The First Omen

The First Omen
Starring Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Nicole Sorace
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson

"The Omen" is one of cinema's most prolific, memorable, and expertly done horror films, a movie that's withstood the test of time and still is as terrifying now as it was back in 1976. The story about the Antichrist named Damien in the form of a child being adopted by a powerful American political figure was done with precision, care, and excellence, with numerous scenes etched inside the minds of people who've watched it (who could forget "It's all for you," or how many times now have we carefully watched how men moving a pane of glass in front of us). Since then, there's been three sequels (of very diminishing value), a remake (which doesn't need to even be uttered), and now a prequel, "The First Omen." Suffice it to say I was highly skeptical that the prequel could live up to the original, and in all fairness that's not a fair thing to do: it's like comparing a Big Mac that's been kicked around with someone's dirty shoe to a high class filet Mignon. Still, since it bears its name, it has to be compared - and even if it wasn't, it essentially just ends up as a mediocre movie in my opinion that took far too long to take off, and by that time I was already mostly tuned out.

In Italy in 1971, American novitiate Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) arrives to work at an orphanage and become a full fledged nun, and is taken in by another young novitiate named Luz (Maria Caballero), who takes Margaret out on the town one night where she meets a man and wakes up with no knowledge of what happened. She also meets young Carlita (Nicole Sorace), one of the children at the orphanage that the other nuns don't like, and Margaret takes a shining to her because she too had a rebellious childhood. Carlita has terrifying visions and drawings, leading her to be more ostracized by the nuns, and soon Margaret begins experiencing demonic visions of her own. Soon she learns from Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) that the orphanage is planning on siring the Antichrist so they can bring people back to the church, and she sets out to find who is harboring the not-yet-born devil incarnate before it's born and unleashes darkness into the world.

"The First Omen" does have some intriguing ideas that really needed exploring more, especially enticing someone like myself who was highly involved in the church back in the day. The church in 1971 was on the decline, and protests don't help the matter, so the church comes up with a very Satanic way to bring people back: by bringing the Antichrist so the people will go back to church out of fear. In a sense they try to use the devil for their own aim, and as anyone knows, you can't control the devil. This should've been something explored more thoroughly, but it just serves as an aside by Father Brennan and isn't really explored any further, which is a shame.

The film does a decent job in its cinematography and 70s feel, as well as not focusing on cheap jump scares but rather a thought out story that drives the tension - I just wasn't interested in it. After an opening that gave me hope, the film drags along until finally picking up steam, but by then I was already mostly on my phone and couldn't find myself to pay the attention I needed to. So essentially this is a biased review, but aren't all reviews biased?

The performances were decent enough, especially from Nell Tiger Free in her debut role. Taking the lead in a film that she had to know would be picked apart meticulously isn't for the faint of heart, and she really took a gamble and for many critics it paid off - and like I said, I found it decent enough. Just didn't draw me in.

"The First Omen" also tried way too hard to give obvious nods to the original, again to its detriment. The classic "It's all for you!" happens here as well, with the hanging and all, but with a little more added to show that cinema has come a long way from its structured storytelling to appease the gorehounds out there. There's a body dismemberment that parallels the famous decapitation scene as well, which somehow was less believable than it was in 76. Finally there was also a moment where falling debris hit a priest, and again - despite modern advancements in cinema - the original did it better.

Maybe its the issue of prequels, as we all know how "The First Omen" will end. Or maybe it's because another film - "Immaculate" - came out this year with essentially the same beat-for-beat story. Either way, "The First Omen" just fell into so-so territory for me: not great, but not terrible - but I will give it this: it is the best sequel to the franchise, but that was a very low bar to get through.

The Score: B