Welcome, dear reader, to a tale that blurs the line between the natural and the supernatural, the ordinary and the extraordinary..

Teehee!

As you may guess, I’ve been watching old TV programmes again and if you’re anything like me, you can’t resist them – or the lure of a good mystery – especially one with hints of curses, eerie coincidences, and events that defy explanation. So today, as the snow finally begins to melt here in darkest Derbyshire, we are going to delve into the spine-tingling story behind The Omen (1976). A film that didn’t just terrify audiences with its tale of the Antichrist but also left its own cast and crew looking over their shoulders.

You know the drill by now, but if you’re new..

Pour yourself a cup of tea, settle in, and let’s journey together through the strange and unsettling legacy of one of cinema’s most infamous productions..

The 1976 film The Omen holds a strong place in the annals of cinematic history, not just for its mastery in weaving a tale of dark prophecy, but for the eerie and unsettling occurrences that plagued its production. Directed by Richard Donner, the movie told the story of a young boy named Damien, suspected to be the Antichrist, and the harrowing events that surround him. While the plot itself was spine-chilling, what happened behind the scenes was, for many, even more unnerving, giving rise to whispers of a “curse” attached to the production.

Even before filming began, ominous events seemed to shadow the project. Gregory Peck, cast as Robert Thorn, endured a tragedy when his son, Jonathan, died by suicide just months before filming commenced. Despite his grief, Peck committed to the project, but his troubles were far from over. On his flight to London for production, Peck’s plane was struck by lightning during a storm. Producer Mace Neufeld experienced an identical incident when his flight to the UK was also hit by lightning just days later. While lightning strikes on planes are rare but not impossible, the eerie timing and repetition set the tone for what would become a production riddled with inexplicable events. Screenwriter David Seltzer, whose haunting script brought the story of Damien to life, reportedly experienced his own brush with the extraordinary when his plane was also struck by lightning – I don’t know, maybe it was lightning season. Adding to the growing unsettling trend, producer Harvey Bernard narrowly escaped a lightning strike while on location in Rome, prompting him to declare, “The devil didn’t want the film made.”

Things took another chilling twist when the production chartered a small plane for aerial photography. At the last minute, the plane was switched out, and the one originally intended for use in the film was rented to a group of businessmen. Tragically, shortly after takeoff, this plane crashed, killing everyone on board. The plane hit a car on the road as it crashed, killing everyone in the car. The cars occupants included the pilots wife and children. What are the chances of that happening? I’d estimate them as ‘Low’ personally but I’m no expert. The cause of the crash was reportedly a bird strike, but the accident fuelled speculation that the film itself was marked by dark forces. Because at this point why wouldn’t it?

The so-called curse wasn’t limited to high-altitude incidents, oh no… Of course it wasn’t.. On the ground, the cast and crew experienced their share of unnerving moments. One of the film’s most iconic scenes involved actress Lee Remick’s character, Katherine, trapped in a car as baboons attack. The scene was shot at Windsor Safari Park, and while obviously all necessary safety precautions were taken (allegedly), the baboons became unexpectedly aggressive. Remick’s fear, as captured on film, was not acting but genuine terror. The incident escalated when the park’s keeper, who worked closely with the animals, was mauled by a big cat and was killed. The day after filming. Coincidence? I mean, we are looking at a hefty body count so far. And we ain’t done yet…

During filming, a Rottweiler,intended to be one of Damien’s devilish protectors and ‘affectionately’ referred to as ‘devil dogs’ by the case and crew attacked stuntman Terry Walsh during filming. Apparently Gregory Peck had taken one look at the snuggly hellbeasts and declare a hard “nope” to filming the graveyard scene himself, and even the seasoned fall guy had asked (and been supplied more padding. Despite these precautions, the dogs broke through restraints and savaged Walsh, who narrowly escaped severe injury. Even after the scene was cut the dogs continued to chow down on the stuntmeister who promptly passed out due to shock. In later years, when filming ‘A Bridge Too Far’ with John Richardson Walsh fell from height and narrowly missed severe unaliving. He claimed he felt he had been pushed and blamed the curse. And no wonder, because..

John Richardson, who worked on The Omens groundbreaking special effects, also encountered tragedy. Richardson was responsible for the infamous decapitation scene involving a sheet of glass – you know the one? Filmed from five different cameras simultaneously so even if you cover your eyes you’ll still probably uncover them too soon? Makes Terrifier look like Teletubbies?It was one of the film’s most shocking moments. Not long after The Omen wrapped, Richardson was involved in a car accident in the Netherlands. His assistant, Liz Moore, was tragically killed when a wheel from their vehicle decapitated her – a grim echo of the death he had orchestrated on-screen.

But it gets creepier..

The accident reportedly occurred near a road sign reading “Ommen 6.66km” (allegedly, but unlikely since the road signs don’t have decimal points in the Netherlands, but it was near Omen. Which sounds a bit like Omen), an eerie coincidence that some have interpreted as a dark ‘Omen’ in itself. And on Friday 13th … Which is actually true, I checked.

There were other incidents, too, that added to the film’s unsettling reputation. During filming, a stuntman narrowly avoided serious injury during a fall, a situation that many claimed could have easily gone horribly wrong. Seven of the cast members died in the twenty years following the release of the film ( but it was set in a retirement home).Composer Jerry Goldsmith, whose haunting score for the film won an Academy Award, had his own brush with misfortune, although details of this incident remain more speculative -so speculative in fact that I can find no details of it. So it might not have even happened.

While sceptics argue that these events were merely coincidences – an unfortunate series of unrelated tragedies, if you will – their frequency and chilling parallels to the film’s content are difficult to dismiss outright. The idea of a curse gained traction among fans and cast alike, adding to the film’s mystique and making it a subject of fascination even decades after its release.

Despite the grim events that surrounded its production, The Omen went on to become a critical and commercial success, solidifying its place as one of the greatest horror films of all time. Whether the incidents were purely coincidental or evidence of darker forces at play, they have ensured that the legacy of The Omen is as much about what happened behind the scenes as it is about the story it brought to life.

To this day, The Omen remains a compelling case study for those who believe in supernatural phenomena, and its production serves as a chilling reminder of how sometimes, truth can be stranger – and scarier – than fiction.

And so, dear reader, we come to the end of our exploration into the chilling legacy of The Omen. Was it all just a series of eerie coincidences, or did darker forces truly cast their shadow over the production? Perhaps we’ll never know for certain, and maybe that’s exactly how it should be. After all, the best mysteries are the ones that leave just enough unanswered to keep us looking over our shoulders – or checking the skies for stray lightning.

Until next time, stay curious, keep your wits about you, and remember: sometimes the scariest stories aren’t confined to the screen.