The First Omen: A Worthy Predecessor to the Devil.

MOVIE INFO:

When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.

REVIEW:

I don’t remember too much of 1976’s The Omen other than that it was slightly scary and starred Gregory Peck . It was a The Exorcist movie that you could take the family to. The First Omen, directed by the newcomer Arkasha Stevenson, is not family friendly, unless your last name is either Munster or Addams.

The First Omen is a prequel of sorts. It’s a lot more scarier and better shot than the original. It’s also three times more devilishly fun. This is all about everything before Damien, the Antichrist incarnate, came into being. It’s set in a orphanage in 1971 Rome run by a weird offshoot of nuns and priests who believe that the best way to bring Christ back is by siring the Devil’s spawn and initiating the Apocalypse countdown. In other words, they’re your typical evangelical Trump supporter in Catholic garb. These cultist are pretty bad at it. They have a long list going back centuries of birthing girls or deformed, unsuitable boys. It’s safe to assume that all the girls in this all female orphanage are devil rejects, 666’s birthmarks on assorted body parts. The plot revolves around two potential canidates for Antichrist mom- a preteen with Linda Blair vibes- Carlita (Nicole Sorace) and an American novitiate with a troubled and mischief making, rebellious past now trying to do the right thing by God, Margaret (the very good Nell Tiger Free).

The story that evolves smashes together and plays with all types of genres: the monster movie, body horror, Gothic church thriller, exorcist film. The movie is proudly pulpy and pretty effective with whatever it tries. Stevenson gives the conventions scale, scope and a serious dose of art. There are lot of nice compositional touches: a grand fire scene that echoes Dante, a bloody birth scene filled with Cronenberg touches, black cloths with death mask echoes, a coven scene that outweirds the one in Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, I even saw several Akira Kurosawa compositional homages towards the end. Free’s possession scene is one of the greatest bits of horror and acting I will see all year. That scene still stays with me. Stevenson has some serious horror talent.

Free as the mother to the Antichrist is exceptional. She naturally embodies both the soft and horror side of Margaret. Her performance has the perfect balance of sanity, awakening fear and delirium.