The Curse of 'The Omen' (2005) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

John McLaverty

Release Date:

26 October 2005 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Horror

Cast

Robert Munger	...	Himself (as Bob Munger)
Harvey Bernhard	...	Himself
Gregory Peck	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mace Neufeld	...	Himself
Lynn Haney	...	Herself
Minister Bob Larson	...	Himself (as Bob Larson)
Richard Donner	...	Himself
G.P. Taylor	...	Himself
Billie Whitelaw	...	Herself
Joan Blackmore	...	Herself
Harvey Stephens	...	Himself (1996 interview) (archive footage)
George Gibbs	...	Himself
Stuart Baird	...	Himself
John Richardson	...	Himself
Bryan Moore	...	Himself

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Mentorn

Movie Connections:

Features The Omen (1976)

Depends On What You Think A Curse Is

THE CURSE OF THE OMEN is not without interest . It revolves around the supposed curse of Richard Donner's 1976 movie THE OMEN . Bad things happened before during and after the production . However many of the bad things that happened can surely be put down to coincidence and many of these terrible things have a tenuous connection with the movie

For example we're told how stuntman Terry Walsh was standing in for Gregory Peck in the graveyard scene where the character Robert Thorn is attacked by a pack of rottweilers . Apparently they injured Walsh quite badly when they bit through his protective clothing . But as any stuntman will tell you the most dangerous stunts always revolve around animals because they have a mind of their own and their behaviour is impossible to predict . I should also point out that I'm a DOCTOR WHO fan and Walsh appeared in a great number of walk on parts in the BBC show and I've read several interviews on his career and seeing THE CURSE OF THE OMEN was the first time I'd heard about this incident . Perhaps the incident with the devil dogs has been exaggerated ? The documentary also mentioned another stuntman who worked on THE OMEN and was later seriously injured while filming A BRIDGE TOO FAR in Holland . Easily explained when you realise that stunt men do a dangerous job . I'm sure that everyone who worked on THE OMEN injured themselves some time or another

The vagueness as to what this " curse " might be is also brought into question when Richard Donner explains the hotel he was staying in London was bombed by the IRA and that no matter what the weather was like he would always check under his car to make sure terrorists hadn't left a nasty surprise for him . This is common sense since the IRA were engaged in a sustained bombing campaign of London in 1974-75 , but it should be pointed out that if THE OMEN was filmed in 1973 or 1977 or had been filmed in another city the production team wouldn't have been subjected to terrorist bombings . Whose fault was it the hotel got bombed ? Is it the fault of a movie or the fault of a terrorist cell ?

There is another incident that would have been laughably tenuous it if wasn't so tragic . Remember that scene in the movie where a character's head is sliced off by a truck with sheets of glass ? Well the effects artist behind that sequence John Richardson was driving in Holland when he was involved in a car crash and his travelling companion was " cut almost in half and died instantly " the insinuation being that it was like the scene from the film and most chilling of all it happened near to the town of Ommen ( sic ) ! Again it happened during the production of A BRIDGE TOO FAR . Perhaps that film is jinxed ? Strangely enough I was surprised that no one mentioned the decapitation scene was set in Megiddo in Israel a place that saw a bus bombing that murdered 17 people in June 2002 with heads and limbs scattered all over a road . Do you understand what I'm talking about when I mention shoehorning ? Coincidentally the word Armageddon is derived from the place name Megiddo . Again I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned

To be fair Richard Donner himself dismisses these and other incidents as merely coincidence and categorically states that he doesn't believe in curses and regardless of whether they believe in curses or not fans of the film will find this interesting since it goes into depth about the anecdotes behind the making of the film including one about the famous scene with the goldfish. It's certainly a thought provoking documentary and would make a great companion piece to the movie