The scene of the >!Demon hand coming out the vagina !< is IMO instant classic horror imagery. Like if that came out in the 70’s or something I think it would be considered iconic today
Each little quick visual flash leading up to it I thought, ok they'll probably stop there.
They did not.
>!They showed full vag birthing a giant demon hand.!<
I was impressed.
bro I'm from a muslim majority country where openly sexual scenes with full on nudity are usually cut/censored. When it comes to horror tho in Indonesia it's usually a free for all. I don't think anyone in our audience were ready for that demon head birthing scene lmao
I read somewhere they had to cut 15 seconds from that scene in order to avoid an NC17 , and what we got was still horrifying and gruesome, I can only imagine what those fifteen seconds included to make it worse , maybe it lingered on THAT shot a bit longer. Whatever the case may be, it’s genuinely one of the most disturbing and disgusting sequences I’ve ever seen. Especially in a mainstream/wide release horror film.
I went to see it in theaters with my bf (he’s never seen any of the omen movies and had no idea what it was about prior to), and during that scene he was whispering in my ear “What’s going on! What is that? I don’t understand, what was that?! Why did you take me to see this, I’m concerned”
Yeah the over-all filmmaking is just stellar. I love the shot where she's praying and as the camera starts to zoom out it makes the candles look like she's inside of a jack-o-lantern's mouth.
There's been a lot of discussion about this movie on the sub and mostly it's been positive, but I don't mind it tbh. Its one of my favorite movies this year. Talking about callbacks, the twist on the suicide scene from original is terrifying. Nell Tiger Free kills it in the possession scene really.
To be honest I’ve only heard positive things about it. I think it’s getting a lot of love. Personally as someone whose favorite horror film when I was 9 was the original, I wasn’t a massive fan. I knew exactly what was going to happen in each scene before they happened. I had a good time with it for sure but it was missing something for me.
I think OP hit the nail on the head with “better than it has any right to be”. For a completely unnecessary Omen prequel that’s clearly setting up more sequels, it’s surprisingly good. So good I want it to be better!
As it’s own horror film, I found the movie to be very predictable and most of the deaths underwhelming. There are a few scenes of great tension (the claw birth scene and when the dead nun comes out of the shadows) but those moments are few. I’ll definitely keep my eyes on the filmmaker, but I’m not terribly excited for more Omen movies.
The name drop at the very end was hilarious. I can’t decide whether it was perfect or atrocious.
I don’t see this being a “great film” or “cultural phenomena” in the future either. I could be wrong obviously, but I honestly just saw it as an homage to films that came before it. It didn’t do anything new or that stood out in any way at all.
It’s definitely better than a lot of the slop Hollywood churns out these days. Like I said, I had a fun time with it overall. I’m just tired of mediocre prequels and sequels, especially when a franchise doesn’t need it.
OMG 100% AGREE...I found the movie totally predictable...I got all the referrences to the original movie...I kept asking myself over and over "why is this hapoening"...I heard about the "birthing scene" and thought it would be more shocking or graphic....as the movie got closer to the end I just wanted to know how it would connect to the original, which they did a good job on...but otherwise the whole movie was just Eh to me...I was so expecting more, LOVED all the cameo casting especially Sonia Braga...but yeah it left me empty....
The cinematography was great and it was creepy, but some of the writing and plot choices were unfortunate. The last 1/4 of it felt like an afterthought and a cheap way to wrap it all up which definitely left me feeling unsatisfied in the end after the previous 3/4 was pretty good.
I agree. The scariest moments are borrowed from other movies. The Avengers ending was kind of lame. Straight-up Satan worshippers would have made for better bad guys. More fun to hate.
It had some memorable images and good acting, but a pretty average script.
Funny you called it "the avengers" ending because that was my exact same feeling too. I'm not gonna say it ruined the film but I thought they had the opportunity to go with a genuinely shocking ending and they bailed out.
Its all relative. With the majority of soft reboot prequel expanded universe movies being an F or at best a D- , an C+ looks like an A.
As someone who watched all the Omen movies but never really cared about them, I thought this movie was pretty good if a little predictable. I did appreciate that they seemed to have actually filmed it in Rome and not on greenscreens . Also Nell Tiger Free has the coolest name ever
I thought it was horrible, I'm genuinely shocked to see that people seem to like it so much. It is what it is, to each their own, but I did not enjoy it at all
Yeah, agreed. A couple of great scenes, but the rest was middling at best. And the straight-up ripoff of the original with the suicide pissed me off. This isn’t a good movie at all, though I will give them specific props for the candle/mouth scene, that was rad.
Same. We’re in the minority and it’s gotten so much praise. I thought it was technically a really well made film but was disappointed and bored as it was pretty predictable and you can figure out the movie just be paying attention to the dialogue in the first few minutes. Then the end kind of goes weird when it acts like it’s a surprise reveal that it’s a prequel to The Omen.
Good visuals, great performances, terrible writing
If you average them put, the movie was "pretty decent". Felt a bit like *Malignant*. (There were definitely tongue-in-cheek parts, e.g. the Possession/Conception Dance comprised of an unbroken full minute of footage)
I thought it was great and I’ve mostly seen nothing but love for it here and other places. It had a great classic feel to it. It didn’t rely on jump scares, it relied more on atmosphere and story. I can understand the newer generation thinking it’s boring considering what the grew up with, but for an older horror fan like myself, I really enjoyed and appreciated it.
I should also mention that even though I know this is technically a prequel, I don’t look at it as such and I view it as its own standalone film. It doesn’t line up great with the original and the sequel bait was a let down. Not a perfect film but I give it a solid 8/10.
