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Damien: Omen II (1978) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Damien: Omen II can be found here.

No. Damien: Omen II is a sequel to The Omen (1976), which was based on an original screenplay by American screenwriter David Seltzer. The screenplay for Damien: Omen II was written by producer Harvey Bernhard and TV screenwriter Stanley Mann. However, the movie was novelized by Joseph Howard and Harvey Bernhard. Damien: Omen II was followed by two more sequels, The Final Conflict (1981) and Omen IV: The Awakening (1991).

In The Omen Legacy (2001), a documentary about the making of The Omen movies, and in the director's commentary on the DVD Damien: Omen II, it is revealed that the original intention was to have Damien killed at the end of The Omen. When it was decided to have him survive, the plan was to feature him as a high school student living in D.C. in the second sequel. There were also plans to have four more episodes prior to The Final Conflict.

This movie started a week after The Omen and in that movie Damien is five years old, then seven years pass, so he's 12 years old in Damien: Omen II.

Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) is now living with his wealthy industrialist Uncle Richard Thorn (William Holden), Uncle Richard's second wife Ann (Lee Grant) and Richard's son from his first marriage, Mark.(Lucas Donat).

At the end of The Omen, Damien is seen holding the President's hand at the funeral of his adoptive parents, Robert and Katherine Thorn. It is assumed that he has been adopted by the President, a college friend of Robert. However, at the beginning of Damien: Omen II Damien is now living with the family of Robert's brother Richard. No explanation is given in the movie for how custody of Damien got from the President to the Thorns. Almost any explanation can be concocted to fill that gap. For example, the President may have only been escorting Damien back to the United States to be placed in the custody of his uncle. Or Richard and Ann may have sought custody of Damien, since they were his closest relatives. The most obvious explanation is that the writers wanted to place Damien in the position of inheriting a large fortune, and Thorn Industries fit the bill.

Both Sgt Neff (Lance Henriksen) and Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth) were followers of Satan and were put in Damien's path to protect/mentor him, much like Mrs Baylock in the first movie.

Aunt Marion (Sylvia Sidney) didn't know that Damien was the Antichrist. In the book, she only felt that it was Damien's fault that Robert was killed. Apparently, she sensed from the start something evil about Damien, even though Damien himself was not yet aware of who he was.

Mark was in the projection room and overheard the entire conversation between Dr Warren (Nicholas Pryor) and Richard Thorn. Warren explains the letter from Carl Bugenhagen (Leo McKern), which states that he gave the daggers to Damien's father in order to kill Damien and talks about Damien's real parents.

Bugenhagen in Israel gave the daggers to Robert Thorn in order to kill Damien in England. It is not explained in the movie how Bugenhagen got back the daggers. In the novelization of The Omen, it is explained that the priest who saw Robert trying to kill Damien was one of Bugenhagen's friends, knew about the daggers, and mailed them back to Bugenhagen.

The biblical book of Revelation speaks of the events that will take place before Armageddon, the final battle of good and evil on Earth. Revelation tells of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: (1) The rider of the white horse who stands for Conquest, (2) the rider of the red horse who stands for War, (3) the rider of the black horse who stands for Famine, and (4) the rider of the pale horse who stands for Death. Some viewers see a parallel in that Damien represents the white horseman (Conquerer), Sgt Neff the red horseman (War), Paul the black horseman (Famine), and the Raven the pale horse (Death). This analogy, of course, is open to interpretation.

Paul had a plan to develop new types of crops and pesticides etc. for Thorn Industries. He claimed that he needed to buy up loads of land to make his plan work.

The Whore of Babylon is a figure in the Book of Revelation, along with the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She is depicted as a creature of evil, riding on a seven-headed beast. An image can be viewed here.

The doctor attributes Mark's death to a cerebral aneurysm (a burst artery in the brain), but we all know that it was Damien's doing. The book provides better detail, explaining it as "demonic talons piercing into the brain." Those same demonic talons begin to pierce Teddy's head when Damien was attacking him outside Sgt. Neff's office. Notice that Teddy is beating at the air trying to get something to go away.

Most of the film's location sites were shot in or around Chicago, Illinois. The Thorn Mansion was shot at the Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois, the elevator shaft scene was shot at The Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago, Mark's burial was filmed at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, and the final scene was filmed at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The Davidson Military Academy is actually the Northwestern Academy in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and the ice skating scene was filmed at Catfish Lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Bugenhagen's death scene was filmed somewhere in Israel.

When Richard finds out about Damien, he plans to kill him, but Ann tries to stop him. Richard asks Ann to give him the seven daggers of Megiddo. Ann opens a drawer and takes out two of them then suddenly plunges them into Richard. "I have always belonged to Damien," she says, and then calls out Damien's name. In response, Damien causes a boiler to explode, burning Ann to a crisp. Damien calmly walks outside.

If Ann stayed around, she...not Damien...would inherit Thorn Industries. Another possible explanation is that she might finger Damien if an inquiry was held into the cause of Richard's death. At any rate, she was no longer an asset and needed to be removed.

The movie doesn't say. Most likely, he stayed at the Military Academy during school time, where Sgt Neff could protect him and teach him. Another possibility is that Paul Buher took him under his wing.

Ten. Richard Thorn, Richard's first wife Mary, Richard's second wife Ann, Richard's son Mark, Aunt Marion, Charles Warren, Bill Atherton, Joan Hart, David Pasarian, and Dr William Kane.