The Omen 1976 and its 2006 remake

T

Tom

New member
Can anyone tell me any of the differences between the original and the remake. I watched The Omen (1976) for the first time the other day :o and noticed that alot of it appears in the 2006 version.
 
Hey, whats with all the Omen threaRAB?:D

The Omen remake one of the most pointless wastes of time ever, IMO. Very similar to the Psycho remake actually.

Stick with the original all the way.
 
The actress in the original who played the Mum was nothing special in the acting department either, quite wooden also. Probably the only negative for me in the original. Billie Whitelaw was perfect. Mia Furrow, bla.
 
I feel sorry for anyone who watches the remake before the original, spoils what is one of the great mainstream horror films.

A lot of the scenes and dialogue appear as they did in the original. Hence why David Seltzer (writer of the 1976 Omen screenplay) is credited as writer of the remake even though he wasn't involved at all.

The beginning is different, set in the Vatican and controversially using footage of real-life disasters (such as 9/11) to signal the impending arrival of the anti-christ.

Other sequences have been changed, generally to no good effect. The famous outdoor baboon sequence was swapped for a blander indoors version. The spectacular death of Lee Remick (Thorn's wife) was also made much flatter. The decapition scene was changed from a sheet of glass to a sign.

One of the other changes was to signal much more clearly that Damien was malevolent and knew he was all along. In the original, it was suggested all the deaths could be accidents that Damien was unaware of, until that great moment when he smiles into the camera:eek::D

By making Damien so obviously evil, director John Moore completely misjudged the whole thing. The film is littered with similar mistakes, Julia Stiles is one of the worst pieces of miscasting in film history. But then given that Moore also directed a similarly pointless remake of "Flight of the Phoenix", it's no surprise it turned out to be a dud.
 
Her death in the original where the camera twists as she falls onto the floor is still phenomenally good technique. Amazing at the time, nobody could work out how they managed it!
 
do you mean the bit where she falls with the goldfish bowl and the camera follows her and she hits the wooden floor? How *did* they do that?
 
I actually meant Remick's death scene at the hospital as my favourite. The twisting one onto the floor is the death of her unborn baby. But you're right, amazing scene. Almost wish I'd not learned how they did it. but see below anyway:

The floor set was put on the wall and Remick was put on a dolly track and pushed towarRAB it, turning her at the same time

There's a similar clever trick in Donner's Superman when old Supes says goodnight to Lois after their little night flight. In one shot, Superman says goodnight and flies off, the camera follows Lois to her front door and she lets Clark Kent in!
 
I thought the moment where Damien knocks his mum off the stairs with his tricycle was much more scary in the remake, her face just as she hits the floor was quite scary.
 
You're quite right, it was the death of the unborn baby. Fantastic piece of film making. They show how it's done on the special edition and yes just like you I wish I hadn't found out how!
 
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