Well Deserved Praise

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This snappy and thorough documentary offers a comprehensive and illuminating take on the "Omen" movies. The first film was not only inspired by a chapter in "The Book of Revelations," but also was made to capitalize on the success of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist." The original more fantastic script had to be rewritten to make the movie more believable and realistic. Moreover, the film was dropped by Warner Brothers and then picked up by 20th Century Fox instead. Charlton Heston, Roy Scheider and William Holden all turned down the lead role; Gregory Peck eventually agreed to play the starring part. Several strange coincidences occurred during the making of the picture, thus creating the popular urban myth of an "Omen" curse. Thanks to a brilliant (and expensive) marketing campaign, "The Omen" was a huge hit. Of course, there was a sequel. "Damien: Omen II" had its fair share of production problems: Director Mike Hodges was replaced by Don Taylor early in the shoot, the crew was stricken with influenza, and Lew Ayres' death by drowning in an icy river proved to be a very hard sequence to film. The death scenes were made more gory as well. The sequel wasn't the smash success the first one was, but did well enough to beget a third installment. A then unknown Sam Neill was cast as the adult Damien Thorn; James Mason paid for his airline fare so he could fly to America for his audition. The sequence involving a monk who catches on fire proved to be very difficult to shoot. There was also a love story added to the usual assortment of grisly deaths. Alas, "The Final Conflict" turned out to be a box office flop. It wasn't until the early 90's that a belated made-for-TV sequel was made. Once again, the original director had to be replaced by another director early in the shoot. The anti-Christ was made a girl instead of a boy. Character actor Michael Lerner loved his character's death scene in which he gets pulped by a wrecking ball. The TV movie received lackluster ratings when it aired. A spin-off TV show never made it past the pilot. But the original films still retain their appeal thanks to their classic good vs. evil stories (surprisingly, the church avidly supported the first and third "Omen" features!). Among the folks interviewed in this documentary are producer Harvey Bernhard, writer David Seltzer, religious adviser Robert Munger, director Richard Donner, actresses Faye Grant, Lee Grant, and Lisa Harrow, and actors David Warner, Martin Benson, and Lance Henrikson (the latter sports a really funky earring!). Jack Palance handles the narrator duties with perfectly sinister aplomb. Essential viewing for "Omen" fans.