussed much further than that even though countless films have copied it. Still one of the all time greats the genre has to offer! *Its all for you!*
I have noticed this recently as well, since people have been discussing it more readily with the release of The First Omen. I was genuinely surprised to see so many negative comments, mainly relating to that oh so common phrase 'does not hold up'. Not sure if it is a generational thing, as reading critic reviews from the 70s were also quite harsh a lot of the time too. Meh, I still love it, David Warner's flying head is etched into my brain since teenage years and surely will be to the day I die (hopefully not via the same method!)
Growing up in the late '70s, my cousin and I (both altar boys) were obsessed with The Exorcist, The Omen movies, and Rosemary's Baby. We watched The 700 Club (televangelist show always talking about the Apocalypse and Book of Revelations) every week day afternoon in the summer. We went through a phase where we wanted to become demon-fighting priests specializing in exorcists!! LOL Then we discovered porn and moved on.
The 1976 Omen is a great horror movie, especially because it is a completely different beast to The Exorcist, that came out a couple of years before this. Now The Exorcist is to this day a very "modern" horror movie. From the music, to the almost documentary cinematography to the performances. The Omen is much more in the tradition of classic Hollywood, of Hitchcock and Lean. Yet since the scope is much more epic (while the possession of Regan is much more intimate) it really works, just as the casting of Gregory Peck really works, although he is is slightly too old for the character. And yes, Goldsmith's music is absolute boss. It even gives me chills just when the DVD menu is running.
That's a great point there about The Omen feeling more traditional; I hadn't really delved into that thought but I think you're right, and having Peck in the lead absolutely lends itself to that as well. It's like the classics you mention with the thematics and (intermittent) shock value of its 70s contempories woven into it.
"Original vs. Remake: Psycho" when? Yeah, cause if there was something severely lacking in the Hitchcock version, it was Vince Vaughn whacking off to Marion.
Putting the Bates in Norman Bates! I suppose that video is inevitable, but I worry; what is there to say about the original that hasn't already been said. haha
Good comparison. I saw a sneak preview of the uncut version of Donner's "The Omen" in my hometown before release. The Nanny's death was much worse and, even though the remake put it back in, to see Donner's version with Jerry Goldsmith's unused music will shrivel your fortitude.
@@HauntedBlowfish Richard Donner was the first celebrity interview I had at my film school Sherwood Oaks Experimental College. He had just been fired from "Superman 2". We had a great session and when I brought up the sneak preview, he lit up... especially after I reminded him that "Halloween" benefitted from Michael not staying dead. I did a fan edit because I am such a Jerry Goldsmith fanatic I had to recreate it just to see how the rejected music played.
@@SirSmoldham Fantastic! If I wasn't jealous enough of the uncut screening, I sure am now hearing you got to interview/chat with one of the greats hahaha.
I have seen many a truly diabolical jacket potato - shudders at the very thought. The original will always be the best. Although the remake does have some good scenes and the decapitation scene is just as good as the original one. I've heard some say the Priest death in the remake is better than the 2nd Doctor's death - totally disagree as the remakes dodgy computer game CGI pole pulled me out of the film 😂 Sadly the remake is also pulled down even more by the actor who plays Damien giving cheesy evil glares - so bad.
Yeah, no way that the Priest scene is better in the remake. Sure the blue lighting and hard rain is alluring on the surface but that's all it has going for it. CGI pole is bad, as is the lighting effect they shoved - Peter doesn't even react to it even though it's a big old explosion right behind his back lol. Just all so vapid. And I agree on the child actor point as well, although I don't blame the kid so much as the director. In my research I came across a statement where John Moore basically just told the kid to keep doing the 'Damien face', which must be that very glare you're on about. The child in the original acts like a normal child for the most part, it's the soundtrack and editing and other factors that twist that into something exciting, weird and ominous.
Absolutely! But for Dracula and Frankenstein, those videos are going to be huge so I keep putting them off, and for other ones like Wolf Man, I've been waiting for the new version to release first. I should probably ease myself back in with The Invisible Man haha. Also, I still intend to cover more of them outside of Remake videos. E.g. I've already done The Mummy original vs Remakes but will do a Ranking video of Universal's Mummy sequels, and so on.
The Omen remake was literally only made to capitalize on the 6/6/06 release date. Its like British food, bland, brown & unappealing Edit: ha you said the exact same thing, shows that i should completely finish a video before commenting 😆great minds think alike
The worst thing about the remake, to my mind, is that even without the comparisons to the far superior original, it was still woefully heartless and lacking. It was entirely mediocre, relying on the early 2000's jump-scares which appeared in every horror movie of the time. It had no atmosphere to speak of, it was simply forgettable. As I said, even without the OG, it was still just so mid.
