The First Omen Review

First off, I've been hooked on horror flicks since I was a wee child. As part of the Gen-X legacy, it was a whole different ballgame. Movies classified as PG or PG-13 are now considered R-rated. We were practically horror film connoisseurs in elementary school.   Our family had this running gag; my sister and I were so into horror movies that we thought Jason Voorhees was our uncle. Not a single nightmare to speak of... until E.T. came along.  But hey, that's a story for another time. 

When it comes to horror sub-genres, supernatural and slasher films are the real deal for me. There's something about the fear of the unknown that really gets under my skin, especially when it involves people; because let's face it, folks can be pretty unpredictable in real life, just like in those movies. Anything that seems even remotely possible is enough to give me the heebie-jeebies.  Despite that, I'm totally into the Omen movie series; well at least the first two installments. 

The original "Omen" hit the screens in 1976, just before I was born. It told the tale of an American Ambassador in Italy, Robert Thorn, who adopts a newborn named Damien after losing his own child. Thorns gets a chilling warning from Father Brennan, a Catholic priest, who tells him that Damien will one day kill him and his wife to take over the world. To keep the child safe, believed to be the antichrist, many people met their end. 

So, what's the backstory of Damien? That's where "The First Omen" picks up the thread, set years before Damien's birth.  Set in Rome in 1971, it kicks off like its predecessors. A priest stumbles upon an occult plot and is swiftly silenced to keep the secret under wraps. Margaret Daino (played by Nell Tiger Free), an American woman sent to Rome to join the church, becomes roommates with Luz (Maria Caballero), another aspiring nun.  Luz drags Margaret to a disco where she meets a guy and then blacks out. 

When she comes to, Margaret can't recall what happened that night. She goes to the Vizzardeli Orphanage and meets Carlita Scianna (Nicole Scorace), an orphan who seems to be treated poorly by everyone. Carlita warns Margaret that dark things are on the horizon. Not long after, Father Breenan contacts her, revealing that some radical church members are trying to birth the Antichrist to scare people back into the church. 

Margaret starts digging into these odd happenings and stories by sneaking into a nun’s office. There, she finds a bunch of files all named "Scianna", each with photos of babies with the 666 birthmarks. One file is for Carlita, who’s supposedly the only one left. They soon realize that for the Antichrist to be born, the Devil has to mate with his own offspring. But Carlita’s too young for that. What’s missing? After some weird dreams and hallucinations, they figure out they overlooked a living survivor.

I won’t give away too much, but trust me, you won’t be let down. This film didn’t get rave reviews, but like many of my favorites, they didn’t rank high either. The key is that I had a blast watching it, and it ties in well with the original Omen movie. I’m really hoping for another prequel to set up the events leading to the 1976 Omen film—I think it’d be amazing. You can catch this flick on Hulu.

I give this film 4 out of 5 acorns.