cult film freak: GREGORY PECK FATHERS DEMONIC HARVEY STEPHENS IN 'THE OMEN'

Written by James M. Tate / 7/16/2026 / No comments / billie whitelaw , david warner , franchise , gregory peck , holly palance , horror , lee remick , leo mckern , martin benson , richard donner , seventies , thriller

GREGORY PECK FATHERS DEMONIC HARVEY STEPHENS IN 'THE OMEN'

7/16/2026 | No comment

Title: THE OMEN Year: 1976 Rating: **1/2

What's a b-movie in a-list clothing, with fantastic widescreen photography and a cinematic hybrid of THE EXORCIST Cursed American Gothic and Adventurous Iraq sequences, the main problem of Richard Donner's THE OMEN is that legendary actor Gregory Peck is far too important to the story, leaving that demonic son-of-Satan more of a sporadic guest star than the lead of his very own feature...

While Linda Blair was interrupted by long stretches of dialogue between Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller, their input served (and was combined with) her own particular situation... meanwhile, devilish-looking (and very well cast) Harvey Stephens is absent for too long a time, particularly as the second act morphs into the third...

Harvey Stephens in THE OMEN

Making the inevitable beast-mark/head-tattoo revelation only melodramatically revealing to Peck's character... something the audience (forced to adhere to annoyingly loud bursts of symphonic soundtrack whenever anything important happens, deleting the suspense needed leading up) already knows coming in...

Basically, THE OMEN plays out like a 20-minute short-film/introduction stretched to an epic 2-hours... so it's no surprise that, despite the original's massively superior box office total, each followup had a much stronger sense of urgently dreadful anticipation, and an actual destination.

Gregory Peck and Lee Remick in THE OMEN

David Warner in THE OMEN

Holly Palance in THE OMEN

Gregory Peck, Freda Dowie and Martin Benson in THE OMEN

Harvey Stephens in THE OMEN

Gregory Peck and David Warner in THE OMEN

Billie Whitelaw in THE OMEN

Gregory Peck and Leo McKern in THE OMEN

Leo McKern in THE OMEN

David Warner in THE OMEN

Gregory Peck (looking like Craig T. Nelson) in THE OMEN

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Tags : billie whitelaw , david warner , franchise , gregory peck , holly palance , horror , lee remick , leo mckern , martin benson , richard donner , seventies , thriller

James M. Tate

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