Summary

• The Omen franchise started in 1976 and remains iconic, with the original being a precursor to the slasher craze of the 1980s.
• The Omen sequels have had mixed reviews and commercial success but most remain entertaining in their own ways.
• The latest entry, 2024's The First Omen, is a prequel that could lead to future sequels.

The Omen franchise is one of horror's most iconic, and is still running decades on from its 1976 debut. Before the likes of Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger stole his limelight, The Omen's Antichrist villain Damien Thorn was one of the genre's first icons. The original film's emphasis on gory deaths was also a precursor to the slasher craze of the 1980s, even if The Omen saga is a (somewhat) classier affair. Pretty much every decade since the 1970s has seen a new entry in the property too, be it on the big or small screen.

2024's The First Omen is set in 1971 and is both a prequel and soft reboot that details the days leading up to Damien's birth. Time will tell if the new entry leads to further sequels, but The First Omen's twist ending and reviews suggest its future is bright. Like any long-running franchise, The Omen has had its share of ups and downs critically and commercially. One thing they could never be accused of being is dull, with each installment offering some guilty pleasure thrills at the very least.

Omen 4: The Awakening (1991)

The only Omen sequel not to feature an appearance by Damien

Omen 4: The Awakening has a long, proud tradition of appearing at the bottom of any The Omen movie franchise ranking, and with good reason. This 1991 entry originally aired as a TV movie in the U.S. before receiving a theatrical release in certain territories. The story sees a couple adopt a child named Delia, who is later revealed to be the daughter of the late Damien Thorn.

Being a low-budget TV movie produced for FOX, The Omen 4's production values are noticeably low, the acting is largely poor - aside from leads Faye Grant and Michael Lerner - while the kills are tame to accommodate broadcast standards. To the sequel's credit, it embraces the campiness of the idea more so than the other entries and is taking its evil child cues from Home Alone. The Awakening depicts Delia as more of a troublemaking brat than the Devil's spawn, but while The Omen 4 is a very skippable outing, it still has little sprinkles of fun.

Omen 3: The Final Conflict (1981)

The end of The Omen trilogy was an early star vehicle for Sam Neill

With the first two Omen movies detailing Damien's time as a boy and a teenager, there was only one logical place for the final chapter to go. The third film was originally released as The Final Conflict (later re-releases added Omen 3) and the story involves the adult Damien (Sam Neill) trying to stop the second coming of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, a group of monks plots to kill the Antichrist before he can bring about the apocalypse.

The Final Conflict barely feels like a horror movie, and it lacks the bravura death sequences that defined the other Omen movies.

Omen 3 is a deeply strange movie and one that has a hard time deciding what it wants to be, in terms of genre or tone. The threequel has too many storylines running, from Damien's romantic subplot with a British journalist to his loyal assistant possibly being the father of the second coming of Christ. The Final Conflict barely feels like a horror movie, and it lacks the bravura death sequences that defined the other Omen movies.

More than anything, the side plot involving Damien's disciples slaying babies who might be Christ's second coming makes the sequel unnecessarily mean-spirited. One key saving grace of The Omen 3 is Neill's performance, who is by turn charming and hammy as the older Damien. Neill gets some chewy monologues about the nature of good and evil and just adds a touch of class to the whole thing. Sadly, it isn't enough to stop The Final Conflict feeling like a big anti-climax.

Sam Neill and his Omen 3 co-star Lisa Harrow entered into a romantic relationship during the movie's production and have one son together.

The Omen (2006)

The Omen remake was part of a 2000s horror cycle

The 2000s saw a wave of horror classics being remade, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Rob Zombie's Halloween. The best of these efforts attempted to do something different, but unfortunately, 2006's The Omen remake gets a lot wrong and simply copies the original's homework. This John Moore-directed effort has a lot going in its favor; the cinematography is rich and atmospheric and every time the door opens, great actors like Mia Farrow, Pete Postlethwaite or Michael Gambon walk in.