I prefer the remake as I find the scenes are less drawn out (especially the death scenes), the actors have more charisma and the backgrounds/locations in the scenes are more visually appealing.
While I can't agree personally, I'm glad you commented as it is nice to hear arguments on behalf of the remake! Myself and the other comments so far have heavily favoured the original.
I would also like to start another series like that; half the fun of creating 100 Years was the planning and deciding which films should make the cut! I have thought about an A - Z series, but my worry was that it would be too broad a topic for just 26 episodes/letters of the alphabet. In that sense, I am instead considering A -Z of specific subgenres. The A - Z of slashers, or zombies, vampires, etc. I think that would give it a beneficial focus. Would you be interested in that maybe?
Love the original Omen. Donner's control over the widescreen frame is impeccable. I absolutely LOVE that graveyard impalement scene. The beheading is like something out of a Fulci film. Never connected it to Final Destination but it totally makes sense. As always your obvious enthusiasm and love for horror is a joy and makes these videos loads of fun to watch. Another banger from mr. Fish!
Thank you! And yeah I probably should've spent more time in the video discussing Donner's work here. Very creative and fluid with great framing... I guess it is easy to take such things for granted, until you compare it directly against the direction in the remake which is just so relatively 'flat', uninspired. The Fulci likening is spot on actually, and is right from his era too. I wonder if there was some genuine inspiration from either side.
Funny you mention Fulci. I think there is a LOT of Italian Giallo influences on The Omen, The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby. If Star Wars was the high point of B-Movie sci-fi, these three films represent the high point of New Wave/Giallo horror which began in the late 60s.
Also “peak Peck” is Thorn’s reaction to the phone call telling him of his wife’s death. The shock, the slow realization, the grief, the tears welling up-an amazing few seconds of acting. Gregory Peck was one of the Greats.
Good call, that is a heartwrenching moment
He may well have been channelling his fresh grief from the suicide of his son.
@@RictusHolloweye Good point.
The Omen is one of those films where you forget how good it is till you see it again. Honestly i think its become underrated at this point... like people KNOW the name, but its not discussed much further than that even though countless films have copied it. Still one of the all time greats the genre has to offer!
*Its all for you!*
I have noticed this recently as well, since people have been discussing it more readily with the release of The First Omen. I was genuinely surprised to see so many negative comments, mainly relating to that oh so common phrase 'does not hold up'. Not sure if it is a generational thing, as reading critic reviews from the 70s were also quite harsh a lot of the time too. Meh, I still love it, David Warner's flying head is etched into my brain since teenage years and surely will be to the day I die (hopefully not via the same method!)
Growing up in the late '70s, my cousin and I (both altar boys) were obsessed with The Exorcist, The Omen movies, and Rosemary's Baby. We watched The 700 Club (televangelist show always talking about the Apocalypse and Book of Revelations) every week day afternoon in the summer. We went through a phase where we wanted to become demon-fighting priests specializing in exorcists!! LOL Then we discovered porn and moved on.
Haha love it, the natural trajectory of all boys growing up; movies -> demons -> suspiciously naked women
The 1976 Omen is a great horror movie, especially because it is a completely different beast to The Exorcist, that came out a couple of years before this.
Now The Exorcist is to this day a very "modern" horror movie. From the music, to the almost documentary cinematography to the performances.
The Omen is much more in the tradition of classic Hollywood, of Hitchcock and Lean. Yet since the scope is much more epic (while the possession of Regan is much more intimate) it really works, just as the casting of Gregory Peck really works, although he is is slightly too old for the character.
And yes, Goldsmith's music is absolute boss. It even gives me chills just when the DVD menu is running.
That's a great point there about The Omen feeling more traditional; I hadn't really delved into that thought but I think you're right, and having Peck in the lead absolutely lends itself to that as well. It's like the classics you mention with the thematics and (intermittent) shock value of its 70s contempories woven into it.
I think the good Father was going to say, “His mother was a jackfruit!” A terrible insult, since jackfruit bbq is a poor substitute for pulled pork.
Haha true, even Satan himself wouldn't throw that insult out there
"Original vs. Remake: Psycho" when?
Yeah, cause if there was something severely lacking in the Hitchcock version, it was Vince Vaughn whacking off to Marion.
