Movie · 1976 · Horror, Thriller · 1h 51m · R · English
Curator score: 5.5/10 (348.9K ratings)
It is the greatest mystery of all because no human being will ever solve it.
Overview
Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn adopts the newborn Damien without the knowledge of his wife. Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.5/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.62/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 62
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Richard Donner
Production
Mace Neufeld Productions, 20th Century Fox, Harvey Bernhard Productions
Cast
Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Stephens, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, Robert Rietti, Tommy Duggan, John Stride, Holly Palance, Anthony Nicholls, Roy Boyd, Sheila Raynor, Robert MacLeod, Bruce Boa, Don Fellows, Patrick McAlinney, Dawn Perllman, Nancy Mannigham
Curator Review
Verdict
A classic, polished satanic-horror thriller that still works because it treats the supernatural premise with straight-faced seriousness and builds dread with precision. Its biggest strengths are the ominous atmosphere, memorable set pieces, and the way it turns a privileged family’s stability into a nightmare.
Best for
fans of 1970s horror and suspense
viewers who like religious or occult horror
people who enjoy slow-burn dread over nonstop gore
fans of elegant, high-control studio horror
Skip if
you want fast-paced modern horror
you dislike child-centered horror premises
you prefer explicit mythology over ambiguity
you’re looking for a campy or self-aware tone
Overview
The Omen is one of the defining satanic-horror films of the 1970s, and it earns that status through discipline more than shock. Richard Donner keeps the movie grounded in a glossy, professional world, which makes the supernatural intrusion feel colder and more invasive. The result is a film that plays like a warning siren slowly becoming impossible to ignore.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the movie’s control of mood: the elegant surfaces, the creeping sense of fate, and the increasingly desperate attempts to rationalize what is happening. Gregory Peck and Lee Remick give the story a serious emotional spine, while the film’s best scenes land because they are staged with ruthless clarity. It’s not subtle, but it is effective.
Bottom line
Even now, the movie’s images and confrontations are hard to shake. Some of the dialogue and procedural logic feel of their era, but the core experience remains potent: a family horror story that becomes an apocalyptic thriller. If you like your horror ominous, polished, and unashamedly grand, this is essential viewing.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Morgan (3★) · 3901 likes
honestly that’s a reasonable reaction to being forced to go to church
Lonnie (3★) · 2256 likes
before 9/11 you were allowed to bring a set of seven mystical daggers from the ancient canaanite city of megiddo to be used in the ritual execution of the antichrist onto a plane
liam f (3★) · 2186 likes
We Need to Talk About Damien
Branson Reese · 2068 likes
Ultimately a movie about how poorly equipped rich, emotionally distant WASPs are to deal with raising a kid with ADHD
Kit Lazer (3.5★) · 1408 likes
You gotta respect a movie that can make a nanny, a child, and puppies the bad guys.