The First Omen

In different cultures you hear religious speaking about the devil. There are plenty of different names for the devil and one of them that i remember reading in history class in the early 90´s was the Latin word for devil known as diabolus. Our history teacher at that time was a Christian lady who clearly didn´t like talking about the devil, and i remember a class mate of mine called Nicklas who had questions about the devil. She would rather talk about the history surrounding Jesus instead but since this was supposed to be a history class i think she should have at least answered some of Nicklas questions. After all if a student is interested in a subject you should encourage your students to learn more, isnt that one of the reasons why we go to school? Anyway, during the early 90´s i used to watch a lot of horror from the 1970´s that i had not seen during the 80´s. One of the franchises that i actually had not seen at that time was The Omen. The original film released in 1976 from director Richard Donner is a supernatural horror film that turned out to be a really positive surprise for me. The Omen tells the story of American diplomat Robert Thorn ( Gregory Peck ) and his wife Katherine Thorn ( Lee Remick ) who are living in Rome, Italy. Katherine gives birth to a baby boy but unfortunately Robert is told the baby could not survive. Hospital chaplain father Spiletto ( Martin Benson ) persuades Robert to secretely adopt another baby whose mother just died in childbirth. Robert does not tell Katherine the child is not their own. They name him Damien. The Omen is a very effective horror film where the idea is that the child Damien is the prophesised Antichrist. The first film is really good, the sequel Damien - Omen II is alright and the 1981 horror film The Final Conflict shows Damien from a very different perspective as an adult played by Sam Neil. There is a 4th film called Omen IV: The Awakening but this is more a TV movie. Of all of these films i rented back in the 90´s i still feel the first film still holds up very well today. The 4th one is the worst of these films, it just wasn´t a good sequel. In 2006 we got ourselves a remake of The Omen from director John Moore ( director of Behind Enemy Lines, great action film ). I would say it´s ok but not much else. So here we are in 2024 with a prequel to the original The Omen film called The First Omen. Is this the prequel we all have been waiting for or is The First Omen a film that doesn´t need to exist at all?

In Rome, 1970, amid left-wing protests, American novititate Margaret Daino ( Nell Tiger Free ) arrives at the Vizzardeli Orphanage. As she helps out with the children she is especially curious about a young orphan girl named Carlita ( Nicole Sorace ). As she digs into the past of Carlita and why no one seems to tell her the truth behind her childhood, Margaret is about the discover that the truth is far more deep than she ever could have imagened.

It becomes very clear that they really tried to capture the time period of Italy in the 1970´s in The First Omen with the right 70´s colorful look, the right costume design and even capture the disco era of that time. Most of the film takes place at the Vizzardel Oprhanage but we also get some glimpses of the city life of Rome. I think it was a very good choice to really try and capture the time period in a realistic way. If you are making a prequel you have to actually put in effort to make it work, knowing that the original film have so many fans worldwide in the horror community. This film looks really good and i have to mention the cinematography from Aaron Morton ( who did the cinematography for critically acclaimed TV series Orhan Black ). He clearly knew what this prequel needed to stand out from the ordinary horror releases. Let´s talk about the cast for a bit and of course we should begin with lead actress Nell Tiger Free ( who fans of the TV series Servant will recognize ). Nell´s performance as Margaret matches very well with her character and you can sense that she is a very good hearted woman, who especially want to make sure that children are taken care off and no child is left outside. Legendary actress Sonia Braga ( who can forget her charming performance in the Clint Eastwood classic The Rookie ) deliver one of the most interesting characters in The First Omen as Sister Silva. She seems mysterious and fascinating at the same time, and you don´t really know if you can trust her. I think you should know that this film is not the typical American jump scare horror film, instead this film turns out to be more of an old school horror film where everything is not CGI but clearly inspired by horror films of the 70´s. The horror scenes in general have some positive surprises but there are also some horror scenes that feels blend and predictable. I would have liked this film to be more powerful and go all in for the true inspiration of The Omen, that is something we unfortunately don´t get in this film. Overall i do feel that this prequel is good enough to stand on it´s own even though there are details i would have liked to be fixed. Director Arkasha Stevenson have created a great looking horror film with an interesting plot, and if he keeps working harder on his next film i have a feeling we will see his full potential that we only get glimpses of in The First Omen. A film for true fans of The Omen franchise and surprisngly not bad for being a prequel.

Rating: DDD