The First Omen Review : A Gruesomely Entertaining Horror Flick That Resurrects "The Omen" Franchise

The First Omen Review: The Omen franchise has never been the same since the first film, The Omen (1976). Back in time, anybody would have taken it as a great sequel to Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), but it came as a different film and a different franchise. Polanski's classic was about the Birth of the Antichrist, and The Omen walked on the same lines, as we saw a couple adopting the Baby Antichrist. Making a prequel to a cult classic flick after 6 decades is not easy and definitely not the same job. The filmmaking style of the 1970s, the use of camera and background score, movie codes, and graphical violence—everything has changed over the years, so you can't really continue using the same formula to do a service to the old classic. Also, you don't have a legendary actor like Gregory Peck to lead the show. He was, back then, one of the rare legendary actors to do a cult horror film after Boris Karloff (Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Claude Rains (The Wolf Man), and Fredric Marc (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), but he didn't play the ghost/devil but a victim instead. That takes a lot of load away from The First Omen, as it comes with low expectations since all the previous films in the franchise (excluding the first one) have either been disappointing or mediocre. Surprisingly enough, this one goes wild, gruesome, and cruel enough to revive the franchise to some level, so this surprise should be welcomed by fans.Set in 1971 in Rome, The First Omen takes you to the events before American diplomat Robert Thorn and his wife Kathy were given the baby Antichrist, aka Damien. Margaret Daino (Nell Tiger Free), an American girl, is sent to Rome to work at an orphanage before taking the veil. She meets a disturbed girl, Carlita Skianna (Nicole Sorace), who is seeing some visions that can't be true but are true. Margaret befriends her roommate, Luz Valez (Maria Caballero), who takes her to the bar to have some fun. That BC-time-old cliche of a girl and a boy meeting at the bar, having drinks, dancing, kissing, and going to bed takes the story forward, but for many smart viewers, the climax twist is over at that moment only. Carlita is suspected to be the girl who will give birth to the Antichrist, and Margaret wants to save her. With the help of Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson), she is off to find the mystery behind the evil number "666" and how it is connected to Carlita and other women who have suffered the same fate in the orphanage.Being a prequel is difficult because the audience already knows the climax. The First Omen suffers from the same problem because we already know what the climax is. Damien is already with Kathy and Robert in The Omen (1976), so we know Margaret failed to stop them. This isn't a spoiler, but a basic guess anyone could easily know. Therefore, Ben Jacoby's story hasn't really anything to offer, but there is something in the screenplay for you. Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, and Keith Thomas's screenwriting gives you a hell of a "HORROR" show. You might puke or feel sick sometimes while seeing this macabre series of visuals. It's disturbing, filthy, obscene, and somewhat vulgar too. Particularly for female audiences, who are generally more sensitive to such things, and I did witness some disgusting expressions in the cinema hall from them during my screening. The jump scares like The Nun, Annabelle, and The Conjuring are low, but the horrible and ridiculous visuals come in a higher quantity. Beware of them if you can't digest them. And if you love them, then get ready for a feast! Yumm or yuck, you decide. I leave that decision to you. One more decision should be left to audiences, and that is whether or not this film hurts the religious sentiments of "Christianity." A soon-to-be nun going to the bar, smoking cigarettes, discussing sexual desires from the past—I mean, I am not sure if they are allowed to do so. The experts can be better judges than me.Nell Tiger Free wins you with her cuteness from the very first scene. After a while, the character and her expressions start boring you, as nothing compelling comes out of it. The climax, however, gives Nell to go free with some barbaric theories. Nell is fantastic in that pregnancy scene when she behaves like she is having an epilepsy attack. It gets on your nerves. That's only until you see the baby scene, which is even more thrilling. A mother can't just kill her own baby, even if it's the devil. Mia Farrow pushed the cradle in the iconic ending frame of Rosemary's Baby, leaving us shattered with her motherhood duties, and in the same way, we have Margaret's hand shaking here. Nicole Sorace has done well for the kind of weird character she got, while Luz Valez is a total babe! Ralph Ineson makes the father more relevant and believable than anyone else could have done. The supporting cast, including Sônia Braga, Bill Nighy, Tawfeek Barhom, and Charles Dance, looked quite decent.As mentioned earlier, the filmmaking style has evolved to whole new proportions from the 1970s to 2024. Aaron Morton's camera uses ultra-close-up shots of the eyes, stomach, vagina, and many other things to make you feel the horrors, fear, and strangeness of the characters and the moments they are going through. The background score has been effective, and a special mention should go to the editing skills of Bob Murawski and Amy E. Duddleston for cutting the scenes in such manners that they turn out to be unbearably horrifying. Some frightening scenes don't go well, as they cause ridiculous laughs, which is a common case with today's horror movies. The First Omen misses out on psychological nuances that could have made it more intense and gripping. Nonetheless, The First Omen is too good to be a directorial debut for anyone. Arkasha Stevenson has done what many filmmakers couldn't do, which is to resurrect the old classic in a modern way. Of course, it is no match for the first OG flick by Richard Donner, but it's far better than the mediocrity others offered us on the goodwill of The Omen. A few hiccups don't bother much, so this one deserves to be seen and experienced on the big screen. Go to the nearest cinema hall for a night/late-night show as gruesome entertainment awaits you.