# Damien: Omen II
**Damien: Omen II** is a 1978 American supernatural horror film directed by Don Taylor and the first sequel to *The Omen* (1976). It follows the [Antichrist](https://www.edgepedia.org/antichrist) child [Damien Thorn](https://www.edgepedia.org/damien-thorn), now a teenager living in Chicago with his uncle's family, as he learns his identity and those around him begin to die. Twentieth Century-Fox released it on 9 June 1978; the film runs 110 minutes and carries an R rating.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 9 June 1978, Los Angeles and New York openings that week; 110 minutes; MPAA rating R[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) |
| Director | Don Taylor, who replaced original director Mike Hodges after four weeks of filming[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) |
| Writers | Screenplay by Stanley Mann and Michael Hodges; story by producer Harvey Bernhard; based on characters created by David Seltzer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) • [2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii) |
| Budget | Estimated at $5.1 million, nearly double the $2.8 million budget of *The Omen*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) |
| Principal cast | William Holden (Richard Thorn), Lee Grant (Ann Thorn), Jonathan Scott-Taylor (Damien), Robert Foxworth, Lance Henriksen, Sylvia Sidney[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) • [2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii) |
| Music | Jerry Goldsmith, who also scored the original film[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii) • [6](https://classic-horror.com/reviews/damien_omen_ii_1978.html) |
| Critical scores | 50% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 28 reviews; 48% audience score[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damien_omen_ii) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film opens shortly after the events of *The Omen*. Archaeologist Carl Bugenhagen tries to convince his colleague Michael that young Damien Thorn is the Antichrist and must be killed; the boy's parents, Robert and Katherine Thorn, have recently died under mysterious conditions. To prove his point, Bugenhagen takes Michael to see Yigael's Wall, which bears drawings of Lucifer's son, but the site caves in and kills both men.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
Seven years later, the 13-year-old Damien lives in Chicago with his uncle and aunt, Richard and Ann Thorn, and their son Mark, and attends military school with his cousin.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) After Great Aunt Marion ([Sylvia Sidney](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvia-sidney)) warns the Thorns that Damien is a malevolent influence on Mark, she dies suddenly. Ravens serve as harbingers of Damien's power and visit a procession of characters who get too close to his true identity, including the investigative reporter Joan Hart, who has her eyes devoured by the birds before being struck by a truck.[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii)
Two figures guide Damien toward his inheritance. The Thorn Industries executive Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth), a devil worshiper, takes the boy under his wing as he climbs the corporate ladder, and Sergeant Daniel Neff ([Lance Henriksen](https://www.edgepedia.org/lance-henriksen)), one of Damien's military school instructors, helps initiate him.[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii) As the deaths come closer to home, Richard begins to suspect the truth and, like his brother before him, plots to kill Damien; the existence of the 1981 sequel *The Final Conflict* indicates the outcome.[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii) A scholar of the Gothic in film describes the film as depicting Damien as an adolescent being groomed for the world of big business.[4](https://academic.oup.com/liverpool-scholarship-online/book/44376/chapter-abstract/373092997)
## Development and the change of director
The sequel was planned while *The Omen* was still in theaters. A 26 August 1976 *Daily Variety* article announced Twentieth Century-Fox's plans for three sequels, citing the original film's $40 million domestic gross. Because the sequel takes place several years later, the studio searched for an older actor to play Damien Thorn. David Seltzer, who wrote the first screenplay, declined to work on the sequel, and writers Al Ramrus and John Herman Shaner, hired in November 1976, did not remain with the project.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
The picture was announced under the working title *The Inheritance*, with production then slated to begin in September 1977; a later trade report moved principal photography to 12 October 1977 in Chicago for eight weeks of filming. In July 1977, fourteen-year-old Jonathan Scott-Taylor, a member of England's Royal Shakespeare Company, was cast as Damien in his feature film debut.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
