Horrorfest: The rottweiler budget for this franchise was insane

And so I watched The Omen franchise. Minus the 2006 remake, which I watched when it opened and thought was awful.

It's an odd franchise, as outside of the original, all the sequels have been completely forgotten. None have a cult following or fans who describe them as "kinda underrated". But the box set presented itself to me, so I decided to go with it. I wouldn't have minded doing another franchise, but DVD availability is a huge issue now.

I previously watched THE OMEN (Richard Donner, 1976) back in 2002 and was not a big fan. Honestly, I think I might have fallen asleep. One of the only aspects I remember from it was the famous beheading, which is only the movie's second most notorious death. Gregory Peck plays an American ambassador whose son is stillborn. Unbeknownst to his wife (Lee Remick), he secretly adopts a newborn whose mother died in childbirth. And thus, Damien, the new anti-christ, begins his ascent. A huge blockbuster upon release, the film has a sleek, big budget look and feel. For being a bit longer than the average horror movie - 112 minutes - surprisingly it's very plot dominant. There's very little in the way of character development, and we're only told what is absolutely necessary. It doesn't stop moving.

Two years later, DAMIEN: OMEN II (Don Taylor & Mike Hodges, 1978) opened. It picks up about 7 years after the first film, with a 13-year-old Damien now at military school. As the film progresses, he learns about his fate and must come to accept it. He's a typical prep school brat, and never really comes off as anything more evil. The first film was about the cult around Damien being responsible for the death, whereas this chapter just seems to have death around him. Most of the deaths are forgettable, despite being gorier this time around. The sequel isn't bad, just rather forgettable. William Holden and Lee Grant star.

And three years later comes OMEN: THE FINAL CONFLICT (Graham Baker, 1981), the last theatrical release of the original films. Damien is now in his early 30's and played by a young Sam Neill. This one is even more forgettable than the last, and I'm struggling to even remember a single kill or suspenseful sequence. It's interesting that the one aspect of this franchise that still has some relevance is the concept of politics vs. journalism. Most of the journalists in the franchise are very tabloid-y, out to take down the politicians using personal means. I guess the good vs evil aspect will always be timely. The ending to this is really quite campy, almost like something out of a religious film. After all the deaths and spending time with Damien, the franchise veers off to didactic messaging??? SIDENOTE: Young Sam can get it.

Nearly a decade later comes the direct to TV "film" OMEN IV: THE AWAKENING (Jorge Montesi and Dominique Othenin-Girard, 1991) that debuted on Fox in May. It's about what you'd expect for a made for Fox film from the early 90's: completely awful. This time there's no Damien, so we get Delia (Asia Vieira). She's the new anti-Christ, adopted by a Virginia congressman and his wife. Unintentional laughter abounds, and the kills now lack any blood. The film focuses more on mysticism than overt religion. I guess it was a little late with the cults that were so popular in the 80's.

Ranking/ratings:
1. The Omen - B
2. Damien: Omen II - C
3. Omen: The Final Conflict - C-
4. Omen IV: The Awakening - D