The Omen (1976)

I have chosen the Omen to review the start of because it is very famous, and contains a child as the main horror character. It is a 20th Century Fox film, which already shows it is made from a reliable source. The film starts of with piano playing and a choir. The music is erie yet loud which builds up suspense and a sense of anticipation. There is a black background, which connotes the film will be dark, white tittles fade up to reveal e.g. the production. This is very simple, yet effect. About 20 seconds into the intro a silhouette on a red background appears. The red color connotes the devil and evil, and the silhouette soon appears to be a boy's. This shows that the young boy has something to do with evil/the devil. It also connotes he is a main character. The shadow of the boy is the shape of the cross. This shows he may not be human, and having a cross is strange because you do not normally relate it to evil. A church bell dongs, and the tittle "THE OMEN" appears. It is in capital letters, which shows it is important, this is because it is the name of the film. The music gets louder and sharper, this again increase the fear of what will follow. The singing contrasts with the music, this makes the music even more frightening. The titles fade out and a shot of a man in a cab appears. The lighting is still dark so it doesnt contrast to the introduction. The place, date and time appear on screen to show when the scene is set. As the cab moves forward a non-diegetic voice sounds. It is deep and rough and sounds unhuman. It repeats "the child is dead" which itself is scary and makes the audience think, "what child, "how did he die" etc. I personally feel this is a good film opening and the music is spot on, the start is scary and sets the mood of the film straight away.