The Omen. The very name elicits fear in familiar viewers. The iconic original film by Superman director Richard Donner is a bleak tale about the rise of the antichrist via a young boy. The movie was one of the scariest of its time, and it still manages to frighten even the most grizzled horror hound. As with any popular film, especially horror, a sequel was soon spawned followed by yet another.
Today, there are five movies in total, a short-lived television series, and a prequel starring Nell Tiger in the works. The franchise isn't nearly as prolific as others, but how well do these entries stack against each other? Grab your crucifix and say your prayers as we rank every entry in The Omen franchise.
6 Omen IV: The Awakening
The fourth and final film in the original Omen series barely qualifies as an Omen movie. In the early '90s, 20th Century Fox looked to make a large selection of made-for-television sequels to their popular films. Omen IV: The Awakening was the first and only entry to this project. One watch and this is evident, as many critics feel this fourth outing is by far the weakest in the series. Two attorneys adopt a young girl after discovering they are unable to conceive a child of their own. The girl, named Delia, seems normal enough until strange things begin to happen. Their nanny, who happens to be psychic, takes her to a psychic fair where everyone there deduces the girl is evil. After the nanny is pushed out of a window, the mother launches an investigation to find out who her adopted daughter is. In a rather obvious twist, Delia is revealed to be the daughter of Damien Thorne.
If this twist wasn't obvious enough, the mother actually gets inexplicitly pregnant. Naturally, the son she is carrying is the reincarnated antichrist. Because this was a made-for-television movie, the filmmakers weren't able to go as heavy-handed with their satanic imagery as the mainline films. When they do, they aren't exactly subtle about it. This movie had a very low view count and those who did watch it have few positive things to say. It seems futile to compare it to the other films, as it has so little to do with them. Outside the slight reference to Damien and the original theme popping up, this is a sequel in name only. All of this wouldn't be bad except for one flaw: it isn't scary. This movie is unable to elicit the doomy feeling of early entries and is forgotten about as soon as the credits roll.
5 The Omen (2006)
Few horror franchises were able to escape the remake craze of the early 2000s. The Omen was one of those movies that received an update. Admittedly, this is one of the better remakes of the era. The issue is, there is little difference from the original movie. While other remakes try to change the story around a bit, The Omen is the same plot. While not shot for shot like Gus Van Sant's Psycho, just how little is changed makes this remake almost pointless. Rather than go over the same plot twice, some differences will be highlighted. For starters, this film is gorier than the original. While not an outright splatter flick, certain deaths from the original film are shown in more detail here.
Also, Damien doesn't seem to be in the movie as much. In the original, he wasn't exactly in every scene, but he was still a looming presence. Here, the story surrounding Damien is where the gloomy mood comes from. When Damien is on-screen, he usually only stands there and looks creepy. This is not to badmouth the young actor, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick; it's just the script doesn't give him much to do. The biggest thing this remake has against it is its use of excessive jump scares. On more than one occasion, there is a dream scene that exists just to get a jump scare out of the audience. These cheapen the film and ruin some of the actually scary moments. As for the good, the film does still have a dark and doomy presence. Watching it elicits similar feelings as the original, just not as strong. At the end of the day, this remake is far from a bad film. It is just so similar to the first movie, one may as well watch that one instead.
4 Omen III: The Final Conflict
The third chapter in the Omen saga, usually simply titled The Final Conflict, features a now adult Damien Thorne. Played by Jurassic Park star Sam Neil, Damien is now the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. This is the same position once held by Robert Thorne, Damien's adopted father. This means everything has come to full circle and Damien, fully embracing his role as the Antichrist, is ready to make his move. The problem is, the reincarnation of Jesus Christ threatens Damien's rise, and he will do whatever it takes to prevent that. While this movie isn't as scary as the others, it is still an enjoyable enough film. The biggest issue is it feels anticlimactic.
All the movies have led to this point, the ultimate battle of good and evil. Now that it is here, things don't feel as epic as they should. While nobody expected a huge-scale throwdown laced with special effects, they did expect something. A highlight of the film is Neil as Damien. Watching him really does feel like seeing the little boy from the original film all grown up. Seeing Damien fully embrace being evil is a lot of fun, and it is shame more wasn't done with this story.
3 Damien: Omen II
The second film in the franchise sees Damien as a 12-year-old boy living with his Uncle. In Damien: The Omen II, he is beginning to fully accept just what he is. Damien is initially frightened while learning that he is the Antichrist, but as he learns more and more about what he is destined to do, he is more open to the idea. One interesting element of this film is Damien's relationship with cousin Mark. He views Mark as a brother and more importantly, a friend. When Damien accepts what he is, he pleads with Mark to join him.
When Mark refuses, Damien kills him, fully embracing himself with darkness. While this film has some entertaining and scary moments, it is ultimately pointless. Damien's creepy smile at the end of the original film shows he has already embraced what he is, so an entire movie of him embracing it seems redundant. That being said, the actual film itself is a mostly worthy follow-up to the original and works. The deaths are more intense, and the looming feeling of evil is stronger than ever. It might be unnecessary, but it's pretty good.
2 Damien (Television Series)
With the massive success of A&E's Psycho prequel series, Bates Motel, the station decided to bring another long-dormant horror franchise to the small screen. Damien aired in 2016 and was a follow-up to the original film while ignoring all the sequels. The show follows a now 30-year-old Damien Thorne. Having forgotten his demonic past, Damien is now a war photographer. That is, until strange people begin appearing in his life, reminding him of his true destiny.
What made this show so interesting is Damien's will power. He finds out he is the fabled antichrist, yet he has spent the majority of his life as a good-natured human. Being split between supernatural son of Satan and a good person is what drives the show's conflict. The cognitive dissonance existing within Damien makes the narrative more complex, the same way it did with Willem Dafoe's Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (to look at the opposite end of the spiritual spectrum).
The final episode ends when Damien supposedly accepts his demonic side with a chilling callback to the ending of the original film. While the show had a loyal fanbase that still exists today, Damien was unfortunately canceled after one season. The show didn't have a chance to really flesh out the lead character in its story. If the show existed today in the age of 'requels' and legacy sequels, perhaps it could have stood a better chance. As it stands, Damien is an entertaining, albeit incomplete, show. If fans of the film series skipped out on it, they owe it to themselves to check it out. Many fans are still hoping for a revival sometime down the line.
1 The Omen (1976)
The Omen is where it all started, and where the peak of the series lies. Robert Thorne and his wife are expecting a child. Complications cause his wife to slip into a coma and lose the child. Robert learns that a child was born more or less the same time his own son was to be born, and it lost its mother. He adopted the baby as his own, without telling his wife. He comes to regret this, as five years later he learns the terrible truth about his adopted son. The boy, named Damien, is the Antichrist. This film is absolutely terrifying in several ways. While not as in-your-face scary as The Exorcist, The Omen gets in viewers' heads in ways that the former satanic horror classic can't.
The increasing feeling of dread latches on to viewers and stays there long after the film ends. Knowing that a child must die in order for the evil to stop just adds to the unpleasant feeling. This is the only thing in the series that comes one hundred percent recommended. There is a lore that this film established that the other entries don't touch on as much as they should. Hopefully, the upcoming prequel will add to this lore, and make this film that much better to watch after the fact.