The First Omen (2024) Dir: Arkasha Stevenson
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There's something about a well executed religious horror film which is just so brilliantly frightening. Arkasha Stevenson's prequel to the excellent 1976 horror; 'The Omen', is just that. Back when this film was in theatres, I had seen a fair few very positive reviews, which had me very excited. Unfortunately, I had to wait until it was streaming to finally see it, but it was definitely worth the wait.
Set amongst the backdrop of civil unrest, youthful revolution and growing apathy to the church in 70's Italy, the atmosphere of this film is exquisite. It drew me in with its meticulously creepy foreshadowing, lingering camerawork and extremely ominous and sinister score.
These elements blended and twisted together to form a truly eerie viewing experience. As a rule, for that matter, I really enjoyed the film's cinematography, which utilised a lot of really tasty framing and lighting to great effect. Honestly, I was not expecting it to be as good as it was.
I thought the way Stevenson shot the more explicit and violent scenes of the film was excellent. She utilised body horror magnificently to unnerve, shock and scare thr viewer with some truly horrifying scenes that gave me the heebie-jeebies - if you'll excuse the expression. What's more, the violence and aforementioned body horror was used succinctly, which allowed to have as much impact as possible - sometimes less is more.
I thought the narrative was thrilling. It met up with the original film's narrative very smoothly, and expanded on the pre-existing lore of the franchise, without sacrificing the continuity or quality of the film itself. It only felt like I was watching a prequel right at the end. It was such a satisfying piece of horror.
Nell Tiger Free made for a very compelling protagonist. I saw the influences of Isabelle Adjani's superb performance in 'Possession', which Free both emulated and built upon in her own performance. I was so impressed with her, especially in the second half of the film, where the action, and her acting, really took off.
Nicole Sorace gave a pretty solid performance herself, which featured some good facial expressions and movement, although, I do think she was a little bit overshadowed by those around her, particularly in the final third of the film.
Maria Caballero stood out the most from a pretty impressive supporting cast. I thought she was mysterious, strangely alluring and very intriguing to watch. She was especially good in her earlier scenes, where she could show more versatility.
Ralph Ineson is so good at looking deeply troubled and concerned, which is exactly what was required here. He did exactly what he needed to do to emphasise the sinister nature of the film's action and consequences.
In terms of the rest of the supporting cast, I particularly appreciated the performances of both Sônia Braga and Bill Nighy, while the likes of Tawfeek Barhom, Charles Dance, Ishtar Currie Wilson and Andrea Arcangeli were all solid too.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by this prequel. It did everything it needed to and more - it over-achieved and exceeded my expectations in many ways, and made me want to rewatch the original immediately after. This is such an effective and watchable horror, which I will definitely be revisiting again soon.
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