All Omen Movies Ranked: As a good Catholic boy, there is nothing that terrifies me more than the Church. I distinctly remember being transfixed as a child by a depiction of our Lord in his usual position: blood dripped from the gash on his side; the crown of thorns blistered his forehead; hands and feet impaled against the dark wood of the cross. No kid needs to be seeing that shit. As a result of this, many of the films that have scared me the most over the years have had some kind of religious connotation. “The Exorcist.” “Hereditary.” And, first of all, “The Omen.”
I saw “The Omen” as a teenager, and I was taken with the inventive and grisly death scenes, the atmosphere of impending doom, and the idea that the devil is not only very real but that he walks among us. This appealed to my Catholic sensibilities. Say your prayers…
6. Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)
Despite the third entry in this franchise being labeled “The Final Conflict,” it turns out there were actually three more conflicts to come. Who’d have thought it? “The Awakening” takes place many years after the events of “The Omen,” and this time, we have Delia (Asia Vieira) instead of Damien. Karen (Faye Grant) and Gene York (Michael Woods) adopt Delia from a convent, and then all the usual “Omen” stuff starts happening: mysterious deaths, animals behaving strangely, and upside-down crucifixes. We know the drill by now. Director Dominique Othenin-Girard (who was eventually replaced halfway through filming by Jorge Montesi) has a track record in this area, having been at the helm for “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.” Despite its poor reputation and status as a TV movie, I mostly enjoyed “Omen IV.”
The acting is surprisingly competent for a TV movie, and many of the set pieces still stand out. The main issue here is that it’s too similar to the source material to really stand on its own two feet, and secondly, the abrupt ending negates all the excellent work that precedes it. There is also some terrible make-up work, which is one of the few times that this looks like a TV movie. “Omen IV” is not as bad as critics would have you believe, and fans of the original will find comfort in familiarity. Heck, they even recycle Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score for good measure.
5. Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
This second sequel should have been a slam dunk. Or a Sam Dunk, given as it boasts Sam Neill as its leading man. Sam Neill leading a cult army of satan worshippers – it sounds delicious, doesn’t it? And in its best moments, there is a lot here to recommend it. A TV interview gone wrong. A preposterously long fox-hunting scene. It’s all good stuff. The problem is that these moments are few and far between. The mere presence of Neill ensures this isn’t a total bust. But it’s not a patch on the original, and the whole thing has the faint whiff of missed opportunity.
Given the wacky premise, there was an opportunity here to really go for it and throw everything at the wall. Director Graham Baker instead plays it ridiculously safe, and the result is an anemic and frankly quite dull sequel that suffers badly in comparison to the original. It’s difficult to know who this film is for. It’s hard to imagine there was much of a clamor for it upon release. Having said all that, it does feature an absolutely horrifying scene, including a baby that genuinely gave me sleepless nights for days afterward, so if you’re looking for a mostly tedious film that has one truly terrifying sequence, then this is the weirdly specific film for you.
4. Damien: Omen II (1978)
Most of the main ingredients needed for a successful horror sequel are present in “Omen II.” The score is suitably creepy. William Holden is excellent as Damien’s uncle, and the story is just different enough from the first film to justify its existence. Alas, there is a problem here. The main crux of what made “The Omen” so frightening was that Damien was a child. This juxtaposition between innocence and evil ensured the original film’s effectiveness. In “Omen II,” Damien is now a teenager, and boy, is he a little prick! This horror sequel suffers so much from emo Damien’s bad behavior that it never really recovers.
Still, as far as horror sequels go, it isn’t terrible, and it does a good job of attempting to build a bit of lore around the characters. It also sees the return of the fantastically named Bugenhagen (played with barely suppressed hysteria by Leo McKern), and that can only be a good thing. Plus, it retains the OMINUS DOMINUS chanting from the first movie. I love that song…
3. The Omen (2006)
Look. I know everyone hates remakes of classic films. But sometimes, if you can divorce the remake from the original, you are left with something pretty good. Released 30 years after Richard Donner’s horror classic, John Moore’s modern update retains the frenzied hysteria of the source material and actually goes one step further at times. There are some genuinely dark moments in this movie and some genuinely ridiculous moments, too. It’s a heady mix made even more seductive by an outstanding Liev Schreiber performance in the lead role and a supporting cast boasting Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow, and David Thewlis. Don’t get me wrong, it never threatens to dethrone the original, and in terms of plot, it is very faithful to the source material. But as remakes of horror classics go, this is actually one of the most effective.
Moore has a visual flair for horror, as evidenced not just by the death scenes but also by the genuinely terrifying nightmare sequences—one addition not present in the 1976 release that adds a bit of originality here. While “The Omen” (2006) doesn’t break any new ground, it’s a better film than any of the other sequels. It’s more entertaining, sure, but also more compelling and frightening. It’s a minor success.
2. The First Omen (2024)
Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) arrives in Rome in 1971 amid left-wing protests with the intention of taking her vows and becoming a nun in a local orphanage. She is endorsed by a powerful cardinal (Bill Nighy) and seems destined for great things within the church. Events start to take a dark turn when an uncharacteristic night of heavy drinking (with her roommate and fellow aspiring nun Luz (Maria Caballero)) results in Margaret waking up fully clothed with no idea how she got home (after dancing the night away with a handsome Italian gentleman, no less). Margaret finds solace in mistreated orphan Carlita (Nicole Sorace) and soon finds herself butting heads with the other sisters. Meanwhile, deranged Irish priest Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) seems intent on issuing Margaret with a strange warning.
First-time director Arkasha Stevenson gets plenty right in this bombastic and entertaining prequel. Free is perfectly cast in the lead (a role she has surely earned through her excellent work on the under-seen Apple TV+ horror serial Servant). This is the best-looking Omen film since the original (vastly aided by the decision to shoot on location in Rome), and the frightening moments here are memorable and effective. Some of the death sequences hark back to the source material (with mixed results), and the film takes great pains to ensure that this is more than just a spiritual prequel.
Indeed, I would recommend re-watching “The Omen” before heading into this movie if you haven’t seen it for a while. That being said, it’s odd that while “The First Omen” works hard to be as faithful to the original as possible, there is one major plot point that is subverted that doesn’t quite match up with Richard Donner’s 1976 classic. It appears this change was made to leave room open for a sequel, and while I would welcome that, this lack of cohesion is a little jarring when considering how well the rest of the film flows into the opening scenes of the original movie.
1. The Omen (1976)
While there is a natural lineage between “Rosemary’s Baby” in 1968, “The Exorcist” in ’73, and “The Omen” in ’76, they are different enough from each other to ensure that each film is iconic in its own right. “The Omen” benefits from a stunning performance from a washed-up, grieving Gregory Peck – still stunned by the suicide of his son Jonathan – as well as a haunting score and superb direction from Richard Donner – the man who would go on to give the world “Superman,” “The Goonies,” “Scrooged,” and “Lethal Weapon.” What makes “The Omen” so compelling, outside of the unforgettable death sequences (‘It’s all for you, Damien!), is that Peck and Donner convince us that a reasonable man actually could try and murder a child given the right circumstances.
The film earns that hypothesis in a captivating way. It helps that David Warner delivers a suitably grumpy turn as an incredulous reporter, and Harvey Stephens plays Damien in such a way that ensures that the character will be iconic for years to come. “The Omen” isn’t dated; it just feels vintage—like a fine wine—although I think all wine tastes like washing up liquid, so maybe not that. Like a fine can of Irn Bru, perhaps. You can’t beat the classics!
