The clashing forces of good and evil have Although The Omen isn’t necessarily a film spawned hard-fought battles in films spanning about demonic possession per se, the idea that all genres. Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man supernatural forces with bad intentions want vs. Self… A story’s root conflict can spring to invade the human world is still apparent. from sources as superficial as the jealous ex- The idea that a demon or an evil spirit wants boyfriend in a romantic comedy to a comet/ to invade a person’s body, wreaking havoc on alien/robot-in-disguise hurdling toward Earth the lives of presumably innocent humans is in any number of Michael Bay’s films. But, common, but the exploration into the Devil’s nowhere is the battle between good and evil direct involvement requires an assemblage of so clearly illustrated as in horror films. And, characters having much greater power and no film so memorably pits good against evil as influence. Consider a film like Oren Peli’s pop Richard Donner’s The Omen (1976). hit Paranormal Activity (2007). The characters in Paranormal Activity didn’t justify the Devil’s With a little help from the high-impact per- attention, so a less-powerful demon made formances of co-stars Gregory Peck and Lee more sense for that storyline. The Omen takes Remick (among a host of others), a pitch- place on a grander scale, with Damien born perfect score, and a well-executed screenplay, into a family of privilege and power, as the The Omen does a masterful job bridging the ending so ominously indicates. gap between the natural and the supernatural. Ambassador Robert Thorn’s (Peck) skepticism, Good vs. Evil, Man vs. Himself, Nature vs. his wife Katherine’s (Remick) increasing despon- Humanity… From beginning to end, The dency and disconnection with the creature she Omen tackles the battle in an appropriately presumes to be her son (Damien, played by Har- grand scale. And, although we may walk away vey Stephens)—these elements of emotion-/ from the film strangely satisfied by Damien’s human-driven drama pave the way for more survival, the idea that humanity’s goodness convincing supernatural aspects of the film. could not have overcome, regardless of the But, it’s Thorn’s final resolution that he must film’s circumstances, is most certainly unset- ritualistically kill the creature he raised as his tling. The final scene of The Omen is, of son that brings the film’s tension to a head. course, inevitable. Unlike what one might consider to be “hap- pily ever after” films that position man vs. the beast, The Omen leaves viewers with a sense of doom, a thick blanket of dread settles over the audience, alluding to the impending and inevitable storm on the horizon. Consider an alternative approach, like William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) — qualified though that happy ending may be. What sets The Omen apart from other films where ultimate evil is unfairly matched against humanity’s more-or- less good nature is that the film’s finale leaves us with no hope. Naturally, this leaves us feel- ing unsettled.

Of course, that unsettled feeling left in our guts by the knowledge that the antichrist lives on could have been avoided. We could have seen (or at least been lead to infer) that a child is brutally stabbed to death on an altar by his own father. Now, maybe the terms “child,” “death” and “father” aren’t entirely accurate, but one could imagine a scene like the climax of The Omen being interpreted as such. What feeling does that leave in our guts? It’s interesting that filmmakers (and arguably audiences) often prefer the former to the latter. The idea of an evil child remaining in the world seems to upset our sensibilities less than the idea of killing that child for the greater good. Consider a film like George Ratliff’s Joshua (2007) or Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968). The “children” in these films survive in accordance with, and entirely counter to, what one might imagine is the best interest of humanity.

36 PARACINEMA #14 / DECEMBER 2011