The First Omen is worth your time

I’d seen some rumblings for The First Omen online for a few days, and maybe you guys saw it too. There was a clip of Charles Dance getting merced by a falling pole that’s in the opening scene that made the rounds. Then I saw it on Disney+ of all places. I needed something to watch, and even though Worst Person in the World is expiring on Hulu soon, I wasn’t sure I wanted subtitles.

As an aside, It’s so odd seeing non-family friendly stuff on Disney+. There’s shit like My Name is Earl and Poor Things on Disney. Hell, even The Batman on on Disney. It’s weird. Icky. I feel like I didn’t wash my hands after going to the bathroom. I feel like wandering around a retirement home without a mask on. Wearing a speedo to the beach. Technically whatever, but still out of place.

So anyway the movie begins with that Charles Dance clip, and I already had an opinion built for that bit because I figured yeah. This bit? Stylistic. Ok. What’s lost to those clips online is the fact that the soundtrack to this film is perfect. Horrifying. Glorious. It just fits so well for the Catholic Antichrist horror bit they’ve got going on. But the direction continues to be bold and unique throughout. The establishing shots that most people expect turn frantic and do odd things as the horror progresses. There’s very great camera work for the horror bits and the framing and the flow. It’s fresh. It’s captivating. It’s effort. It pays off.

The direction isn’t stylish and moderne. It doesn’t try to be one of those neo-intellectual films with ‘interesting’ framing and direction. It doesn’t do that stupid thing of lingering on someone’s facial expressions. It’s relatively straightforward and isn’t designed to alienate the general audience, but it still manages to capture fresh techniques when they’re appropriate.

The First Omen is certainly a frightening, eerie film. It relies not on jumpscares but on shock factor. Gore. The makeup and monster design. The body horror. The aura. It’s meant to shock you into fear. It works. I had to look away sometimes. There’s a graphic scene of childbirth. It’s terrifying and grotesque. There’s broad daylight self immolation scenes that aren’t stupid visions. There’s genuine descent into madness that feels believable. The nuns are actually mean and creepy. It just works.

If you like horror films, christian vibes, and very good antichrist movies, this one is going to do the trick for you in spades. I recently saw another antichrist movie, Deliver Us, which covers pretty much the same ground. I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t like it much, but it’s the same story, but picks up right before the climax and continues on after the nun births the twins and runs away from the satanists. I didn’t like it much because I thought that the subject matter that they decided to go with was uninteresting, and that the horror was too stylistic and slow to be enjoyable and scary. The First Omen picks its storyline well, and it’s allowed to capitalize on the horror and twists and turns and executes so well.

I’d rate this movie an overall:

GOOD 

You can watch The First Omen on Disney+, right alongside Dadnapped.