Underplayed Gems
The whole movie catalogue

Films and series, searchable by what they are

← Back to the shop

The Omen (1976)

The Omen poster
Directed by
Richard Donner
Genre
horror film, mystery film, satanic film, thriller film
Country
United Kingdom, United States
Runtime
1h 51m
Rated
R
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 2,428 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb

How it feels

A high-ranking diplomat's wife gives birth, but their baby dies. He secretly replaces it with another newborn without telling her. The child grows up as Damien, and strange violent deaths begin happening around him. They discover the boy may be the Antichrist.

suspensefulominoustensedarkbroodingeeriedownbeatcreepydread-filled

What happens

The Omen is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer Stephens (in his film debut), Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo McKern. The film's plot follows Damien Thorn, a young child replaced at birth by his father, unbeknownst to his wife, after their biological child dies shortly after birth. As a series of mysterious events and violent deaths occur around the family and Damien enters childhood, they come to learn he is in fact the prophesied Antichrist. Released theatrically by 20th Century-Fox in June 1976, The Omen received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, grossing over $60 million at the U.S. box office and becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 1976. The film earned two Oscar nominations, including a win for Jerry Goldsmith's musical score, and retrospective reviews have been more favorable. The film spawned the Omen franchise, with Damien – Omen II released two years later, followed by The Final Conflict (1981) and Omen IV: The Awakening (1991), as well as a 2006 remake and 2024 prequel. It also spawned a 2016 television series that ran for one season on A&E. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching and it picks from the whole catalogue, or browse by genre, country and year.

Lists: Korean thrillers worth the evening · Anime films beyond Studio Ghibli · Slow films for a rainy night · Horror that unsettles instead of startling · Series you can finish in a weekend · Nordic crime worth the subtitles · Good films that end in under 90 minutes · Documentaries that play like thrillers

Loading movies…

What should I watch?