Real life curse of The Omen: The lightning strikes, messy accidents and fatal tragedies that blighted the cast and left them believing the devil was coming for them - as horror film celebrates 50th anniversary

It's been 50 years since The Omen was unleashed on the world and terrified audiences – but it turns out it wasn't just viewers who were disturbed by what they saw. 

Richard Donner's 1976 horror classic followed Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife Kathy (Lee Remick) as they unwittingly raised the Antichrist, Damien (Harvey Stephens). 

Forces of evil set about ensuring Damien's protection, leading to a series of unsettling accidents and deaths involving Thorn's family and friends. 

Yet in a spooky case of life imitating art, the cast and crew also found themselves involved in a series of tragedies. 

The number of tragic disasters frightened the team so much that producer Harvey Bernhard began to carry a cross on him at all times, concluding: 'The devil was at work and he didn’t want that film made.'

The Omen received mixed reviews upon release but is now widely considered to be one of the most influential films of its genre, still spawning spin offs and remakes to this day. 

Tragedy struck two months before filming began, with Gregory's son Jonathan killing himself after agreeing to take on the role.

Devastated by the loss, the actor was initially reluctant to take on new projects but was encouraged by his agent to continue with the role to keep him busy and distracted. 

Gregory then channelled his grief into his role, which saw his character secretly replace his child for orphan Damien after their biological child died shortly after birth.

He later spoke of his unwavering grief for Jonathan, telling People: 'It’s the most terrible thing that has happened to me in my life. You never get over a thing like that.'

Yet Jonathan's heartbreaking death was just the first in a series of tragic incidents to affect those linked to The Omen. 

Weeks after his son's death, Gregory suffered a near-miss of his own when the plane he was travelling on to reach the set in London was struck by lightning. 

Eerily, the film's producer Mace Neufeld faced the same situation while travelling to set on a different jet, as did screenwriter David Seltzer on another journey. 

When filming shifted to Rome, producer Harvey narrowly avoided being blitzed by a lightning bolt on the street – the moment that spurred him to start wearing a cross. 

That was far from the only disaster. 

The crew had chartered a plane for filming, only to change the day at the very last second. 

Their original jet crashed when a flock of birds flew into its engine, killing everyone on board. 

The falling aircraft also struck a car on the road below, killing those inside - who happened to be the wife and two children of the pilot.

There were also several incidents involving the film's animals.

Rottweilers were used to portray Hellhounds in the film. 

Yet despite being professionally trained, several of the dogs attacked their trainers, leaving stuntman Terry Walsh seriously injured. 

While filming scenes at Longleat in Wiltshire, on-screen mother and son Lee and Harvey were left 'terrified' after baboons went berserk and attacked their vehicle. 

The primates had been riled up by a zookeeper who had been instructed not to feed them and to introduce a convalescent alpha male. 

The following day, the zookeeper died after being attacked by a lion in the big cat enclosure.

On that same day director Richard narrowly avoided death when his hotel was bombed by the IRA.  

Gregory and producer Mace also had a reservation at a restaurant that was later bombed by the Irish Republican group.

The curse even seemed to follow the crew after filming was over, with stuntman Alf Joint falling off a building during the production of his next film, A Bridge Too Far. 

He missed the airbags below and was sent to hospital. When he finally woke up, he claimed he felt like he had been pushed.

Yet the biggest tragedy that has cemented the claims of the curse involved the film's special effects designer, John Richardson, and sculptor, Liz Moore. 

The couple were involved in a car crash during post-production, that saw Liz – who was sitting in the car seat – decapitated.

Eerily, it mirrored one of the film's most memorable scenes, when photographer Keith Jennings (played by David Warner) is suddenly decapitated when a runaway truck launched a large pane of sheet glass into his neck. 

Even more spookily, John revealed that when he stumbled out of the car he noticed a road sign saying he was 66.6km away from the town of Ommen.

Despite The Omen being at the centre of curse claims, it still spawned a successful franchise. 

Two years later, a sequel, Damien – Omen II, was released, followed by The Final Conflict in 1981 and Omen IV: The Awakening in 1991.

A remake of the original was released in 2006, starring Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles in the roles of Robert and Katherine, and Mia Farrow portraying Mrs Baylock.

Most recently, a prequel to the first film titled The First Omen was released in 2024.