Ave Satani
The dean of Guildford Cathedral, where a set-piece in a mediocre Hollywood horror film was made thirty years ago, has attacked the remake, which was filmed in Prague.
The Omen (1976) depicts the destruction of a beautiful, powerful and rich American couple by the infant Antichrist. Supposedly, it "takes its inspiration from the Bible's Book of Revelation"; in fact, it incorporates a hilariously literal reading of Revelation 13 xviii, portraying the devil's minions as being marked with a sort of Satanic bar code consisting of three tiny Arabic numerals. The remainder of the plot's rationale is encapsulated in a little ditty not generally ascribed to John the Divine: When the Jews return to Zion / And a comet rips the sky / And the Holy Roman Empire rises, / Then You and I must die. / From the eternal sea he rises, / Creating armies on either shore, / Turning man against his brother / 'Til man exists no more. The Common Market served as the Holy Roman Empire, as I recall. The plot itself consists largely of set-piece demises and culminates in the adoption of the infernal tyke by the President of the United States. On the credit side, the film does have a superb, riveting Black Mass score by Jerry Goldsmith; but its other virtues are purely market-oriented. The remake, which opens on 6 June 2006 (geddit?) is apparently "almost identical, shot by shot, to the original", doubtless a witty postmodern touch masquerading as imaginative bankruptcy.
The scene to which the dean of Guildford Cathedral takes exception shows the infant Antichrist having a fit at the sight of the spire. "It was a disaster, it should never have been done," said the dean, Victor Stock. "People who were a bit thick were frightened to come into the building ... I'm not sure if everyone is that clued up about fact or fiction." This is certainly disturbing. The idea that the Antichrist might object to the sight of a church is bad enough in itself. The ability to distinguish fact from fiction is hardly a necessary qualification for Christian piety; but where would our churches be without people who are a bit thick?
The Omen (1976) depicts the destruction of a beautiful, powerful and rich American couple by the infant Antichrist. Supposedly, it "takes its inspiration from the Bible's Book of Revelation"; in fact, it incorporates a hilariously literal reading of Revelation 13 xviii, portraying the devil's minions as being marked with a sort of Satanic bar code consisting of three tiny Arabic numerals. The remainder of the plot's rationale is encapsulated in a little ditty not generally ascribed to John the Divine: When the Jews return to Zion / And a comet rips the sky / And the Holy Roman Empire rises, / Then You and I must die. / From the eternal sea he rises, / Creating armies on either shore, / Turning man against his brother / 'Til man exists no more. The Common Market served as the Holy Roman Empire, as I recall. The plot itself consists largely of set-piece demises and culminates in the adoption of the infernal tyke by the President of the United States. On the credit side, the film does have a superb, riveting Black Mass score by Jerry Goldsmith; but its other virtues are purely market-oriented. The remake, which opens on 6 June 2006 (geddit?) is apparently "almost identical, shot by shot, to the original", doubtless a witty postmodern touch masquerading as imaginative bankruptcy.
The scene to which the dean of Guildford Cathedral takes exception shows the infant Antichrist having a fit at the sight of the spire. "It was a disaster, it should never have been done," said the dean, Victor Stock. "People who were a bit thick were frightened to come into the building ... I'm not sure if everyone is that clued up about fact or fiction." This is certainly disturbing. The idea that the Antichrist might object to the sight of a church is bad enough in itself. The ability to distinguish fact from fiction is hardly a necessary qualification for Christian piety; but where would our churches be without people who are a bit thick?
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