Post by joekiddlouischama on Apr 23, 2024 7:23:16 GMT
A prequel to the vintage seventies horror flick The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976), co-starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, The First Omen proves quite impressive—a "good" film. It is especially impressive visually, with some rich contrasts and a slightly gritty look that recalls a lot of seventies movies, yet without seeming imitative. Director Arkasha Stevenson shoots and edits the film in a way that really involves the viewer, yet without the kind of pretentiousness (visually or tonally) that often characterizes horror films. That statement is basically another way of saying that The First Omen features a lot of camera movement, but it is subtle, and it offers dramatic editing, but it is logical. The result, then, is a film that manages to be both stylized and organic. The movie is also well-paced and well-cast, with credible performances from Nell Tiger Free (in the lead role as the victimized young woman), Ralph Ineson as a sympathetic pastor, Bill Nighy, Maria Caballero, Tarfeek Barhom, Nicole Sorace, and Andrea Arcangeli, among others.
Ironically, The First Omen features the same basic story and narrative motifs as the concurrently released Immaculate, featuring Sydney Sweeney. That horror movie is "decent"—entertaining, with impressive editing and some memorable visual contrasts. But The First Omen is more elaborate and better. It is less gory and thus a little more subtle in its effects, and as a period piece set in 1971, it taps into its historical era to create more in the way of theme and social motivation for the Catholic church's tyranny. The result is a horror film that combines intricacy and sweep.
Ironically, The First Omen features the same basic story and narrative motifs as the concurrently released Immaculate, featuring Sydney Sweeney. That horror movie is "decent"—entertaining, with impressive editing and some memorable visual contrasts. But The First Omen is more elaborate and better. It is less gory and thus a little more subtle in its effects, and as a period piece set in 1971, it taps into its historical era to create more in the way of theme and social motivation for the Catholic church's tyranny. The result is a horror film that combines intricacy and sweep.