Putting the Bates in Norman Bates! I suppose that video is inevitable, but I worry; what is there to say about the original that hasn't already been said. haha
Good comparison. I saw a sneak preview of the uncut version of Donner's "The Omen" in my hometown before release. The Nanny's death was much worse and, even though the remake put it back in, to see Donner's version with Jerry Goldsmith's unused music will shrivel your fortitude.
I wasn't aware there was such a version, would love to see it!
@@HauntedBlowfish Richard Donner was the first celebrity interview I had at my film school Sherwood Oaks Experimental College. He had just been fired from "Superman 2". We had a great session and when I brought up the sneak preview, he lit up... especially after I reminded him that "Halloween" benefitted from Michael not staying dead. I did a fan edit because I am such a Jerry Goldsmith fanatic I had to recreate it just to see how the rejected music played.
@@SirSmoldham Fantastic! If I wasn't jealous enough of the uncut screening, I sure am now hearing you got to interview/chat with one of the greats hahaha.
I have seen many a truly diabolical jacket potato - shudders at the very thought. The original will always be the best. Although the remake does have some good scenes and the decapitation scene is just as good as the original one. I've heard some say the Priest death in the remake is better than the 2nd Doctor's death - totally disagree as the remakes dodgy computer game CGI pole pulled me out of the film 😂
Sadly the remake is also pulled down even more by the actor who plays Damien giving cheesy evil glares - so bad.
Yeah, no way that the Priest scene is better in the remake. Sure the blue lighting and hard rain is alluring on the surface but that's all it has going for it. CGI pole is bad, as is the lighting effect they shoved - Peter doesn't even react to it even though it's a big old explosion right behind his back lol. Just all so vapid. And I agree on the child actor point as well, although I don't blame the kid so much as the director. In my research I came across a statement where John Moore basically just told the kid to keep doing the 'Damien face', which must be that very glare you're on about. The child in the original acts like a normal child for the most part, it's the soundtrack and editing and other factors that twist that into something exciting, weird and ominous.
I was wondering if you're gonna cover other universal monsters like Dracula and the Wolf Man?
Absolutely! But for Dracula and Frankenstein, those videos are going to be huge so I keep putting them off, and for other ones like Wolf Man, I've been waiting for the new version to release first. I should probably ease myself back in with The Invisible Man haha.
Also, I still intend to cover more of them outside of Remake videos. E.g. I've already done The Mummy original vs Remakes but will do a Ranking video of Universal's Mummy sequels, and so on.
Well I'll be here for both when you get round to them, I'm sure they'll be worth the wait.
The Omen remake was literally only made to capitalize on the 6/6/06 release date.
Its like British food, bland, brown & unappealing
Edit: ha you said the exact same thing, shows that i should completely finish a video before commenting 😆great minds think alike
Haha indeed, their cynical ploy was just so blatant, I think that's what makes it even more egregious compared to other cash-ins.
The worst thing about the remake, to my mind, is that even without the comparisons to the far superior original, it was still woefully heartless and lacking. It was entirely mediocre, relying on the early 2000's jump-scares which appeared in every horror movie of the time. It had no atmosphere to speak of, it was simply forgettable. As I said, even without the OG, it was still just so mid.
Agreed 100%, a very lifeless trudging experience
Rosemarys Baby, The Exorcist & The Omen... holy trinity of 'creepy religious child' films
One night I need to marathon all three back-to-back. Might put me off having any more children haha
I prefer the remake as I find the scenes are less drawn out (especially the death scenes), the actors have more charisma and the backgrounds/locations in the scenes are more visually appealing.
While I can't agree personally, I'm glad you commented as it is nice to hear arguments on behalf of the remake! Myself and the other comments so far have heavily favoured the original.
Would love to see you do another series like the 100 years of horror. How about A-Z of horror?
I would also like to start another series like that; half the fun of creating 100 Years was the planning and deciding which films should make the cut! I have thought about an A - Z series, but my worry was that it would be too broad a topic for just 26 episodes/letters of the alphabet. In that sense, I am instead considering A -Z of specific subgenres. The A - Z of slashers, or zombies, vampires, etc. I think that would give it a beneficial focus. Would you be interested in that maybe?
@@HauntedBlowfish definitely!
The 2006 remake is so inert, what was the point. It had a good cast but just didn’t work at all.
Agreed, and the cast being so stacked with great actors just makes the whole affair more egregious!
5:04 I think they did that in American Werewolf too lol
Haha I suppose the only landmark worth seeing in London is a bus
Thank you for being merciless with this pointless remake. Just the same movie but with jump scares, the laziest of horror shortcuts.
Yup, lazy is absolutely the word to describe the remake, easily my least favourite entry of The Omen movies. Thanks for watching and commenting!