The Omen(1976)
1976 · Richard Donner · 111 min
Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn adopts the newborn Damien without the knowledge of his wife. Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.
Horror · Thriller
7.42.5k votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
3/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How scary is The Omen?
It starts as a quiet, unsettling family drama before slowly tipping into full dread, with a string of infamous, elaborately staged death scenes breaking up the calm. The horror comes less from jolts and more from a mounting sense that something is deeply wrong and unstoppable, with a growing feeling of doom around the family. There's real shock in a few specific, gruesome moments, but most of the runtime is patient, ominous build-up rather than constant scares. It suits people who like their horror stately and dread-heavy, with a religious, fate-driven undercurrent rather than gore for its own sake.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Omen rates psychological 4/5, visceral 2/5, gore 3/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 3 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 15 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 10 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 55 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, unsettling build with occasional shocking jolts that gathers steam into a dark, punishing final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 4.
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