THE FIRST OMEN | 20th Century Studios (c) 2024
Sympathy For The Devil
In terms of demonic flicks, nothing will ever compare to THE EXORCIST (’74). Perhaps there are biases on my part due to it being one of my top five flicks ever viewed, but truth is nothing has ever presented the struggles and battles between “good” and “evil” like that masterpiece did. Now, it’s not to say there hasn’t been others that have rattled my spine, but they all seem to be classics like ROSEMARY’S BABY (’68) or the THE OMEN (’76) that have had that extraordinary force to just take over my psyche.
OMEN – who introduced Damien – was a classic all on its own. It was rough, rugged, and raw in terms of yet another exposition on a child-of-chaos who isn’t possessed, but actually the Anti Christ himself. Trying to cash in on a sequel was a bit meh as the nefarious novelty seemed to have been over. It wasn’t that good (I think). Entertaining, but it did not carry that sense of angst and dire, spiritual despair. Fast forward 48 yars later, the whole OMEN scare saga says: “Hello, yoohoo…”A prequel is born and ready to be baptized by moviegoers around the world. Well, at least in America, as it opens Friday, April 5th.
The story precedes everything we know about the OMEN. The demonic drops of life follows a young American woman, Margaret, being sent to Rome to start a life of holy services to the church. While on misson, she comes across a dark force causing her to question her faith, while also unveiling a horrific practice that hopes to bring the brith of evil incarnate.
Off the bat, by no means is this flick scary. Honestly, I’ve become callus to scary tactics and jump scares on film. So much, I anticipate them and when they hit, my existence is numb to it. However, on the flip, what this flick does very well is generate a feeling of eeriness. So on that end, this piece gets a passing grade. As a whole, it’s twisted, disturbing, creepy, and just aggressive in its exposure of an era on spirituality taking place during the early 70s, among a culture divided on what side of the fence to walk on: God or Godless – and this, my friends, is part of the fun with this movie, but it’s the terrifying backdrop on of what transpires throughout the run, all the way till the end.
At a 2 hour run, THE FIRST OMEN also has a grip on how it’s presenting itself. The story knows what it is and where it stands and how it should make you feel. From characters to story, there’s grit, grunginess, and unsettling feeling among everything and everyone. It’s a slow burn build-up, but worthwhnile as it pays homage to that abnormal feeling of old-shcool fright and shock – and when I say shock, I mean… there are some scenes that are pretty harsh pertaining to suicide, rape, and sound mixing that carries itself as a character all on its own. Truth be hold, I don’t even know or think Disney would load this on +. If they do, some pretty sever disclaimers need to be plastered all over, because in no way is this House of Mouse material.
So, in conclusion, THE FIRST OMEN is a baptism by fire. While it doesn’t scare, it does generate discomfort. That said, now you’ve wrapped this review, go to you room and say 5 Our Fathers prayer in anticipation to its April 5th release date.
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Genre: Horror, Mystery | Rated: R | Run Time: 2hrs.
Starring: Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy, Charles Dence, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhorn
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson
Website: https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-first-omen
20th Century Studios (C) 2024