One of several films about creepy kids to come out in the wake of "The Exorcist" in the mid 70's,
this one takes place in England. Where American Ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife, have just suffered the trauma of their newborn son dieing during childbirth,
when a sympathetic priest offers them the chance to adopt a newborn baby, whose mother passed away.
At first things go well, and no-one seems any the wiser that young Damien is not actually theirs. But as soon as he hits his fifth birthday, weird things start to happen. His child minder quite publicly hangs herself, a day at the safari park turns into a scene from "Battle for the Planet of the Apes", he throws a major strop at a friends wedding, and what the hell is up with that creepy new nanny, and where did that Rottweiller come from for that matter?
It also seems that anyone who has an inkling as to Damien's true origins quickly falls victim to a bizarre accident, as a local priest (Patrick Troughton) finds out when he tries to warn Mr Thorn about his son, only to come to a suitably "sticky" end when a freak lightning bolt dislodges his church's weather vein.
But when Robert Thorn is contacted by a newspaper photographer (David Warner), whose pictures seem to foretell of these freak deaths, he begins to take notice of the old priests warnings. Could Damien really be the anti-Christ, or are these freak incident and deaths just a coincidence, and if so how far will his father go to stop him?
Also starring Lee Remick and Leo McKern (Old "Rumpole of the Bailey" himself), this is a classic demonic tale, which although looking a little dated now and proving not to be quite as good as The Exorcist, should be on your list of classic horror "must-sees".
