Ambitious American ambassador Robert Thorn (an outstanding and dignified performance by the inestimable Gregory Peck) begins to suspect that something is amiss with his adopted son Damien (well played by gifted child thespian Harvey Stephens) following a troubling series of odd and fatal "accidents." Thorn and cynical photographer Keith Jennings (the always excellent David Warner) embark on an investigation which takes them all over Europe in order to uncover the truth about Damien's possibly satanic origins.
Director Robert Donner and screenwriter David Seltzer give the fantastic supernatural premise a semblance of plausibility by firmly grounding said story in a believable everyday world. Moreover, Donner maintains a steady pace throughout, keeps the tone resolutely creepy and serious (there's a welcome absence of any dumb and obtrusive humor), and stages a few elaborate murder set pieces with breathtaking go-for-it verve (an impalement on a huge spike and a stunning decapitation by a large runaway pane of glass are especially effective while a cheery young nanny happily hanging herself at a birthday party proves to be genuinely shocking and disturbing). Better still, the special effects are used in an admirably judicious manner and the picture overall primarily relies on developing and sustaining a potently unsettling gloom-doom mood to get under the viewer's skin. The tension gradually builds to a nerve-wracking fever pitch and culminates in a truly harrowing last third. The uniformly sterling acting by a first-rate cast qualifies as another major asset: Peck and Lee Remick as Torn's sweet, yet frail wife Katherine bring a tremendous amount of class to the film, Billie Whitelaw gives a positively chilling portrayal of sinister governess Ms. Baylock, Patrick Troughton excels as intense priest Father Brennan, and Leo McKern contributes a neat cameo as occult expert Carl Bugenhagen. Kudos are also in order for Gilbert Taylor's glossy cinematography and Jerry Goldsmith's supremely shivery'n'spooky Oscar-winning score. A superior mainstream horror hit.
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