The Exorcist vs The Omen

[diamondwaspvenom]

Which do you prefer? I like The Exorcist and recognize its influence on horror but have always been more partial to The Omen. Mainly because I like the suspense, atmosphere and pacing a little moreso. Plus that soundtrack. 

[Jack]

I think The Exorcist is much scarier but I went with The Omen because the plot is much more interesting and fairly epic, it has some great atmosphere and of course

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[retrorussell]

I've got to go with the Exorcist.. more impactful in terms of shocked audience reaction for its time.  Where the heck else are you gonna find a little girl stab her va jay jay with a crucifix and shove her mom's face in it?? 

[Trevor]

Both banned in South Africa back in the day sadly 

Both are OK in their own ways and both are incredibly disturbing too.

[Alex]

As The Exorcist is one of only two films I've fallen asleep in the cinema while watching I am going to have to go with The Omen. I watched The Exorcist when it was rereleased in cinemas some years back and for some reason it just took me a long time to get into it (I believe the part I missed was the church being vandalised), but I did enjoy it once it really got started. I think if I had watched it when I was younger I would have enjoyed it more. The Omen just seemed to be creepier and more effective, especially that last shot where the kid turns round and looks at the camera with that evil stare (if you see the footage after that, the kid cracks up laughing, they stopped it at the last second).

[Josso]

I'd have to say The Omen for that creepy atmosphere and suspense

[FatFreddysCat]

I like'em both but I have always preferred "The Omen." The atmosphere, the creepy music, that sweet looking little kid who of course turns out to be eeeeeeeee-vil incarnate.... good stuff.

Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure that I saw The Omen first as a kid, which may have something to do with the impact that it had on me. I saw Omen on TV on a Saturday afternoon when I was in my early teens, but if memory serves I didn't get around to The Exorcist till I was in college. By that time, my expectations may have been a bit too high because for years 'n' years I'd heard nothing but OH MY GOD THE EXORCIST IS THE SCARIEST MOVIE EVER MADE DON'T WATCH IT ALONE YOU'RE GONNA CRAP YOUR PANTS from pretty much everyone I knew.   ...  therefore when I finally saw it, it was good, don't get me wrong, but it was almost a let down at the same time cuz I'd built it up so much in my mind for so long.

[major jay]

THE EXORCIST by a long shot.

[zombie no.one]

The Omen, easily. not especially 'deep' or cryptic but just proper no-holds-barred horror entertainment. great foreboding atmosphere all the way through and many memorable scenes. Excorcist is a film I've never managed to watch without getting bored to be honest.

As The Exorcist is one of only two films I've fallen asleep in the cinema while watching I am going to have to go with The Omen. I watched The Exorcist when it was rereleased in cinemas some years back and for some reason it just took me a long time to get into it

it was banned here in uk until about 1998 or 99... I went to see it at a small cinema in Leeds when if finally came out, and everyone there was laughing at it. maybe the hype had been built up too much like fat freddy said, but no one seemed to take it seriously.

[BoyScoutKevin]

It shouldn't, but . . .?! It always does. How many sequels, remakes, prequels, parodies, etc. a successful film will spawn. For example . . .

The Exorcist (1973) spawned . . .
Abby (1974) the Blaxploitation version
The Antichrist (1974) the Italian version
The Exorcist : Italian style (1975) the Italian parody version
The Exorcist II : the Heretic (1977) the 1st sequel
The Exorcist III (1990) the 2nd sequel
The Exorcist IV : the Beginning (2004) the prequel
Dominion : Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) another prequel
and The Exorcist File (2014) Supposedly, the events that inspired The Exorcist
among others.

The Omen (1976) spawned
Damien (1978) aka The Omen II. the 1st sequel
The Omen III (1981) The 2nd sequel. The correct title is The Final Conflict, but I just call it The Omen III.
The Omen IV : the Awakening (1991) a TV movie
The Omen (1995) a 2nd TV movie. It was suppose to lead to a TV series, but . . .?! It never did, which is probably fortunate for us. Though that did not stop a TV series called Damien from 2015.
The Omen Legacy (2001) Called a TV movie, but . . .?! more like a TV documentary, which talks to the people, both before and behind the camera, who were involved in the series.
The Omen (2006) the remake
among others

Among all those, I have seen only The Antichrist, which is actually not that bad, and the 1st three Omen films. Is that a vote for The Omen? Who knows?

And a final thought. As I understand at the time, there were suppose to be four Omen films, and I am not talking about The Omen IV : the Awakening, the TV movie. There was suppose to be another Omen film falling somewhere between Damien aka The Omen II and The Final Conflict aka The Omen III, but . . .?! For reasons I have since forgotten, it was never made. Instead, they just skipped that film and went straight to the 1981 film.

[zelmo73]

The Exorcist (1973) still scares, or at the very least creeps the s**t out of me. The Omen (1976) felt more like watching a mafia hit movie, with Satan as the Big Boss rubbing out his enemies that find out who his son is; I like The Omen (1976) but it just didn't scare me, even when I first saw it when I was a little boy. Nowadays, all I see is how much that the Final Destination movies totally ripped off The Omen films. 

[RCMerchant]

The Exorcist-by a loooong shot!


It was scary-it was shocking-and it was a lotta fun seeing it in a theater in 1973 when I was 11!
The Omen bored the s**t outta me when I first saw it-and it still does.

Oh-and Kevin-check out ABBY(1974)-thats a lot of fun! It's even got William Marshall of Blacula fame-!

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And there is always...
BEYOND THE DOOR (1974)
MAGDALENA-POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL (1974)
RUBY (1977)

and the horrendouswfulwonderful!-
CATHY'S CURSE (1977)

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[Allhallowsday]

THE OMEN has a lot to recommend it, yet in the wake of the earlier than both ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) and leaning a bit on that film's legacy, THE OMEN is inferior... by far.  THE EXORCIST stands as a cinematic landmark in several regards.  A great film, there is nothing anywhere near like THE EXORCIST.  

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whisper: Is that all you're going to do to help me...???  WTF...???

[JaseSF]

Had to go with the Exorcist here. That said, I like both but the Exorcist just seems scarier, the brief shots of the demonic figure, the walking, the vileness of so much of it...I think Rosemary's Baby is scarier than the Omen. Omen has its moments no doubt (it's all for you Damien) but never quite has the same overall punch IMO.