**A mid-production replacement.** [Richard Donner](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-donner), director of the first film, was occupied with *[Superman](https://www.edgepedia.org/superman-1978-film)* (1978), so [Mike Hodges](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-hodges) was hired. According to a 22 November 1977 report, Hodges left the project after four weeks of filming due to "artistic differences," and Don Taylor took his place; the change resulted in eight days of reshoots. A BFI filmography credits Hodges as co-screenwriter and uncredited original director, replaced by Don Taylor.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) • [5](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/pdf/2022-05-03-mike-hodges-in-conversation.pdf)
## Production and locations
Filming ran from 17 October 1977 to late January 1978 in Chicago, Illinois; Eagle River, Wisconsin; and Israel.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) By mid-December 1977, Chicago filming had ended and the production moved to Eagle River for ten days of shooting. A January 1978 report put the budget at $6.5 million and noted that filming in Eagle River brought $300,000 into the local economy.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
The Northwestern Military and [Naval Academy](https://www.edgepedia.org/naval-academy) in [Lake Geneva](https://www.edgepedia.org/lake-geneva), Wisconsin, represented the fictional Davidson Military Academy, with 150 of the school's cadets used and seventy local extras hired. The deadly hockey game sequence was filmed on Catfish Lake.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266) The film was shot in [Panavision](https://www.edgepedia.org/panavision) with cinematography by Bill Butler and editing by Robert Brown, Jr.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus says the film "dishes out ghoulish scares and a biblical body count to generate some morbid fun, but this repetitious sequel lacks the sophistication of its predecessor"; the Tomatometer stood at 50% from 28 reviews, with a 48% audience score.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damien_omen_ii) Metacritic lists nine critic reviews.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damien-omen-ii/)
Recurring criticisms targeted structure and suspense. Ian Nathan wrote that the film is "a strikingly handsome film, full of plush offices and country homes reeking of Old Money, all lovingly captured in Bill Butler's burnished-gold cinematography, but it hasn't an ounce of suspense," calling it "a catalog of increasingly baroque murders."[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damien-omen-ii/critic-reviews/) Gary Arnold's Washington Post review called it "the latest witness for the prosecution in the ongoing case against slavish sequels" and "an inferior copy rather than a narrative continuation."[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/06/13/damien-bad-omen/71852dfe-0537-4523-a403-e163a0cd320a/) Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* took a warmer view, writing that the film, "though it's as foolish as the first film, is rather more fun to watch and sometimes very stylish-looking."[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damien_omen_ii) A retrospective review credits Scott-Taylor's performance with allowing Damien to "shed his childhood innocence and develop seething teenage angst," a portrayal carried forward by other actors in later sequels.[6](https://classic-horror.com/reviews/damien_omen_ii_1978.html)
## Place in the series
*Damien: Omen II* is the second entry in the Omen franchise. Production notes for the 2024 prequel *The First Omen* summarize the sequence: after Richard Donner's 1976 original, "Damien: Omen II" (1978) and "The Final Conflict" (1981) detailed the rise of Damien into his teenage and adult years.[10](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/the_first_omen_final_production_notes_bios_43_4e870a1d.pdf) The film was followed by *The Final Conflict* (1981), *[Omen IV: The Awakening](https://www.edgepedia.org/omen-iv-the-awakening)* (1991), a 2006 remake of the original, and the 2016 television series *Damien*.[11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/omen-40-bloodline-occult-cinema)
## References
1. [Damien--Omen II (1978), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56266)
2. [Damien: Omen II, American Film Institute (watch page, synopsis and credits)](https://watch.afi.com/movie/damien-omen-ii)
3. [Damien: Omen II, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damien_omen_ii)
4. [Satanic Anti-Hero | The Omen, Liverpool Scholarship Online, Oxford Academic](https://academic.oup.com/liverpool-scholarship-online/book/44376/chapter-abstract/373092997)
5. [Mike Hodges in Conversation, BFI (filmography), 2022](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/pdf/2022-05-03-mike-hodges-in-conversation.pdf)
6. [Damien: Omen II (1978), Classic-Horror.com review](https://classic-horror.com/reviews/damien_omen_ii_1978.html)
7. [Damien: Omen II Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damien-omen-ii/)
8. [Damien: Omen II critic reviews, Metacritic (Ian Nathan quotation)](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damien-omen-ii/critic-reviews/)
9. [Gary Arnold, "'Damien': Bad Omen," The Washington Post, 13 June 1978](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/06/13/damien-bad-omen/71852dfe-0537-4523-a403-e163a0cd320a/)
10. [The First Omen production notes, 20th Century Studios](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/the_first_omen_final_production_notes_bios_43_4e870a1d.pdf)
11. [The Omen at 40 and the bloodline of occult cinema, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/omen-40-bloodline-occult-cinema)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Horror and slasher series film entries › 1970s and 1980s releases*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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