‘The Omen’ Was Released 40 Years Ago Today

By Trace Thurman on June 25, 2016

Richard Donner’s seminal horror film The Omen was released in the United States on June 25, 1976 (the UK release was wisely set on 6/6/76). The Academy Award-winning film (for Jerry Goldsmith’s score) was the fifth highest grossing film of 1976 and has become one of the most influential horror films of all time.

***SPOILERS for a 40-year-old film below.***

As many of you know, The Omen tells the story of Robert and Katherine Thorn and their son Damien. Robert, an American ambassador, hastily adopts a male child when his own is murdered by a Satanic cult (he is told the child was stillborn by the doctor who is in cahoots with the cult). Damien is revealed to be the Antichrist and nearly two hours later Robert and Katherine are dead and Satan wins. That’s The Omen in a nutshell.

That is, of course, a very abbreviated summary of The Omen, but you get what I’m saying. The Omen was an enormous success when it came out. Three years after The Exorcist and, while it didn’t make even half of what that film made, it still pulled in a respectable amount of money. The Omen went on to gross $60.9 million. While the production budget is unknown, the marketing budget was $2.8 millon.

The film boasts two of the best set pieces ever put in a horror film. The first of which is the Thorns’ nanny hanging herself in view of all the children at Damien’s birthday party, and the second of which is the decapitation of the character portrayed by David Warner. While the film doesn’t rely on gore, there is plenty of shocking imagery present throughout the film to terrify baboon (the baboon scene is particularly memorable).

So successful was The Omen that a sequel was inevitable, and two years later Damien: The Omen II was released. That film would go on to gross less than half what the original film made and still a third and “final” film was made. Omen III: The Final Conflict saw a release in March 1981 and a box office gross of $20 million. 10 years ago, a remake starring Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles was released on June 6, 2006 (best release date ever) to mixed reviews, but still managed to earn back double its budget at the domestic box office.

I remember watching The Omen for the first time. I was about 17 and my jaw nearly hit the floor when Mrs. Baylock pushed Katherine out of the hospital window. You have to understand that at the time I had no idea what the film was about other than the fact that it was about an evil kid that happened to be the Antichrist. I naturally assumed Lee Remick would play a much larger role in the film than she ended up playing, so her death so early in the film really shook me. What sets The Omen apart from The Exorcist is that while it features less shocking imagery than William Friedkin’s masterpiece, it lets the devil win (until the end of The Final Conflict, anyway).  It’s just not something I was expecting and that ending still sticks with me to this day.

What are your thoughts on The Omen? Share your thoughts and memories in the comments below!