Film

Damien - Omen II

Name: Damien - Omen II
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 1978
Cast: William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Nicholas Pryor

A supernatural thriller that doubles down on demonic conspiracy, following the Antichrist as a scheming teenager in military school while his uncle grows suspicious. It's slicker and more baroque than its predecessor, trading intimate dread for grand-scale machinations. For fans of slow-burn evil and practical 70s horror craft who don't mind their apocalypse plotted like a corporate takeover.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy slow-burning, gothic dread where a sinister child is the chilling centre, and you like your horror cool and stately rather than gory.

Skip it if you want jump scares and a brisk pace, since this is a stately, talky thriller that spends much of its runtime on scheming and conversation rather than shocks.

What it asks of you: Settle in for about 107 minutes with patience for a measured build; it rewards attention to unease over surprise and rarely lets tension drop.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Exorcist1973

The definitive demonic possession film that established the template: meticulous, terrifying, with real theological weight. Priest against darkness, faith tested. Essential viewing for understanding what Damien is building on.

But Nearly fifty years old and the scares work less on jaded viewers; long stretches of investigation before the horror arrives. Deeply Catholic in its worldview.

Rosemary's Baby1968

Polanski's masterpiece of paranoia and creeping evil from within. A woman isolated, gaslit, carrying something monstrous. Same era sensibility as Damien but laser-focused on psychological horror and the claustrophobia of not being believed.

But Slower and far more intimate than Damien; the horror is suggestion and dread rather than plot mechanics. Some find it dated or overly precious.

The Omen1976

Damien's direct predecessor and perhaps superior: a masterclass in escalating dread. A diplomat realizing his son is the Antichrist, each death more baroque and inevitable. Jerry Goldsmith's score alone is reason enough.

But If you watch this first, Damien feels redundant. Some of the 70s production values read as camp now, though that's half the fun.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Damien - Omen II

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Wailing2016

Both stage evil as institutional conspiracy requiring proof and complicity; both feature children as vessels and weapons in a larger cosmic game neither fully understands.

A South Korean mystery-horror that builds on the demonic conspiracy template but inverts it entirely: a detective unable to determine what is truly evil, faith and doubt weaponized, reality fractured by interpretation. Theological complexity Damien only sketches.

But Two hours forty-five minutes of mounting dread with no easy answers; deliberately frustrating in its refusal to resolve. Requires active interpretation and tolerance for ambiguity.

The Fury1978

De Palma's kinetic supernatural thriller about a telekinetic teenager hunted by spies. Fast, stylish, with genuine tension and practical FX that still thrill. Same year as Damien but takes a very different tonal register.

But More interested in visual spectacle than character; the plot is thinner than it feels. De Palma's obsessive camera can feel mannered to some.

Carrie1976

De Palma's debut: teenage supernatural power unleashed in a high school setting, telekinesis as both metaphor and weapon. Elegant framing, genuine terror, and Piper Laurie's religious fanaticism echoes Damien's theological dread.

But The opening shower scene feels exploitative to modern eyes; some dated gender politics. The split-screen finale divides viewers on taste.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers1978

Kaufman's remake is paranoia made flesh: slow substitution of humanity, trust dissolving, the horror of recognizing something wrong with those closest to you. Perfectly captures 70s anxiety about conformity and control.

But Deliberately paced; more interested in atmosphere than jump scares. The ending is deliberately bleak and offers no catharsis.

The Watcher in the Woods1980

A curious hybrid: family-friendly Disney production with genuinely unsettling supernatural mystery. Atmospheric and strange in ways big-budget horror rarely attempts. Feels like something from another dimension.

But Tonally confused; caught between PG constraints and darker impulses. The resolution is muddled and frustrating. Actively weird in ways that won't click for everyone.

Don't Look Now1973

Roeg's hallucinatory masterpiece: grief and premonition in Venice, colors and water as character, dread mounting beneath every canal-side conversation. A couple trying to outrun fate. Hypnotic and haunting.

But Deliberately oblique and symbolic; plot takes a back seat to mood and image. The famous sex scene distracted many; the pacing is glacial.

The Brood1979

Cronenberg's body horror take on supernatural evil: a woman's rage made manifest as rage-creatures. Psychic horror rooted in family trauma. Disturbing, unique, and genuinely original in its approach to monstrosity.

But Viscerally unpleasant; body horror that's meant to repel. Feels more experimental than narrative; some find it pretentious or simply gross.

Hereditary2018

Both follow a young person as the locus of supernatural evil affecting a family's rise or fall; both suggest monstrosity can be inherited rather than chosen, predetermined rather than resisted.

Ari Aster's horror opera rooted in grief, family trauma, and inherited evil. Not about the Antichrist but about a family cursed by circumstance and blood. Meticulous, gorgeous, and absolutely devastating—practical effects deployed with surgical precision.

But Genuinely upsetting in its treatment of family death and dissolution; reaches toward transgressive imagery. Some find it overwrought or emotionally manipulative.

A Dark Song2016

Where Damien stages evil as corporate empire and social infiltration, this inverts it entirely—the supernatural as personal salvation pursued through ritual. Both treat religious apparatus seriously; both ask whether faith or evidence should prevail.

A conversation between a grieving woman and an occultist in a secluded house over eight weeks, ritual-focused and deeply personal. Supernatural horror stripped down to faith, doubt, and the possibility of communion. Quiet, patient, unexpectedly moving.

But Essentially a two-hander chamber piece with minimal plot; mysticism treated respectfully rather than exploited. Will feel slow to those wanting spectacle; the ending is ambiguous.