The cursed production of Richard Donner movie ‘The Omen’
There are a handful of horror movies that seem to make up the generally accepted canon of quality. Films such as The Exorcist, The Chainsaw Massacre, The Shining, Alien and Carrie comprise the kind of works of cinema that make the horror genre such a fascinating category, and one ought not to forget about the 1976 supernatural horror The Omen, directed by Richard Donner.
Starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer and a swathe of other actors, the film tells of Damien Thorn, a young child replaced at birth by his father without his wife’s knowing, following their biological son’s death. As Damien grows up, the couple learn that he is the prophesied Antichrist, leading to a series of supernatural events and violent deaths.
Screenwriter David Seltzer had already been inspired to write The Omen after witnessing a series of strange events while visiting Rome, which laid the foundation for the film’s seemingly cursed production. A string of unfortunate accidents plagued the film’s shoot and its aftermath, beginning with the crew’s plane to Israel changing course and crashing after take-off, killing all on board.
Those who remained in the production began to wonder whether they had avoided such a tragic fate, but as things progressed, a dark cloud hung over the production. Gregory Peck and producer Mace Neufeld narrowly avoided being struck by lightning in Rome, while Peck’s plane was also damaged whilst en route to the UK.
Special effects supervisor John Richardson and his assistant Liz Moore were then involved in a car crash in the Netherlands, killing Moore and leaving Richardson badly injured. This eerily reflected a scene within The Omen that Richardson had worked on, in which a character is indeed killed in a car crash, and to make things even more chilling, a sign near the incident’s site directed towards the town of Ommen, bearing a striking resemblance to the film’s title.
Another scene from the film also seemed to be plagued by a supernatural presence. In the scene where baboons attack a car, the production team had to bring in an alpha baboon as the lesser animals were not achieving the desired effect, and according to Donner, the terror of Lee Remick at that moment was entirely real. Once again, strangely enough, tragedy struck when the animal trainer used in the scene died just a day after it was filmed.
The Omen seemed to be affected by a strange curse which led to the deaths of several members of its crew. While the film was released to critical acclaim, the effects of the production would linger in the hearts and minds of those involved in its making. The eerie and unsettling narrative perhaps had an influence on the sinister events that surrounded it and added to its overall appeal and enduring influence.
