The Omen (1976)

Movie review by Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media
The Omen (1976) Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 15+

Gory original Satanism saga; popular but plodding.

R 1976 111 minutes
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Parents say

age 13+

Based on 7 reviews

Kids say

age 12+

Based on 31 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this is a classic horror feature, with a child complicit in his (adoptive) mother's own death and evil triumphant in the end (with the qualifier that it was conceived as just the first in a series of films, so it's just the opening installment, not the whole story). It casts a small boy in an especially negative light as the literal antichrist, for whom the only fair treatment, according to this, is a ritual execution by knife. The gory deaths and injuries, including decapitation and impalements, were considered shockingly explicit in their day.

Community Reviews

Imdbtruth
Imdbtruth Adult
October 10, 2020
age 13+

Sexual Content is Present

It's very mild sexual content, but early in the movie the husband and wife are starting to make out and they remark about how there's no beds moved into their new house yet... It is obviously implied that their aim is to have sex, but nothing more is shown than mild making out. There's not much cursing in the movie, and nothing overly abrasive like an F-bomb or anything. My 12 year old watched it with me, and she's not seen many scary movies, but she wasn't too scared by this movie... She found some of it disturbing, but it was nothing that made her fearful. It might make a difference that we're Christians, and so she's been taught about the anti-Christ, and also about demonic possession, and she could recognize that this movie just puts kind of cartoonish spin on those things.
rabika
rabika Adult
August 2, 2018
age 13+

They don't make 'em like they used to

When I was about 13 (born in 88, so I'm an older millenial) I got into a bit of a horror movie phase. Instead of striking that idea down, my parents decided to show me the best horror flicks of their time. This one is hands down the best older horror film. Nowadays, horror movies are all about suspenseful music leading up to some "jump" with basically no real plotline. Not The Omen. This movie builds real suspense and in a way promotes critical thinking. You don't see that very often in modern horror films. Sure, there are some memorable gory scenes, but that's not what it's really about. This one's a thinker
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In Europe, U.S. ambassador to Britain Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) spares his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) from the tragic news that she's lost her first-born son in childbirth by substituting an orphaned baby. The boy is brought up in their wealthy English household as Damien (Harvey Stevens), a quiet kid around whom weird and scary things seem to happen. A priest warns Thorn that Damien is Satan's spawn. As the creepy incidents pile up, Ambassador Thorn, with the help of a reporter and few other allies, starts investigating Damien's shadowy origins, and begins to uncover that he's been conned by an underground conspiracy of devil-worshippers into adopting the legendary antichrist. This incarnation of all evil will usher in the End of the World.

Is It Any Good?

This 1976 shocker is sturdily built but predictable, with its extravagant death scenes tending to stand out more so than the lugubrious narrative. The plot sounds pretty compelling indeed, but in cinematic terms it mostly translates as a string of spectacular deaths (usually in horrendous accidents that are not exactly Acts of God) for anyone who poses a threat to Damien -- with lots of "dead" space in between, as Thorn struggles to confirm/deny the omen-ous truth. Characterizations don't go very deep, but horror fans will appreciate the new ground this film broke.

As far as themes, there's the sense of a modern, secular world in which the bulwarks of traditional Christianity are absent or weak. This means even decent people like the Thorns are powerless when an unseen but very hands-on devil and his minions take the offense.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why this movie was popular. Do you think it's a "religious" film in any sense? How does it compare with the Left Behind book-and-movie-and-radio blockbuster series? You can look up the Bible passages and interpretations this movie cites to see how Hollywood played fast-and-loose with Scripture, and maybe study what historians have to say about Satanic lore and its popularization by both church authorities and horror-storytellers.

Movie Details

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