Rent The First Omen (2024)

Unadventurous prequel - The First Omen review by AER

The inventive teaser trailer drew me in, but there's not much to recommend to this prequel to the 70s-80s Horror sequence of films begun by The Omen. One or two set-pieces aside this is too drab and slow to muster much interest. The ending is preposterous and the fiery SFX sub-par. A committed performance from Nell Tiger Free makes this more watchable than it might've been and she is given superb support from Brazilian powerhouse Sonja Braga - otherwise the support is distracting with weird accents and performance choices: hello Ralph Ineson and Bill Nighy. There's a nice cameo by Charles Dance. The pregnancy scene at the halfway mark hits the mark but it's stranded inside a boring and unadventurous film. Coming a week or two behind IMMACULATE with its similar plot, the First Omen has been robbed of some of its purpose. Immaculate was crap too though imo.

First? - The First Omen review by PE

Very enjoyable, well-made horror film. I’ve seen a million of ‘em. All the old favourites are referenced: Rosemary’s Baby, Suspiria, Possession….probably there were others. 

When is there going to be a  fresh, original vision for the horror genre? I understand directors must get off on paying homage to their forebears, but wouldn’t it be more exciting to present us with something new? 

Still, it’s probably not wise to look to Hollywood for originality.            

The First Omen? Felt as old as the hills. 

Pointless Horror Prequel - The First Omen review by GI

I'm quite convinced we didn't need a prequel to the classic horror film The Omen (1976), a very unsettling and creepy film, whereas here, despite some gruesome deaths that are all variants of ones in the original film, we have a laborious and somewhat confusing narrative that lacks that sense of evil and terror so well done in the first film. It is all presented with some flair however and Nell Tiger Free gives a strong central performance but I was very disappointed that this film changes a key story point from The Omen. I won't spoil this here suffice to say that fans of The Omen will notice it right away. Free plays Margaret, a young American novice, arriving in Rome to work at an orphanage and ultimately take her nun's vows. She soon senses something strange going on amongst the ghoulish looking nuns and eventually she is approached by Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson, taking the role played by Patrick Troughton in the original) who tells her of an attempt by a band of priests and nuns to bring the AntiChrist into the world. It's all rather underwhelming and although there's some body horror centred around childbirth the film is a disappointing and an unnecessary addition to the franchise. The ending, sadly, hints at another film to come too! Bill Nighy costars and Charles Dance has a cameo and a very neat death!