The First Omen (Blu-ray Review)
Horror films have many tropes that get reused over time. We have seen slashers, ghosts and crazy mothers scaring audiences forever. We have also got the religious sect of horror. Classics like The Exorcist and The Omen have been a benchmark and a launch pad for franchises that pale in comparison to the original films. The Omen franchise has had some particularly bad entries since the 1976 film. The First Omen is a direct prequel to that film, and there’s been a very warm reception to the film despite not being a huge money maker this year. Read more on the newest Antichrist horror below. Don’t forget, to order yourself a copy of the film, please click the cover art at the end!
Film: 
In this psychological horror prequel to the classic Omen films, a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church. Soon, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith, and that reveals a terrifying conspiracy to bring about the birth of evil incarnate. The First Omen stars Nell Tiger Free (Servant), Tawfeek Barhom (Mary Magdalene), Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ralph Ineson (The Northman) and Bill Nighy (Living). The film is directed by Arkasha Stevenson based on characters created by David Seltzer (The Omen), with a story by Ben Jacoby (Bleed) and a screenplay by Tim Smith & Arkasha Stevenson and Keith Thomas (Firestarter).
When we first meet Margaret, she is a wide-eyed nun to be. Brought to Rome by the priest who got her adopted as a child, she is looking forward to working in the Vizzardeli orphanage helping children. The other nuns are quiet, but kind and Margaret’s roommate is a lot more adventurous than her choice to be a nun may lead you to believe. The reverend mother has a chokehold on the orphanage though and does her best to keep things under her control.
For the viewer, the orphanage is shrouded in mystery. The children are happy, except for one little girl, Carlita. She is older and often in “The Bad Room”. Margaret learns that Carlita can lash out at others from time to time, and this information triggers Margaret to flash back to her own time at an orphanage, where she also had a bad reputation. For us Omen pros, we know what happens with children like this. Those random outbursts have a meaning we know all too well. Is there evil lurking within Carlita or Margaret? Clues and twists reveal much more and then complexity and shocking discovery set in and the whole orphanage becomes a scare show for anyone living or working there.
The First Omen upon teasers and trailers gave me a “what for?” type of vibe. We have seen several sequels, a remake and a TV series flounder in the years since The Omen was released. I became intrigued when I began to read about the things that were good. Buzzy words like body horror, nightmarish, and creepy kept me interested. Going into the film blind besides a teaser or two, I was pleasantly surprised by the events portrayed on screen. Even more impressive, since I found out the film was originally meant to be a Hulu original. While the movie wasn’t a monster hit, the critics and the audiences that did go saw the good in the film.
There are some great story points, and the film takes its time to build up to the eventual reveal. This is not a jump scare type of horror film. The patience you have for the pacing will reward you, because the effect of watching and being creeped out comes into play. I love horror films, but I haven’t been frightened by one since I was a kid. This film tried me though. I did a lot of head shaking, double-taking and oh-hell-no’ing for the whole movie. The throwbacks to the original film also give me that nostalgia that I’ve come to know from newer films revamping old franchises. I loved how the film embraced its 70’s timeline and accurately depicted the story in that era. Tying the film to the original, The First Omen has a mostly satisfying ending too.
Video:
Encoding: MPEG-4/AVC
Resolution: HD (1080p)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Layers: BD-50
Clarity/Detail: Finished at 4K, The First Omen has no problem making a strong presence on Blu-ray. The film has the look of a 70’s film, which is appropriate, with a filmic look with plenty of detail in every frame. There is nothing blocky or artificial looking in how the film is presented and even in darkness, detail is very clearly noticeable and present.
Depth: The sense of depth in The First Omen’s Blu-ray presentation shows objects and individuals moving in and out of frame with no degradation of focus in any moment.
Black Levels: No crushing here, film fans. The film has a crisp sharp sense of darkness which helps set the tone for the movie itself.
Color Reproduction: The color palette for The First Omen is a warmer one. Again, since the movie takes place in the 70’s, the style choice is very apparent. Fiery flames ignite the screen with red and orange, and deep blacks from the nun habits cap off the other side of the color spectrum. Every primary color on screen looks accurate as well.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones carry the stress of the characters on screen, with some appropriately pale, some more reddish and even some, no joke, on fire.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean.
Audio:
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 7.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Español, French, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Dynamics: The 7.1 lossless mix for The First Omen brings some nice immersion to the film. There is a lot of echo going on in the orphanage, and this adds to some of the tension as we figure out what Margaret is dealing with mentally. Sounds bounce from one side to the other, but of course, this is not a fully atmospheric mix, so things stay traditional in the surrounds. This is not a detriment, and the film still has an excellent mix overall!
Height: N/A
Low-Frequency Extension: Music and horror sound effects give the subwoofer some light work, but there isn’t much to go bump in the night for this film.
Surround Sound Presentation: The voices of entities come and go in the surrounds, and so does music and ambience from clubs or the orphanage or the streets of Rome.
Dialogue Reproduction: Clean.
Extras: 
Extras are unsurprisingly weak for the Blu-ray of The First Omen. There are 3 featurettes that are a total of a little less than 20 minutes. The release comes with a slipcover and a digital code. There is no bundled DVD with the release.
Bonus Features*
Featurettes
- The Mystery of Margaret – Join director Arkasha Stevenson and stars Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy and Maria Caballero as they dive into the character of Margaret, her relationships with other characters, and how she’s manipulated while trying to solve the film’s horrifying mystery.
- The Director’s Vision – Director Arkasha Stevenson talks about her love of horror films, the opportunity to expand on The Omen legacy, and crafting The First Omenentirely through a female lens. She also describes shooting in Rome, and the cast recounts working with Arkasha.
- Signs of The First Omen – Join the director and talented artists as they reveal some of the symbolism within the set designs and the costumes. Learn how the use of practical effects blurs the line between what is real and what is not in The First Omen’sterrifying world.
*Bonus features may vary by product and retailer
Summary:
At the end of the day, there isn’t anything surprising in The First Omen. The film is creepy and engaging and turns out to be a lot of fun once the twists and turns of the film start doing their thing. Yes, we know what’s eventually going to happen, but we’re going along for the ride! Performances from a game cast keep the momentum going and call-backs to the original Omen keep those fans at bay. The technical aspect of this release is excellent, and while there is a 4K version of the film available digitally, this Blu-ray will more than do the trick for us physical media collectors.
