Arkasha Stevenson’s Great Vision for Horror, A Review of The First Omen

The First Omen is a both a prequel and reboot to The Omen series that initially released in 1976. It sets up the story of the origin of Damien, but also changes some key points of the story, making things much more interesting.

Arkasha Stevenson’s vision for horror is great because she does not primarily utilize jump scares. Instead, she does well in setting up a constantly ominous setting that makes real commentary on the world we live in. Like Immaculate, the body horror in The First Omen highlights the unique struggle of females in society and the oppression that they face under patriarchal institutions like the Catholic Church.

Plot

The First Omen stays true to a lot of the lore of the original The Omen series while making unique twists on certain parts of the story. Sister Margaret is called to Rome, Italy to join a convent that takes care of orphaned girls. Over time, she discovers that something is not quite right about the organization and she realizes there’s a conspiracy to bring about the devil incarnate. Father Brennan from the original The Omen makes a return as a fatherly figure that is…