The Omen Legacy (2001) (TV)

Director:

Brent Zacky

Writers:

Naomi Pfefferman (writer) and
Brent Zacky (writer)

Release Date:

30 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The Chilling True Stories Behind Hollywood's Eeriest and Most Successful Supernatural Film Series

Plot:

The true stories that spawned the eerie tale of Damien, a small boy with an angelic face, whose very name still conjures up thoughts of Satan...

Plot Keywords:

Behind The Scenes | Crow | Narration

Cast

Jack Palance	...	Narrator (voice)
David Seltzer	...	Himself
Blanche Barton	...	Herself
Doug Posey	...	Himself
Robert Munger	...	Himself
Harvey Bernhard	...	Himself
Mace Neufeld	...	Himself
Richard Donner	...	Himself
Alan Ladd Jr.	...	Himself
John Richardson	...	Himself
Martin Benson	...	Himself
David Warner	...	Himself
Felix Just	...	Himself
Lee Grant	...	Herself
Lance Henriksen	...	Himself

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2006) (DVD) (self applied) | Finland:K-18 (2004) (TV rating) (self applied)

Company:

American Movie Classics (AMC)

Movie Connections:

Features "South Park" (1997)

An interesting and informative documentary on the "Omen" films

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

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.