Other Titles • The Omen • The Birthmark (1976) • Omen I (1976) • Omen I: The Antichrist (1976) • Omen I: The Birthmark (1976) • Das Omen (1976)
Synopses for The Omen (1976)
1.
Gregory Peck is the ambassador to the United States who's wife has a stillborn child. Without her knowledge, he substitutes another baby as theirs. A few years go by, and then grisly deaths begin to happen. The child's nanny hangs herself and a priest is speared to death in a freak accident. It turns out the child is the son of Satan and can only be killed with the seven daggers of Meggado.
(22 votes)
2.
The Omen: Special Edition
When Kathy Thorn (Lee Remick) gives birth to a stillborn baby, her husband Robert (Gregory Peck) shields her from he devastating truth and substitutes an orphaned infant for their own -- unaware of the child's satanic origins.
The horror begins on Damien's fifth birthday when his nanny stages a dramatic suicide. Soon after, a priest who tries to warn Damien's father is killed in a freakish accident. As the death toll mounts, Robert realizes his son is the Antichrist and decides he must kill the boy to prevent him from fulfilling a cataclysmic prophecy. Briskly paced and breathtakingly evil, The Omen is the first film in a classic four-part legacy of terror.
Omen II: Damien
Since the sudden and highly suspicious death of his parents, 12-year-old Damien has been in the charge of his wealthy aunt and uncle (Lee Grant and William Holden). Widely feared to be the Antichrist, Damien relentlessly plots to seize control of his uncle's business empire -- and the world. Meanwhile, anyone attempting to unravel the secrets of Damien's sinister past or fiendish future meets with a swift and cruel demise. In this chilling sequel to The Omen, the forces of good and evil battle each other to a taut and terrifying end.
Omen III: The Final Conflict
Damien Thorn (Sam Neill) has helped rescue the world from a recession, appearing to be a benign corporate benefactor. When he then becomes U.S. Ambassador to England, Damien fulfills a terrifying biblical prophecy. He also faces his own potential demise as an astronomical event brings about the second coming of Christ. Determined to thwart his holy arch-nemesis, as well as a group of priests intent on killing him, Damien begins his most destructive rampage yet. This story of modern day Armageddon will keep you riveted until it's shocking end!
Omen IV: The Awakening
Gene and Karen York are the living embodiment of the American dream. Rich, influential attorneys, they have everything a couple could want…except a child. When the Yorks learn of a beautiful baby girl waiting to be adopted, they instantly fall in love with baby Delia and adopt her. But terror and destruction seem to follow Delia wherever she goes. The priest who baptized her mysteriously dies, and her nanny falls from a second-story window, impaling herself on a merry-go-round. Soon, Delia's mother begins to question the coincidence of these catastrophes. Her thoughts can't help but turn toward the biblical prophecy of Armageddon…the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil, beginning with the birth of Satan in human form.
(21 votes)
3.
A staid American ambassador (Peck) and his wife are heartbroken when their child is stillborn, but their heartbreak is only beginning when they adopt an orphan. As the boy grows, disaster surrounds him, beginning with the suicide of his nanny, and as the bodies pile up, his horrified father begins to believe that the boy is evil incarnate and must be destroyed. The unique climax paved the way for the two popular sequels, "Damien - Omen II" and "Final Conflict." A fourth was intended, but as interest in the franchise declined, the project was scrapped. Academy Award Nominations: 2, including Best Original Song ("Ave Satani"). Academy Awards: Best Original Score.
(21 votes)
4.
After The Exorcist sparked a lengthy trend of supernatural thrillers, this 1976 horror film scored a hit with critics and audiences for mixing gothic horror and mystery into its plot about a young boy suspected of being the personification of the anti-Christ. (No doubt it's a favorite of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson.) Directed by Richard Donner (best known for his Superman and Lethal Weapon films), The Omen gained a lot of credibility from the casting of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as a distinguished American couple living in England, whose young son Damien bears "the mark of the beast." Mysterious deaths and unexplained incidents draw the attention of a photographer (David Warner), whose investigation leads to the young boy--and also to the photographer's shocking decapitation (in a scene that has since been inducted into the horror hall of fame). At a time when graphic gore had yet to dominate the horror genre, this film used its violence discreetly and to great effect, and the mood of dread and potential death is masterfully maintained. It's all a bit hokey, with a lot of biblical portent and sensational fury, but few would deny it's highly entertaining. Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-winning score works wonders to enhance the movie's creepy atmosphere. --Jeff Shannon
(20 votes)
5.
In 1976 The Omen scored a hit with critics and audiences hungry for more after The Exorcist with its mixture of Gothic horror and mystery and its plot about a young boy suspected of being the personification of the anti-Christ. Directed by Richard Donner (best known for his Superman and Lethal Weapon films), The Omen gained a lot of credibility from the casting of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as a distinguished American couple living in England, whose young son Damien bears "the mark of the beast". At a time when graphic gore had yet to dominate the horror genre, this film used its violence discreetly and to great effect and the mood of dread and potential death is masterfully maintained. It's all a bit contrived, with a lot of biblical portent and sensational fury but few would deny it's highly entertaining. Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-winning score works wonders to enhance the movie's creepy atmosphere. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Damien: Omen II takes place several years after the mysterious events that claimed the life of the US Ambassador and his wife as the now teenaged and militarily enrolled Damien Thorne is slowly being made aware of his unholy heritage and horrific destiny. Woe is he (including anyone in Damien's adoptive family and his classmates) who suspects the truth or gets in his way. While not as unrelentingly frightening as its blockbuster predecessor, this more-than-competent sequel raises some interesting questions about the nature of free will (can the anti-Christ deny his birthright?) before falling into a gory series of increasingly outlandish deaths, the best of which is a terrifyingly protracted scene beneath the ice of a frozen lake. Jerry Goldsmith (who won an Oscar for his work on the first film in the series) contributes another marvellously foreboding score. --Andrew Wright, Amazon.com
The series concludes with The Omen III: The Final Conflict, starring Sam Neill as the adult Damien--aka the son of Satan--in a battle with the heavens for control of mankind. The film ends up depending more heavily on effects and spectacle than on the kind of basic horrors that made the first movie in the series so unsettling but at least this one gives some closure to the seemingly endless saga. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
On the DVDs: On the original movie disc there is an all-new 45-minute documentary, "666: The Omen Revealed", with contributions from all the major behind-the-scenes players, including director, editor, screenwriter (who confesses the movie was only set in England because he wanted a free trip to London!), producer and composer. The latter, Jerry Goldsmith, has his Oscar-winning contribution to the movie recognised with a separate feature in which he talks through four key musical scenes in the score. There's also a thought-provoking short called "Curse or Coincidence?" in which the many bizarre accidents that happened during shooting are related, including the terrible story of what happened to the girlfriend of the man responsible for designing the decapitation scene. Director Richard Donner and editor Stuart Baird provide a chatty audio commentary to the movie. The second and third films lack as many extra features, being content with audio commentaries and theatrical trailers: the commentary for Omen II is by producer Harvey Bernhard, that for Omen III by director Graham Baker. --Mark Walker
(20 votes)
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