Being a devotee of classic cinema can sometimes be a challenge, considering how much the industry has grown to be dependent on legacy sequels and reboots, which is particularly rife within the horror genre since it seems like every great horror film needs to be revisited in some way, whether through starting from scratch or continuing a story that should have possibly been left alone rather than being a victim of the growing tendency towards resting on the laurels of previous successes. The only exceptions to this unfortunate trend are usually those in which the original creators were involved in some way since they bring some sense of authenticity to what could otherwise be considered cheap and unnecessary retreading of classic material. Unfortunately, when it came time to inevitably revisit the world of The Omen, nearly everyone who was originally involved was no longer alive, whether its director Richard Donner or producer Harvey Bernhard, who took the fascinating screenplay by David Seltzer (who is still with us) and turned it into one of the greatest horror films ever made. Luckily, the responsibility to revive this story fell to the wickedly ambitious Arkasha Stevenson, a young filmmaker who is already showing an abundance of promise based on her television work, working alongside a dedicated cast and crew, we find that the elements that went into the creation of The First Omen being far better than initially expected. Well-crafted and directed in such a way that honours the original by Donner while still being unique in how it approaches certain ideas, The First Omen is remarkable and manages to become one of the current decade’s most intriguing works of horror, an achievement that does not come easily considering how many fascinating and worthwhile works of terror we see produced on quite a regular basis.

There are various reasons why this film is such an immensely satisfying achievement, even though a lot of these legacy sequels and prequels are very rarely particularly good and usually exist solely to profit off an existing property. From its first moments, The First Omen feels like it was made by people who genuinely cared about the material, not as a franchise that could be exploited for the sake of earning some money, but rather as a continuation of the original film that dives deeper into the mythology of the series, developing interesting ideas rather than just retreading exactly what it was that made the original film so compelling. Stevenson works very closely with the original film and its underlying ideas, and along with her fellow screenwriters, cobbles together a fascinating prequel that is very much aligned with the sensibilities of Donner’s film, but still isolated enough to stand on its own, with far too many of these films depending on some kind of working knowledge of the existing material to be effective. There are several references to the other films, including a couple of characters present in both, but these are more clever throwback references than essential elements of the plot. The film is superbly well-written, and the elements that are brought over from The Omen intermingle beautifully with the new ideas that the director places into this film, proving to be one of the rare prequels that feels like it puts in some effort, rather than covering the same material. Tonally, The First Omen manages to follow the example set by the original, insofar as this is a more atmospheric horror film, one in which the suspense and tension are what scares us, more than anything we see on screen. In an era where jump scares and horrifying images are commonplace in contemporary horror, any film that is going to uses mood as its primary vessel for the terror underlying the story is immediately going to stand out, and from its opening scene, it becomes very clear that The First Omen is far too intelligent and engaging to resort to such limited perspectives on what fear entails when you get to the root of the factors that scare and unsettle.

Stevenson may be making her directorial debut, but you would struggle to realize this based on precisely how well-directed The First Omen is, and how it manages to be remarkably analogous to Donner’s original masterpiece. As much as the story at the heart of the film is exceptional and sets the foundation for many of its brilliant setpieces, it’s the style that ties everything together and gives it such a distinct appearance. Stevenson’s directorial prowess is clear from the start, and her eye for detail is impeccable. Even something as simple as the framing of a certain shot, or the foreshadowing that peppers the film, is executed with precision, and the film itself is truly visually striking in a way that manages to be quite surprising, despite the seemingly simple structure that drives this film and makes it so engaging. The cinematography is not particularly complex, but the way the director assembles certain shots allows her to pay tribute to not only the previous films in this series, but also several other tremendous horror films, particularly emphasizing the convent-based narrative, since this is one of the aspects of the Donner film that is introduced as being pivotal to the nature of the story, but not explored in much detail. The style is very much aligned with the overall story, and while there are some stunning vistas of Rome (including under the cover of night, which is where some of the most enchanting and terrifying moments reside), the more sinister, visually unappealing elements help underline the fact that this is very much a horror film that intends to instil a sense of discomfort and dread in the viewer, and which Stevenson consistently draws our attention to throughout the film, her attention to every minute detail being one of the many reasons The First Omen manages to be so effective as not only a well-written horror film but also a genuinely beautiful one, which is not something we often find in a lot of contemporary entries into the genre.

As mentioned already, the writing facilitated a more atmosphere-driven narrative, and a lot of the directorial responsibility involved shepherding the premise to the screen in a way that prioritized the mood of the film without becoming too ambigious. Anyone who has seen or is at least aware of The Omen knows exactly where this film is heading (in fact, the final climactic moments overlap almost exactly with the opening scenes of the Donner film, with the earlier film picking up almost exactly where this one left off in one of the smoothest and most impressive examples of recreating a scene from another work), but yet we are still so surprised by the direction in which the story develops, it never feels like merely a pre-runner to another film, but rather a complex and unique piece all of its own. The performances are very good and are mostly directly aligned with the overall premise of the film and its intentions – Nell Tiger Free is a strong protagonist, particularly as she occupies the challenging role of the audience surrogate who serves to be our guide through this sometimes dense and challenging story, while Sônia Braga and Bill Nighy are perfect as the sinister members of the Catholic elite who drive the more unsettling aspects of the story, delivering performances that are nearly as strong as those in the original film. As with any good work of horror, the combination of solid visuals (where appropriate), meaningful characterization that doesn’t depend on archetypes, and a good story that is kept simple and intriguing, is enough to make it interesting, and this film certainly achieves this without any difficulty, being genuinely captivating and quite direct in its intentions and conveying much more nuance than we may have originally expected at the outset.

The rousing call for Hollywood to be more original, particularly in the hopes that it will cease to depend on existing properties for ideas is certainly one that we can all understand and appreciate. However, there are occasionally films that prove that this trend can be successful when done right – it’s certainly not an easy task, and it can sometimes be impossible to get right, but it isn’t entirely implausible that such a film can exist without needing to depend on nostalgia or the elements that made an existing work wildly popular. Instead, it proves that it is entirely possible to make a film that can stand on its own as a perfectly concise, direct work of terror, while also fitting in with the previous films in a series, which is precisely why The First Omen feels like such a unique entry into the canon of tremendous modern horror films. The filmmaking launches us back to the early 1970s, with the level of detail that goes into the production of the film being remarkable. The underlying themes are not only perfectly in line with the original film, but feel genuinely very intriguing, carrying a sense of mystery and intrigue that only makes the climax of the film even more terrifying. As a whole, The First Omen is a superbly well-directed, suitably unsettling horror film that doesn’t rely on cheap tricks or hackneyed techniques to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. Instead, it employs quieter, more sophisticated means of creating a specific atmosphere, from which it builds a genuinely unsettling story that confronts dark and deceptive themes that are deeply unnerving and profoundly fascinating, forming the foundation of one of the rare attempts to revive an existing franchise that never once feels cliched or unnecessary, and instead functions as a truly remarkable piece of filmmaking all on its own.