How to Watch the Omen Franchise in Order
This article has been updated by Rory O'Connor.
The Omen franchise brought fears of the antichrist to a whole new level in 1976 and it continues its reign of terror right up to today. Richard Donner’s chilling first instalment (starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick) follows the story of a couple whose son Damien turns out to be the son of the devil — typical.
The film is now correctly revered as an iconic classic of the horror genre. It also went on to spawn another six instalments, including one remake, a prequel, and a television series. Just below, you can find out how to watch every movie in the franchise in chronological order. If, however, you'd rather follow the movies by release date (which is, IMO, always the best option) and find out a little more about each one, scroll on to our definitive guide below.
How to watch the Omen franchise in chronological order
If you want to watch the Omen franchise in chronological order, it’s best to start with the 2024 prequel film, The First Omen, which tells the story of how Damien came into being. From there, the story leads to the original The Omen, which can also be combined or exchanged with the 2006 remake. The next two films — Omen II and III — follow the release order.
Finally, the 2016 Damien series can be watched either alone or after the first Omen film due to the fact that it takes place on a different timeline.
Directed by the great Richard Donner, the first Omen film was released in 1976 and follows the terrifying story of Robert and Katherine Thorn, a wealthy couple who adopt a baby only to discover that he might be the antichrist.
For fans of classy, old school horror like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby, this is an absolute must watch — and interestingly, similar to those classics, it's a movie that picks away at age old human fears about having children.
This is also the only movie in the franchise to win an Oscar (for original score) and the only true horror movie (with respect to Alfred Hitchcock) to feature the one and only Gregory Peck.
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Two years after The Omen, 20th Century Fox attempted to cash in on the first movie's enormous box office success with Damien - Omen II — a sequel that follows the antichrist into his stroppy teenage years.
Don't get us wrong, there's plenty of schlocky fun to be had with this gory 1978 followup, there's just something a lot less spooky about an evil teenage boy than there is about a seemingly innocent child.
What's more, the movie was sadly made without Donner at the helm, resulting in a far less classy end product. A decent effort, all the same.
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If you fancy paying tribute to the late great Sam Neil, a triple feature of Event Horizon, Possession and The Final Conflict is a dynamite way to spend an evening during spooky season — or any other cozy night in on the couch for that matter.
Completing the original trilogy, The Final Conflict finds Damien (now played by the Kiwi legend) as a full grown adult and powerful CEO who accepts the position of US ambassador to the UK after the sitting diplomat supposedly commits suicide.
With a plot involving the second coming of Christ, this is definitely the point where the franchise fully jumped the shark, but with Neil's fully dedicated performance at its centre, you'll find it's quite easy to just let go and enjoy the ride.
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Omen IV: The Awakening is a television movie that takes up a new story in the Omen universe, focusing on a young girl who turns out to be Damien’s daughter. Unfortunately, that premise didn't really lead to any new ideas — if anything it's just a cheap rehash of a great movie that it completely pales in comparison to.
Every long-running horror franchise has at least one instalment that breaks the camel's back, shutting the story down for the best part of a generation. For The Omen, that movie is Awakening. Best to avoid.
In 2006, 15 years after the mistakes of Awakening, the franchise was reborn (in the form of a remake of the original film) in the hopes of ushering in a new generation of fans.
Unfortunately for fans of the series, and despite some top quality casting (Liev Schreiber and Julia Styles as the Thorns, the great Pete Postlethwaite as Father Brennan) and a very cool release date of 6/6/06, the movie landed quite flat with most viewers.
It could, of course, have been worse. It could also have been a whole lot better.
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In 2016, A&E released a television series called Damien that was billed as a direct sequel to the 1976 movie. As a result, the series takes place in the Omen universe but on a different timeline in which Damien Thorn is a 30 year old war photographer who has forgotten is satanic heritage. That is, until antagonist of the show, a woman named Ann Rutledge, arrives with a nefarious plan to bring him out of his Luciferian shell.
Despite coming from the same studio that gave the world the immortal Colin Firth/Kiera Knightly adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, the show ran for just one Season before being cancelled.
In 2024, almost half a century after the release of the original, the world was finally given an Omen reboot worthy of the name. That movie was Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen, a prequel story which explores the events leading up to Damien’s birth.
The story is set in a Catholic orphanage in Rome where a young American nun arrives and starts to notice a series of unnusual occurances. It would be wrong to give too much away, but we can at least say that Stevenson's excellent directorial debut owes as much to movies like Suspiria and Possession as it does to the 1976 classic from which it draws its name.
Nell Tiger Free is wonderful in the lead role and she's backed up by a wonderful cast that includes Bill Nighy, Ralph Ineson, Charles Dance and Sônia Braga.
