The First Omen Pays Homage To One Of The Biggest Horror Performances Of All Time [Exclusive Interview]

Over time, I’ve spoken to numerous people within the horror-sphere and many people have tales watching “The Omen” most likely too younger, however I feel all of us turned out superb. What are each of your relationships with the unique “Omen?”

Stevens: After I was a child, A&E had this double characteristic on Valentine’s Day, which I believed was tremendous acceptable: It was “The Exorcist” and “The Shining.” [laughs] I used to be obsessive about it. And so my mother was like, “Oh, for those who like these motion pictures, you need to watch this.” After which she confirmed me “The Omen” and I used to be already in love with Gregory Peck at such an early age. So yeah, I used to be seven, and no, I am not okay. [laughs]

Smith: Sure, I used to be across the identical age, tremendous younger, and I watched a whole lot of horror movies that had been extra sort of supernatural or otherworldly, and this was the primary one I noticed that sort of made that really feel actual and sort of grounded it in actuality. In order that terrified me. I sort of watched it and thought this might truly occur, which was tremendous scary on the time and really memorable.

There’s one thing inherently real-feeling about a lot of this non secular horror, however movies like “The Omen” and “The Exorcist” got here with this increase of non secular horror and exploitation post-Hays Code, when movies had been beginning to take these big swings, however the Catholic Church nonetheless was fairly highly effective. Clearly the church remains to be highly effective as we speak, however we’re turning into a an increasing number of secular society. On the identical time, movies have gotten extra sanitized. So it looks like “The First Omen” is popping out within the inverse of when the unique got here out.

Stevens: Yeah, what’s sort of fascinating about that’s I feel that you just’re proper: We have gotten an increasing number of secular as folks, however the evil is not going away. So I feel it is making us understand that the supernatural components are actually to not blame. They’re actually simply sort of a frontman for the darkness that basically simply lays in all of our hearts. And I feel that was sort of how we wished to strategy “The First Omen,” as a result of the satan now’s fairly enjoyable and sassy. So I feel actually eager about the satan being a instrument for human beings who’re making an attempt to make use of him in a method to get extra management — and actually, we had been eager about terror being spiritualized and the methods folks use terror as a weapon towards folks, and that was actually what we had been targeted on.

Smith: We attempt to extrapolate this concept of establishments in energy and the way they reply to feeling threatened, past the Catholic Church, which I feel can apply to a whole lot of what is going on on proper now. I feel, such as you stated, that movie was so good, “The Omen” in ’76, in turning a mirror to the horrors of its time, and we actually wished to do the identical with this movie. So whereas the Catholic Church is not as distinguished, I feel establishments in energy, how they reply to worry, how they cling to that energy once they’re beneath menace — that basically resonated with us, and we fully skilled this concept of content material being extra sanitized. I completely agree. I feel proper now it is troublesome generally to push the envelope and get extra boundary-pushing imagery on the market.