The Omen remake was rushed into production for an admittedly perfect release date: 06/06/06.

Putting those elements to one side, there is something achingly hollow about the 2006 version. Those who've seen the original know exactly how the story will play out, since this reimagining sticks slavishly to the source material. The deaths might be gorier but this doesn't make them scarier, and The Omen remake's pacing is oddly slack despite sticking so close to the 1976 film. It's not quite on the level of Psycho when it comes to remaking a classic shot for shot, but the 2006 Omen offers absolutely nothing new.

Damien - Omen 2 (1978)

The second Omen features the most sympathetic Damien

The first follow-up Damien - Omen 2 is a well-made, if slightly slow-paced sequel. It focuses on a now teenage Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor), who lives with his aunt and uncle and attends a military academy. Damien suffers a common sequel issue from this era, in that it tries to repeat the structure of the first film while adding little touches of its own. Two elements work in the follow-up's favor though; it genuinely develops Damien as a character, while offering some bloody, Final Destinaton-inspired setpieces.

The Omen 2 also benefits from Damien having to come to terms with his destiny, as he only learns of his ancestry around the midway point. The sequel gives the teenage Damien a soul, and draws on the obvious Jesus Christ parallels.

In fact, Omen 2 is really the Final Destination of its day, with the title character's enemies being dispatched in a series of bizarre, gory accidents. These involve elevator cables, an eye-pecking crow and so forth. The 1978 sequel also benefits from Damien having to come to terms with his destiny, as he only learns of his ancestry around the midway point. The sequel gives the teenage Damien a soul, and draws on the obvious Jesus Christ parallels.

Damien - Omen 2 does its best to emulate its predecessor and often feels like a direct extension of its style and mood. Still, it's just not as well-executed, and there are too many scenes of the Thorn family just hanging out, be it playing sports or having a family movie night. These moments might make Damien feel more human, but they also sap tension from the story.

The First Omen (2024)

The Omen prequel restores the franchise to full strength

Prequels are often far more difficult to pull off than sequels since audiences know where the story is heading. The First Omen is directed by Arkasha Stevenson and follows prospective nun Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) as she starts work at an orphanage in Rome. One curious element of past Omen movies is that the female characters tended to get sidelined, while the male heroes did the investigative work. This prequel corrects that, with The First Omen putting female body horror at the forefront while delivering a deeply unsettling genre exercise.

Free is terrific in the lead, and is ably supported by co-stars Sônia Braga and Charles Dance, with the latter appearing in a table-setting cameo. The visuals and score strongly evoke the 1970s, and while some of the jump scares work better than others, it has some viscerally disturbing scenes. Against all odds, The First Omen even sets up a sequel that slots into the canon of the original trilogy.

Being tied to The Omen franchise arguably works against the prequel, since it needs to tick certain story and genre boxes to make that connection work. Regardless, The First Omen works so much better than a belated prequel to a genre classic should, and it hints at an exciting future for the series.

The Omen (1976)

Richard Donner's horror thriller is labeled a classic for a reason

The raw shock The Omen instilled in viewers in 1976 has been dulled by decades of other films ripping it off, but there is still a potency to the film that truly works.

The Omen hit audiences like a bolt of lightning during its original release. The movie's disturbing concept and intense deaths made it stand out from the crowd, while the presence of stars like Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and David Warner gave it an air of class that most horror movies lack. The raw shock The Omen instilled in viewers in 1976 has been dulled by decades of other films ripping it off, but there is still a potency to the film that truly works.

The movie is best remembered for its elaborate death sequences - including Warner's legendary decapitation via a pane of glass - but rather than being the focus, these scenes are used to underline the stakes. The Omen is often over the top and a little silly, but it is a landmark in the genre and in its own way, even feels underrated compared to 1970s greats like The Exorcist or 1978's Halloween.

The Omen 1-4 and 2006's The Omen remake are all available to stream on Hulu.