Jakarta. The popular horror franchise “The Omen” -- well-known for its antichrist infant character Damien -- has now returned with its sixth film “The First Omen”.

Meet Margaret Daino (Nell Tiger Free)-- an American novitiate who comes to a nun-run orphanage in Rome for her vows.  The year is 1971, a time when secularism among youths is on the rise. At the orphanage, Margaret discovers that the sinister religious sect within the church has been plotting to bring about the birth of the Antichrist in hopes of turning the secular into believers. Margaret also eventually bonds with Carlita (Nicole Sorace), the mistreated girl in the orphanage who turns out to be one of the devil's children. 

Directed by Arkasha Stevenson, “The First Omen” takes the audience back to before Damien is born, although the child is only mentioned at the very end of the movie. 

The almost two-hour-long film puts too much emphasis on the satanic rituals, thus sacrificing the plot and storytelling. Some scenes are certainly not for the squeamish, particularly when a demonic hand suddenly pokes out when Margaret sees another woman giving birth. Not to mention the horrifying C-section scene that can turn one’s stomach. The jump scares are decent and mainly rely on sound, rather than showing demonic figures suddenly popping out of nowhere. 

The movie is a prequel to “The Omen” (1976), which many believe to be among the top horror movies of all time. In “The First Omen”, we can see Stevenson relying on famous scenes from the popular classic to build suspense. As a case in point, “The First Omen” brings back the “It’s all for you!” scene. In the 1976 movie, we see Damien’s nanny hanging herself from the roof.

The 2024 prequel recreates this scene by having one of the nuns Anjelica (Ishtar Currie Wilson) light herself on fire and jump off the balcony. At the beginning of the movie, we see Father Harris (Charles Dance) getting killed by a metal pipe falling from the roof.

This is reminiscent of how the returning Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) meets his demise in the 1976 film. Although “nostalgic”, this can be a letdown for the viewers who follow “The Omen” franchise, especially if they wish to see new elements of horror. 

But “The First Omen” also has some things that do deserve praise. Acting-wise, Nell Tiger Free delivers an impressive performance, particularly when she goes hysterical after the big reveal.

The neat camerawork sets “The First Omen” apart from your usual cheap horror. A notable example is the “Giro giro tondo” scene. Moments before Anjelica takes her life, the movie shows kids --along with Margaret-- forming circles around Carlita while singing the Italian children’s song.

The movie uses a bird’s-eye view so the audience gets to see Carlita from the nun’s perspective. As the children fall to the ground, having the horrified Carlita and Margaret standing at the center --still shown using a bird’s eye view -- makes it a powerful shot overall. 

Another part worth mentioning is the fade-out after the club scene. In the movie, Margaret is taken by her fellow novitiate Luz to the dance club. Margaret dances with local man Paolo, but suddenly blacks out. The screen then turns pitch black and stays that way for 10 seconds or so -- quite longer than the usual fade-outs in movies.

When “The First Omen” got to this part, we could visibly see the audience sitting in front turning their heads around as if asking: “What happened? Is this a technical problem?”. Just like Margaret, the movie at the time tried to keep the audience in the dark before it was later revealed that she was impregnated by a demon the night she lost consciousness at the club. 

Overall, “The First Omen” is still better than the 2006 “Omen” remake. Even so, it still has not beat the 1976 classic.

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