The First Omen – A Decent Horror Prequel

The original Omen, released in 1976, remains a horror classic to this day thanks to the direction of Richard Donner, the iconic, Oscar-winning score by Jerry Goldsmith, and the star power of Gregory Peck. Spawning a series of subpar sequels, the reputation of the original continues untarnished. That being said, why go back to that world nearly 50 years later and is it really needed? The answer to that question was to go even further back with a prequel. The First Omen is a solid horror prequel that, in spite of its issues, proves its worth. The inherent nature of prequels, and the preconceived notions audiences often have going in, give them an inevitable air of predictability, and this one was no different. A slow burn, the film is arguably too slow as the story also finds a way to feel rushed as well. Setting that aside, it is still a somewhat compelling watch that delivers some great scares but what truly puts it over the top is a stellar lead performance from Nell Tiger Free. While she has her moments, it could also be argued that she was merely a vehicle to move the story forward and trigger scares as she comes off as thin.

As mentioned, The First Omen is a prequel that follows a young American novitiate named Margaret (Free) who is sent to Rome to begin her service to the church at an orphanage and hospital. However, as she arrived, she found herself shrouded in a mysterious darkness that made her start to question her faith. Slowly pulling away from the church as she was about to make a lifetime vow to it, something just wasn’t quite right and she appeared to be the only one who could pick up on it. In the end, all roads seemed to lead to an orphan named Carlita (Nicole Sorace). A girl with a long history of alleged bad behavior, Margaret found a kinship with her as they connected over their troubled pasts. In spite of those claiming otherwise, she saw herself in Carlita and saw the possibility for redemption when no one else did. Taking a vested interest in her, it was clear that whatever shadiness was going on extended to her but that proved to only be the beginning of the story. Essentially confirmed by Father Brennan (Ineson), an excommunicated priest who was excommunicated for digging a little too deep into what was going on. As confidence in the church at that time was at a record low, he claimed that a renegade sect was concocting a nefarious plan to bring worshippers back.

Out of concern for Carlita and the church, Margaret dug deeper herself in what was another classic case of digging too close. A predisposition to visions, hallucinations, and general bad luck made her susceptible the second time around, the closer she got to the truth. With that came some great scares set up by the film’s strong atmosphere work, done through its score and sound design. In the end, the result of that, in what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, was the revelation that she was more involved in what was happening than she realized. As the story rounded the final turn, attempting to bring everything together, this revelation simply did not land. Granted, finding the right balance in any narrative between what audiences is a tough game but the film’s primary concern was getting audiences to the familiarity of The Omen. Everything else on that path felt like an afterthought, especially Margaret herself. The contrast created by placing an innocent character up against a not so innocent world made for an interesting perspective, despite it being done countless times before. However, that was pretty much it here. After peeling away all the layers, what is left is a horror that doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of plot threads and themes, with a thin and vague antagonist to somehow bring it all together.

Solid on a technical level, what truly carries The First Omen past the finish line is Free’s performance as Margaret. Bringing the film some much needed life, she is so compelling to watch, even though the strength of what surround her wasn’t always there. More than doing her job as an analog for audiences, showing some range while delivering an entertaining warped innocence arc, but there could have been so much more done with her and Margaret. She had her strong moments but Free was more of a means to an end. Ineson has screen presence as Father Brennan, an exposition machine and nothing more. The impact from the supporting cast besides him was minimal at best.

At the end of the day, The First Omen is a decent prequel that delivers some quality scares but barely justifies its existence as it is lifted by a stellar performance from Nell Tiger Free.

still courtesy of 20th Century Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.