10 Horror Movie Franchises That Went Out With A Whimper

10. The Omen

The Omen franchise wrapped things up in such strange fashion back in 1991, delivering a made-for-TV movie which was just all kinds of lazy. Lazy how, you ask? Why, that's because the film, while serving as a sequel, lazily told such a similar story to the iconic original Omen from 1976.

On the back of the promising but sadly disappointing duo of Damien: Omen II and Omen III: The Final Conflict, Omen IV: The Awakening was developed for TV and centred on young Delia, the daughter of Damien Thorn. Frustratingly, The Awakening spends so much of its runtime just mimicking parts of the first picture; a mysterious child looked after by non-biological parents, a Rottweiler protecting the child, strange deaths for those looking into this child's roots, growing parental suspicions that the child might be the Antichrist, and even a devilish nanny overseeing the situation.

While it's not a straight-up do-over of the entire narrative of The Omen, this fourth film is just so void of new ideas. Well, bar one late bizarre surprise where Delia impregnated her adopted mother with the seed of her twin brother, who would be the actual Antichrist. Uhu...

Of course, The Omen did eventually live on with A&E's Damien TV series... but the less said about that the better. Also, currently flying a little under the radar, is a prequel movie - The First Omen - scheduled for an April release.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 18th Jan 2024