The First Omen
Raised in a Catholic orphanage and now slated to become a nun, Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), an American, is transferred to Rome Italy before she takes the cloth. But, when dark events and encounters cause her to question her faith, a conspiracy within the church is exposed shining light on birth of the antichrist.
Written by Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, and Keith Thomas and Directed by Stevenson, this return to the evil incarnate and the Catholic Church serves as prequel to 1976’s (now cult classic) The Omen and employs many of the same scare tactics and visuals as its shelf-mate, which while somewhat of a retread, still work effectively 48 years after the fact. Nothing says creepy quite like panicked nuns praying by candle light while something lurks in the darkness, and, given the proximity to old architecture and ritual, extra creepy in the old country, so to speak. Additionally, despite its known and predictable outcome, it’s still fun to watch our antihero’s capitulate; although, by act three a sharper editor’s razor could have made for a more divisive and implied plot as opposed to the existing spoon fed narrative that spells things out in block letters, lowering the overall IQ of the film, ho hum. Still, reprisals of the original score bring back that nostalgic sense of dread, the dark one returns, and, as we know, true evil never really dies. Running two hours and rated R, The First Omen gets a wink and a nod for this weekend.