The Omen Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The Omen Blu-ray Movie Review

The Omen (1976) is being released as part of Scream Factory's five-disc box set, The Omen Collection: Deluxe Edition.

Fox's stand-alone 2008 BD-50 of Richard Donner's original horror classic was first reviewed by my colleague Marty Liebman. To read Marty's critique of the film, A/V, and supplements, please click here.

The Omen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory has created a new 4K transfer from the film's original negative, which was approved by director Richard Donner. The Omen appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Watching this new master is quite a revelation. The picture has an enhanced clarity and sharpness that it hasn't had before on home video. On the commentary, Scott Michael Bosco mentions that it appears darker than it has on prior video editions and that's how it looked on the theatrical prints. He would know since he saw it back in '76. Colors are exceptionally well-defined. Scream has encoded the feature with a mean video bitrate of 25998 kbps.

Screenshot #s 1-12, 14, 16, 18, & 20 = Scream Factory 2019 4K Remaster
Screenshot #s 13, 15, 17, & 19 = 20th Century Fox 2008 Blu-ray

The 111-minute feature contains the usual twelve scene selections.

The Omen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For the first time, Scream has supplied the movie's original monaural in lossless. It's rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono (1677 kbps, 24-bit). They've also rehashed Fox's 5.1 remix with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3245 kbps, 24-bit). The packaging lists an Isolated Score Track (in Dolby Digital 5.1) from the prior Fox but it wasn't on my screener. The mono master is in pristine shape. There is no hiss, dropouts, scratches, pops, or crackles. Dialogue is clean and authentic. It's hard to believe that Jerry Goldsmith won only one Oscar and it indeed was for The Omen, one of several great horror scores the maestro wrote. "Ave Satani" sounds chilling as it plays over the opening credits. I own Varèse Sarabande's Deluxe Edition CD of Goldsmith's score, which contains fifty minutes of music. Bosco points out that there's an orphan piece heard in the film that hasn't been included on any of the three album CDs and it's unknown whether or not it was written by Goldsmith.

The main feature comes accompanied with optional English SDH. The Fox Blu-rays have an array of subtitling options.

The Omen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream Factory licensed nearly all the bonus materials from Fox's 2008 Blu-ray (sans the Trivia Track) and recorded a new commentary along with three new interviews. The Omen Revelations, which was included as Picture-in-Picture in Fox's BonusView while the film plays, is retained here as a standalone featurette. For synopses of the older extras, please refer back to Marty's review.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Special Project Consultant Scott Michael Bosco - Bosco reminisces about first seeing The Omen in the cinema with his brother, a historian and avid film fan. Bosco discusses a range of diverse topics. In particular, he engages in a theological discussion about the film's underpinnings, covering everything from mysticism to prophecies. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary with Director Richard Donner and Editor Stuart Baird

• Audio Commentary with Director Richard Donner and Filmmaker Brian Helgeland

• Audio Commentary with Film Historians Lem Dobbs, Nick Redman, and Jeff Bond

• NEW The Devil's Word – An Interview with Screenwriter David Seltzer (23:25, 1080p) - Seltzer looks back at his first writing assignment in Hollywood, his thought process as he wrote The Omen, his working relationship with Donner, being on the set of the movie, among other topics. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW It's All for You – An Interview with Actress Holly Palance (13:14, 1080p) - the daughter of the late Jack Palance recalls how her first meeting with Richard Donner, her memories of how he directed her, her awe of meeting Gregory Peck as well as her impressions of Lee Remick and David Warner. She makes special note of how one of her scenes ranks among the scariest in movie history. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW The Devil's Music – An Interview with Composer Christopher Young Talking about Jerry Goldsmith's Legendary Score (19:05, 1080p) - Chris Young is a longtime admirer of Goldsmith's oeuvre. He analyzes particular cues from The Omen as well as scores to the sequels. In English, not subtitled.

• Richard Donner on The Omen (14:37, 1080p)

• The Omen Revelations (24:10, upscaled to 1080i)

• Curse of Coincidence? (6:22, upscaled to 1080i)

• 666: The Omen Revealed (46:18, upscaled to 1080i)

• Screenwriter's Notebook – An Interview with Writer David Seltzer (14:53, upscaled to 1080i)

• Introduction with Director Richard Donner (2006) (1:56, upscaled to 1080i)

• Deleted Scene with Commentary (1:24, 1080p)

• An Appreciation – Wes Craven on The Omen (20:17, upscaled to 1080i)

• Jerry Goldsmith Discusses The Omen Score (17:37, upscaled to 1080i)

• Trailers from Hell Featuring Commentary by Filmmaker Larry Cohen (2:46, 1080p)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:25, upscaled to 1080i)

• TV Spots (1:26, upscaled to 1080i)

• Radio Spots (3:51)

• Behind-the-Scenes Gallery (5:46, 1080p) - seventy images comprising black-and-white and color still photos of the cast and crew on set and on location of The Omen. At least two-thirds of these were taken in B&W but a solid bunch were also captured in color.

• Movie Stills Gallery (6:16, 1080p) - Of the eighty-four images included in this gallery, the first sixty or so are in vivid color while the rest are in B&W. Many of these on-set snapshots show Lee Remick and Harvey Stephens together, including a scene that was cut from the theatrical release.

• Posters and Lobby Cards Gallery (6:08, 1080p) - a total of eighty-three stills make up this slide show. The first thirteen stills consist of various US posters that were displayed to promote The Omen; this is followed by eight lobby cards (in color) and three B&W glossy photos from Fox's official press kit. The next fifty-nine images are mostly posters, lobby cards, promotional booklets, and magazines from international ad campaigns.

The Omen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Scream Factory has delivered a wonderful new 4K scan of The Omen that demonstrates improved contrast, definition, and gamma levels. It's a treat to have the original mono mix available as an uncompressed track. I enjoyed the new interviews with Seltzer, Palance, and Young. It's an added bonus to have a philosophical audio commentary by a big fan of the film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.