The Exorcist vs The Omen

The Ali v Frazier of 1970s horror movies:



vs.

 

This is a close one. They're roughly on the same level... but I'd say The Omen is better by a small margin.

Rosemary's Baby is a lot better than both and in many ways, was the movie both aspired to be.

 

BTW, I wouldn't consider either one to be the best horror movie of the 70s. I think Carrie owns that distinction, and shits on both.

 

Carrie only really gets remembered for its ending and is Top 5 maybe

 

The Exorcist is a better film but I liked The Omen

Both films inspired numerous despicably awful sequels

My mother says she and my father went to see The Omen back in 1977 and were scared of my older brother for a good week afterwards because he resembled Damien

 

The Excorcist is a better movie in the overall sense.

But I went with The Omen because it's creepier imo... which is the point of a horror movie.

 

Still, the big payoff at the end is one of the best in horror history... it puts it ahead of both these films.

 

Everybody says that The Wicker Man is one of the best 70s horror films, but I have yet to see it.

 

To this day I haven't seen The Exorcist. Omen was scary as hell back in the day though. Nowadays horror films don't scare anyone.

 

That's the difference for me.

I saw both around the same time... I guess I was roughly around 9 or 10 the first time I saw both.

The Omen scared the Hell outta me as a kid. The Excorcist... had zero effect on me.

 

Back in the 80s, people were more superstitious etc....nowadays we're desensitized to Horror and spiritual themes. So looking back most horror films are just amusing.

 

True - horror movies make people 'jump' with the same old, generic camera cuts and shot-angles.

When was the last time you ever watched a movie that creeped you out?
For me, that was Session 9

 

Session 9 is the GOAT of horror movies that not enough people have seen. But to be fair, it is a cult classic.

It takes a steaming shit on 99% of the bullshit horror films that get pushed out yearly.

 

Session 9 truly played on my mind cos its about the complexities of disturbed mental-health...and it was filmed in a then-recently abandoned asylum/institution.

 

The Exorcist is a masterpiece. The very first horror film to tackle demon possession terrorizing audiences worldwide. People were fainting in movie theaters and suffering panic attacks during screenings that prompted some places to have an ambulance nearby.
I like The Omen a lot. Less scary, but more intriguing. The film that motivated me to read the bible to find out more about the AntiChrist and the seed of salvation was planted in my heart thanks to this film.

 

The omen is so loosely based on the book of revelation that it’s actually comical. For one ting there’s no dude in the entire 66 books of the Bible (or the apocrypha, book of Enoch of whatever) that is called “The Anti-Christ”. Secondly, no one has a birthmark behind his ear with three sixes.

Apart from that though I agree with you, it’s a very good film. When I first watched it I was creeped out by the photographers pictures and then his sudden violent death. That was crazy

 

The Omen has a deeper story with more characters more locals and more story arcs. As good as The Exorcist is, as a film and entertainment piece it can be a bit limiting as it’s mostly all taking place in the one house with very few characters and story arcs.

So the answer is, The Omen is more entertaining, The Exorcist is more scary.

 

Two things make the Exorcist a more substantial film... Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair

The Omen suffers (only by comparison, mind you) from the fact that Damien is largely reacted to as opposed to asserting his own presence for the very simple fact that a toddler is going to have obvious acting limitations... the other reason is Lee Remick. I'm not knocking her as an actor or anything but in The Omen her entire role is passive; she exists only to be victimized ...

In The Exorcist, Burstyn and Blair aren't props, they are the centerpiece of the conflict.

The Omen has really only one fully fleshed out character and that's Gregory Peck ... he's the only person the viewer is truly invested in, the rest of the appeal of the film is atmospheric really ... The Exorcist gives you a minimum of three fully realized characters to care about and arguably a fourth (Max Von Sydow) giving it a greater emotional weight

The Omen is lighter fare, an easier watch, superficially more entertaining but The Exorcist is a heavier film, a more substantial work of art

 

And Rosemary's Baby still shits on both.

 

No way

And I like that film ... but I don't think it's better than either, especially The Exorcist

 

The Photographer is just as fleshed out as Gregory Peck if not more so. You are also invested in the initial priest.

 

No not at all

Not even remotely

Both of them are appendages to Peck and nothing more

 

The priest I can accept but totally disagree on the photographer....in fact it’s the photographer’s plight which had more of an impact on me than Gregory pecks story.

I have to say though that the maid scared the hell out of me. Firstly when she said to Damien after arriving “I am here to protect thee” and then when she showed up at the hospital before throwing lee remick out of the window to her death.

 

The photographer has zero back story though... no more than the priest or the nanny ... he just sticks around the longest

There's no comparison to The Exorcist which boasts three (possibly four) characters who are each complex and independently crucial to the story

Again I'm not saying The Omen isn't a good movie

 

Interestingly, I first attracted my wife's interest when I attended a party she was at and joyously shouted "look at me! It's all for you!" before launching myself out the window with a noose around my neck, hanging myself dead

 

Coming in all Cdogg "oh look at me I know about films, me" 187

oo

 

1 John 2:18 18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

2 John 1:7 7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

1 John 4:2-3 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

 

The contributors have excelled themselves in this thread and reading through these arguments, Ah found maself questioning which film wiz better based on the compelling reasoning above. Ultimately, Ah’m going wi’ ‘The Exorcist’ as *although preposterous* it diz seem tae be more likely randomn and innocent people could be possessed than all all poowerful anti-Christ being born. The Exorcist was alsae so raw in dialogue which offends the ears even noo - EVEN aftae reading Fightbeat you cannae get much tougher than ‘Your mother sucks cocks in hell’. Added tae the gritty acting and groond breaking special effects... whit a horror.

The Omen is still ace, mind and as an aside and total change o’ tack - Ah cannae wait fer ‘Hereditary’.

 

Plus, The Exorsist has one of the greatest lines in cinematic history:

 

So good, in fact, everybody in the world liked it: