History Film / TheOmen

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] American heavy metal band Omen.

''The Omen'' is a 1976 suspense/horror film directed by Richard Donner. The film stars GregoryPeck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo [=McKern=]. The first film was scripted by David Seltzer, who also wrote the novelization.

Robert Thorn (Peck), when his wife delivered a stillborn child, was approached by a priest with the offer of an infant whose mother experienced a DeathByChildbirth. He agreed to the switch, and his wife was blissfully unaware of the truth. Several years later, Robert becomes the American ambassador to England and the Thorn family moves into a large manor there. And that's when mysterious deaths and odd events begin to plague the Thorns and those in their orbit, ''especially'' those who attempt to convince them that little Damien is not all he seems...

The movie followed a cycle of '[[EnfantTerrible demonic]] [[CreepyChild child]]' movies, such as ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' and ''Film/TheExorcist'', and was itself followed by three sequels (''Film/DamienOmenII'', ''The Final Conflict'', and ''Omen IV: The Awakening''). After the first three films were novelized, two non-canon book sequels were written by Gordon [=McGill=] (''Omen IV: Armageddon 2000'' and ''Omen V: The Abomination'') chronicling the exploits of Damien's son and his attempts to cause the end of the world through interfering with the international peace process. There were a number of copycat films such as the Italian-made Kirk Douglas movie ''Film/{{Holocaust 2000}}''.

A remake was released on June 6, 2006, a release date chosen because of its significance to the Number of the Beast (666).

[[folder:''The Omen'']]
* AnimalsHateHim: Damien terrifies most animals. They either flee or attack him and for good reason. The exceptions, of course, are his [[HellHound guard dogs]].
* AsideGlance: Damien at the end. Also even more effectively in the teaser of the remake.
* BloodFromTheMouth: Katherine, after the fall that kills her unborn child. [[spoiler: And again when she herself dies after being pushed out the hospital window.]]
* DoomedAppointment: Subverted. Thorn gets the warning, but doesn't believe it.
* DownerEnding
* ExecutiveMeddling: Damien was supposed to die at the end, but Donner was persuaded to change the ending to allow for sequels.
* HeyItsThatGuy: Patrick Troughton, [[Series/DoctorWho the Second Doctor himself]], plays a priest who warns Damien's father of the boy's true identity. Cue the next trope.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The priest in the courtyard during the thunderstorm.
* OffWithHisHead: Jennings's death, still considered by horror buffs to be one of the best deaths of all time.
* SpookyPhotographs: Every single picture Jennings takes contains some clue about how the subject will die by Satan's influence.
* SwordOverHead: Despite the victim being a [[spoiler: [[CrocodileTears crying child]]]] the audience is likely screaming [[KillHimAlready KILL HIM ALREADY !!!]].
* TheVoiceless: In an earlier draft of the script Damien had absolutely no lines. In the actual film he talks infrequently but is still curiously quiet for a 5-year old.

[[folder:''The Final Conflict'']]
* AdultFear: [[TheAntiChrist Damien Thorn]], when he found out about the birth of the Christ child, resorted to [[spoiler: KillEmAll]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: A lot actually, but two that stick out the most is the death of the one priest who is mauled to death by bloodhounds during a hunt and another priest who burns to death whilst trapped in melting plastic sheets. And what makes it worse is that the latter doesn't die quickly.
* EyeScream: The iron.
* FamousLastWords: [[TheAntiChrist Damien]]: "[[{{Jesus}} Nazarene]]...you have won ''nothing''."
* FoxHunting: During a hunt, Damien gets cornered by some priests over a bridge. He uses his demonic powers to make one horse throw off its rider and send him into the stream below, and then he possesses the hounds to make them maul the other priest to death.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Damien isn't very considerate of his partner, leaving her full bite- and scratchmarks.
* HannibalLecture: Damien gives one to a statue of Jesus on the Cross about how he is a weak charlatan who gives humanity false hope. The speech then goes into a MotiveRant about Damien avenging [[TheDevil his father's]] exile from {{Heaven}}.
* InfantImmortality: Averted.
* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: ''The Final Conflict'' has Damien try to prevent the second coming of Christ by killing any and all children born during the herald of his return.
* ProphecyTwist: Damien attempts to stop the second coming of Christ by killing any children born during the sign of his immanent return. This is to prevent "[[AntiChrist the beasts]]" defeat to "the lamb" as predicted in [[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation]] before he's even had a chance to face him. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for the forces of darkness, Jesus returns not as a mortal child but rather in his all-powerful divine form and proceeds to strike Damien down personally-[[GenreBlind which is what the Book of Revelation said would happen]].]]
* RetCon: The fashions, cars, et cetera make it quite clear ''The Omen'' was supposed to be set around the time of its release in the mid-70s. When ''Damien: Omen II'' came out two years later with Damien seven or so years older, it seemed like a case of TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. But ''The Final Conflict'' is explicitly set in 1982 with a 32-year-old Damien, retroactively pushing the events of the original film back to the mid-1950s and ''Damien'' to the early 1960s, neither of which fits the evidence in the earlier films at all.
* ScrewDestiny: Damien's motivation is to prevent his prophesied defeated at the hands of Jesus during the Second Coming.
* StoppedNumberingSequels: Originally released as ''The Final Conflict'', without a number OR the franchise title! While modern home video releases have ''Omen III'' on the box, the original title card is still shown in the movie itself.
* UnwillingSuspension: Happens to the one of the monks, who is then wrapped in plastic and is [[ManOnFire caught on fire]].
* VillainBall: Damien seemed unstoppable and indestructible in the first two films, but here? [[spoiler:If he had simply taken twenty minutes or so to read TheBookOfRevelation, he might have seen the rather large flaw in his plan, which is why he's finally taken down.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Omen IV: The Awakening'']]
* DaddysGirl: Delia doesn't like her mother much, but whenever she has been naughty, she only has to look at her father with PuppyDogEyes and tell him a made-up story (usually one that her father can relate to because of personal childhood experience), and she has him wrapped around her finger.
* RetCon: At the end of ''The Final Conflict'', [[spoiler:the second coming happens successfully and Jesus Christ returns to the Earth at full power, killing Damien.]] In ''The Awakening'', [[spoiler:Damien is still dead, but there's no sign Jesus ever showed up, which would probably be kind of a big deal.]]
* StockSubtitle: ''The Awakening''.
* TrilogyCreep: The film involved the daughter of Damien and the {{AntiChrist}}'s return to Earth. It tried to explore the world of ''TheOmen'' more, but the film had a meandering plot with many plotholes and was quietly shunted into CanonDisContinuity.
** It also had the audacity to have a sequel hook. Seriously the third movie was called "The Final Conflict" and [[spoiler: the AntiChrist died infront of the risen Jesus]]. How could it have been more final?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The 2006 Remake]]
* AsideGlance: Damien at the end. Also even more effectively in the teaser of the remake.
* AmbiguousDisorder: In the original, Damien mostly comes across as a normal kid. However, in the remake, he's significantly creepier; in a different genre, viewers would assume he had some kind of developmental disorder. Oddly, his mother makes the leap there's something inherently evil about him rather than assuming he might have one of the disorders and getting him tested.
* CastingGag: [[Film/RosemarysBaby Mia Farrow]] as Mrs. Baylock (from the devil's UnwittingPawn and mother to a devil child to a willing servant of the Antichrist and caretaker of a devil child).
* CoversAlwaysLie: The "hellish" alternate ending advertised on the DVD is nothing more than the entire swat team sniping Thorn versus just one guy. Hardly hellish by anyone's definition.
* DeathGlare: Damien gives his mother one right after his freakout on his way to church.
* {{Hellhound}}: A black German shepherd appears when Damien's first nanny commits suicide. It was perhaps Satan.
* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Film/HarryPotter Lupin and Dumbledore]] are in the 2006 remake. So are [[{{Film/Inception}} Maurice Fisher]] and [[Film/TheBourneSupremacy Nicky]].
** Robert Thorn is an AssholeVictim cop who [[{{Phantoms}} wants you to see something]].
* ShoutOut: The scene where Kate is hanging onto the railing for dear life and looking up at Damien is similar to Mufasa's death scene in ''Disney/TheLionKing''. Their dialog is also a bit similar.
-->'''Kate:''' Damien...please...help me...
-->'''Mufasa:''' Scar! Brother...help me...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The [=NonCanon=] Novels]]
* BodyHorror/ DeathByChildbirth / FetusTerrible: How Damian's son is born.
* OmnicidalManiac: Unlike his father who intended to rule the Earth, Damian Jr just wants to see it burn.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Damian Thorn Jr looks just like a younger version of his father. Not surprising, as Junior is heavily implied to be Damian's reincarnation. He's kept in hiding for this reason.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: The novel is set in the year 2000, and at one point the character needs to look up a piece of information. He does so by requesting the use of a hotel's sole computer, which is a giant monstrosity that is wheeled into his room by the hotel staff. He asks the staff if the book he is looking for in the computer's database, to which the staff member assures him that the computer holds every book. Later, while using the computer, the character makes queries to the computer which then draws logical conclusions based on the questions he asks it, something which no computer in any era is able to do. Perhaps the author didn't realize that even in the future computers can only organize information, it's still up to people to draw conclusions from that data.
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The novels were written in the early 1980s, and set in the year 2000.
[[/folder]]

Though similar to ''Film/TheExorcist'' in several ways and poorly regarded by critics upon release, it was a huge hit and has gained prestige over time for a number of reasons: its respectability (as a profitable major-studio film with renowned actors), its seriousness (it plays as a contemporary thriller, rather than with the knowing excesses of certain aspects of the horror genre)[[note]]GregoryPeck didn't even know it was a horror film until they started shooting![[/note]], and the originality of the movie's excellent choral score by JerryGoldsmith. "Ave Satani", the famous theme music, even got an AcademyAward nomination for Best Original Song!

It also displays some of the bad style of TheSeventies and comes across as very cheesy at times, despite generally maintaining a solid degree of intelligence and sincerity. [[note]] To show how times change, it actually warranted discussion in one of the first major books on bad movies, 1978's ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way)''.[[/note]]

''TheOmen'' is a 1976 suspense/horror film directed by Richard Donner. The film stars GregoryPeck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo [=McKern=]. The first film was scripted by David Seltzer, who also wrote the novelization.

The movie followed a cycle of '[[EnfantTerrible demonic]] [[CreepyChild child]]' movies, such as ''RosemarysBaby'' and ''Film/TheExorcist'', and was itself followed by three sequels (''Damien: Omen II'', ''Omen III: The Final Conflict'', and ''Omen IV: The Awakening''). After the first three films were novelized, two non-canon book sequels were written by Gordon [=McGill=] (''Omen IV: Armageddon 2000'' and ''Omen V: The Abomination'') chronicling the exploits of Damien's son and his attempts to cause the end of the world through interfering with the international peace process. There were a number of copycat films such as the Italian-made Kirk Douglas movie ''Film/{{Holocaust 2000}}''.

[[folder:The Omen]]

[[folder:Damien: Omen II]]
* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: Damien threatens Mark with this after he rejects his offer to rule Earth, leading to his death. It's notable as it's the only death in the franchise that Damien appears to feel actual remorse for.
* ExecutiveMeddling: The director wanted Damien to be ''fifteen'' in the sequel, according to WordOfGod. He wanted this because he thought it would be interesting to give Damien a girlfriend ''before'' he discovers what he is, ensuring {{Angst}} when he has to chose [[ThePowerOfLove love]] or [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destiny]]. The execs forced him to accept Damien at 12. It's very ironic that nowadays the execs would be pushing to have Damien older.
* EvilAllAlong: At the end, [[spoiler: Ann Thorn]] is revealed to have been on Satan's side [[spoiler: when she "gives" her husband the sacred daggers. She dies shortly afterward, having outlived her usefulness]].
* EyeScream: A woman has her two eyes beaked by a raven, leaving her blindly walking into the path of an incoming truck. Talk about a gruesome way to go.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:The doctor who tests Damien's blood and discovers he has ''jackal'' DNA.]] Finds himself sliced in half whilst involved in a freak elevator "accident."
* HeKnowsTooMuch: See HalfTheManHeUsedToBe.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: The last guy from the first movie (played by Leo [=McKern=]) who knew Damien's secret is killed off in the opening minutes of ''Damien: The Omen II'', tying up a remaining loose end. [[spoiler: [=McKern=] is the ''only'' cast member to appear in more than one movie of the series.]]
* WeCanRuleTogether: Damien tries to convince his adopted brother Mark to join him in his quest to rule the Earth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Omen III: The Final Conflict]]

[[folder:Omen IV: The Awakening]]

The movie followed a cycle of '[[EnfantTerrible demonic]] [[CreepyChild child]]' movies, such as ''RosemarysBaby'' and ''Film/TheExorcist'', and was itself followed by three sequels (''Damien: Omen II'', ''Omen III: The Final Conflict'', and ''Omen IV: The Awakening''). After the first three films were novelized, two non-canon book sequels were written by Gordon [=McGill=] (''Omen IV: Armageddon 2000'' and ''Omen V: The Abomination'') chronicling the exploits of Damien's son and his attempts to cause the end of the world through interfering with the international peace process. There were a number of copycat films such as the Italian-made Kirk Douglas movie ''{{Holocaust 2000}}''.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Patrick Troughton, [[DoctorWho the Second Doctor himself]], plays a priest who warns Damien's father of the boy's true identity. Cue the next trope.

* SwordOverHead: Despite the vicitim being a [[spoiler: [[CrocodileTears crying child]]]] the audience is likely screaming [[KillHimAlready KILL HIM ALREADY !!!]].

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: A lot actually, but two that stick out the most is the death of the one priest who is mauled to death by bloodhounds during a hunt and another priest who burns to death whilst trapped in melting plastic sheets. And what makes it worse is that the latter doesn't die fast.

* AmbiguousDisorder: In the original, Damien mostly comes across as a normal kid. However, in the remake, he's significantly creepier; in a different genre, viewers would assume he had some kind of developmental disorder. Oddly, his mother makes the leap there's something inherently evil about him rather than assuming he might have one of the disorders and getting him tested. In another film, this might fall under UnfortunateImplications, if the audience wasn't aware Damien's ''[[TheAntiChrist the son of the devil]]'' and that her paranoia is wholly justified.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Damien puts on an impressive performance when faced with his demise. [[spoiler: And it works.]] Though some feel he wasn't exactly [[WildMassGuessing acting at the time]]...be it fear of death or genuine confusion.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: See HalfTheManHe UsedToBe.

* DownerEnding

[[folder:The Omen II]]

[[folder:The Omen III]]

[[folder:The Omen IV]]

* EnfantTerrible: The plot of the first film. He's better behaved at the start of the second film, until he learns of his call.

* AsideGlance: Damien at the end of the first movie and its remake. Also even more effectively in the teaser of the remake.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Damien was supposed to die at the end of the first movie, but Donner was persuaded to change the ending to allow for sequels.

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler: The doctor in the second film who tests Damien's blood and discovers he has ''jackal'' DNA.]] Finds himself sliced in half whilst involved in a freak elevator "accident."

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: A lot actually, but two that stick out the most is the death of the one priest who is mauled to death by bloodhounds during a hunt and another priest who burns to death whilst trapped in melting plastic sheets. [[NightmareFuel Ouch.]] And what makes it worse is that the latter doesn't die fast.
* EyeScream: The iron from the third movie.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Damien isn't very considerate of his partner in the third film, leaving her full bite- and scratchmarks.
* HannibalLecture: In the third film, Damien gives one to a statue of Jesus on the Cross about how he is a weak charlatan who gives humanity false hope. The speech then goes into a MotiveRant about Damien avenging [[TheDevil his father's]] exile from {{Heaven}}.

* ProphecyTwist: Damien attempts to stop the second coming of Christ by killing any children born during the sign of his immanent return. This is to prevent "[[AntiChrist the beasts]]" defeat to "the lamb" as predicted in [[Literature/TheBible Revelation]] before he's even had a chance to face him. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for the forces of darkness, Jesus returns not as a mortal child but rather in his all-powerful divine form and proceeds to strike Damien down personally-[[GenreBlind which is what the Book of Revelation said would happen]].]]

* UnwillingSuspension: Happens to the one of the monks in the third film, who is then wrapped in plastic and is [[ManOnFire caught on fire]].

* TrilogyCreep: The fourth film (this a one made-for-TV deal) involved the daughter of Damien and the {{AntiChrist}}'s return to Earth. It tried to explore the world of ''TheOmen'' more, but the film had a meandering plot with more holes than [[Music/TheBeatles Blackburn, Lancashire]] and was quietly shunted into CanonDisContinuity.

* AsideGlance: Damien at the end of the first movie and its remake. Also even more effectively in the teaser of the remake.

* ProphecyTwist: Damien attempts to stop the second coming of Christ by killing any children born during the sign of his immanent return. This is to prevent "[[AntiChrist the beasts]]" defeat to "[[TheMessiah the lamb]]" as predicted in [[Literature/TheBible Revelation]] before he's even had a chance to face him. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for the forces of darkness, Jesus returns not as a mortal child but rather in his all-powerful divine form and proceeds to strike Damien down personally-[[GenreBlind which is what the Book of Revelation said would happen]].]]

[[AC:Unsorted]]
* EvenMooksHaveLovedOnes
* SickbedSlaying
----
->''Hi-Diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle''
->''The cow jumped over the moony''
->''Now take your poem; and go on ho-em''
->''Or I'll have you committed - you LOONY!''
- ''The Omenous'' (Mad Magazine's adaptation)

* HeyItsThatGuy: Patrick Troughton, [[DoctorWho The Second Doctor himself]], plays a priest who warns Damien's father of the boy's true identity. Cue the next trope.

* EyeScream: A woman has her two eyes beaked by a raven, leaving her blindly walking into the path of an incoming truck. Talk about gruesome way to go.

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: The last guy from the first movie (played by Leo [=McKern=])who knew Damien's secret is killed off in the opening minutes of ''Damien: The Omen II'', tying up a remaining loose end. [[spoiler: [=McKern=] is the ''only'' cast member to appear in more than one movie of the series.]]

* ProphecyTwist: Damien attempts to stop the second coming of Christ by killing any children born during the sign of his immanent return. This is to prevent "[[AntiChrist the beasts]]" defeat to "[[TheMessiah the lamb]]" as predicted in [[Literature/TheBible Revelation]] before he's even had a chance to face him. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for the forces of darkness, Jesus returns not as a mortal child but rather in his all-powerful divine form and proceeds to strike Damien down personally.]]

* TrilogyCreep: The fourth film (this a one made-for-TV deal) involved the daughter of Damien and the antichrist's return to Earth. It tried to explore the world of ''TheOmen'' more, but the film had a meandering plot with more holes than [[Music/TheBeatles Blackburn, Lancashire]] and was quietly shunted into CanonDisContinuity.
** It also had the audacity to have a sequel hook. Seriously the third movie was called "The Final Conflict" and [[spoiler: the antichrist died infront of the risen Jesus]] how could it have been more final?

** Robert Thorn is an AssholeVictim cop who [[Literature/{{Phantoms}} wants you to see something]].

** Robert Thorn is an AssholeVictim cop who [[{{Phantoms}} wants you to see something]].