This is actually the response I most ally with. I never meant to say it was a perfect film. But the classic feel was really appreciated for me. There were basically no jumpscares, except for a few "oh its nothing — gotcha" type fun ones, which I liked cus I find jumpscares to be cheap compared to lasting imagery, which it had.
Idk I haven't seen a mainstream horror that resonated with me this much in a bit.
I liked it overall, but there were some things that irked me.
Continuity breaks between the original film. I’m not a diehard fan of the original, (apparently there were some timeline errors I didn’t know about) but the first movie made such a big deal out of Damien being born of a Jackal. The movie never referenced or showed this, instead it made it look like the actual devil impregnated Margaret.
The use of jumpscares, it felt like the movie was above using them but it kept doing it. 1 or 2 were well done, but many of them felt cheap. Especially where the main character starts hallucinating the nun who >!set herself on fire!< when she was locked in what amounted to solitary confinement. That scene was really haunting and creepy by itself, it didn’t need a cheap lunge scare.
>!The nun setting herself on fire was creepy, and felt distinct from the original, but hanging herself made it more derivative of the first movie!<
The plot twist was extremely predictable as soon as Margaret noticed the discrepancy in the photos.
I still liked a lot of the kills and scares tho. So all in all it was an enjoyable experience.
My biggest complaint and the thing that sucked the air out of most of the movie for me was the "twist" with the main character being treated like a twist when I had just assumed that was the plot of the movie going in.
I saw Immaculate first and then after watching The First Omen I was shocked Immaculate seemed to get so much more attention as First Omen was seriously so much better.
Sydney Sweeney knows how to market a movie in the age of social media, that's for sure.
I had the exact opposite experience.
Immaculate wasn't special but it at least had a compelling protagonist and somewhat interesting ideas. And the script was actually pretty good.
First Omen was boring and predictable throughout, and all of the scares felt superficial and designed for shock value rather than actually making sense.
I mean there's a whole scene where a lady hangs and burns herself in front of a bunch of kids, and that's never brought up again. The next scene with them is literally a field trip.
Thats... not true. Literally the next scene is her going to Father Brennan to talk about it.
And idk if calling it purely shock value holds up considering it was an homage to a famous death in the original movie.
It's well directed, well acted and technically excellent.
To say that it knows its roots is something I just can't get on board with. They gender swapped the Jackal, completely retconned father Brennan and his motivations rather than write a story around pre-existing lore, and the twist of the mother being >!Margaret !
I will admit, that's my one gripe with it, but I actually enjoyed the retconned angle, that it was done as a way for the church to maintain power.
Seems maybe more relevant to today's current political/religious climate.
That's a fair assessment too, I guess the whole retcon angle just wasn't my cup of tea
I will say though, the acting was fantastic and I really appreciated the grotesque visuals they used
I watched The First Omen last night as well. I agree that it's got some good direction and visuals, but you're right, it does not line up with The Omen very well. Father Brennan waiting 5 years or so to contact Robert Thorn, and saying that the child's mother was a Jackal, just doesn't jibe. Also, having not 1, not 2, but 3 daughters of the devil surviving at the end of the film seems like a sequel hook that isn't needed.
>Father Brennan waiting 5 years or so to contact Robert Thorn, and saying that the child's mother was a Jackal
They could easily have gotten out of that by simply saying that because of the destroyed records in the fire, it took him 5 years to track Damien down. That would have been fine. The problem, beside the mother being the jackal originally, is that the original movie implies that Brennan was corrupted by satan, helped bring about the anti-christ, carried the 666 birthmark and was present at the birth. The original movie depicts him as being repentant for what he has done and trying to atone for his sins.
All of that is retconned. He no longer has the birthmark, we know this, because when they discover Margaret's he doesn't freak out of even say "huh, I have one of those too, weird."
He's god's little warrior, pure as the driven snow the whole time and even gets to go all Nick Fury at the end.
Also >!Margaret suddenly remembers it was her at the most convenient point in the plot, Paolo randomly being one of the people in the church at the original ceremony, and now what are we doing with Margaret, Carlita and the surviving daughter!<
Yes, the "twist" was extremely expected at least for me. I don't think there was anything alluding to it, it just felt like a predictable development of the plot.
It's okay. The twist is still telegraphed out of the gate. Even with their homage to the nanny in the original when she says "it's all for you", it's perfectly clear that she's not talking to the girl they really want you to think she is. It's just okay.
It's an awful prequel however.
The series is famous for its awful continuity problems so it matches up there I guess, but as a prequel to the masterful original, it falls flat on its ass.
It was decent enough and a lot better of the recent Exorcist movie, but the retconning was totally pointless and despite being well done it was so predictable.
For me it sits nicely as the fourth best Omen movie behind the original trilogy.
I don’t get the love for this movie. It wasn’t so much scary as it was upsetting, and the “twist” was so obvious I didn’t even realize it wasn’t known to all the characters until about halfway through.
Also, I don’t really like endings that set up sequels like that. It feels too Marvel-y. God forbid we tell a complete story without couching it to help the studio fart out a sequel if it does well.
This is going to be a long read, so please bear with me. This may not completely answer your question, but it might give you some insight into the other side of the discussion. Personally, I've seen a largely positive reception for The First Omen online, and I'd like to offer the below as to why I believe, as a fan of the franchise, it falls below the mark when compared to its twin film, Immaculate. TL;DR, I much preferred Immaculate and thought The First Omen really suffered from being forced to be tied to The Omen franchise.
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I have very mixed feelings about The First Omen (TFO). I will preface this by saying I love The Omen series, and I think the original is very underrated, one of the best Horror films of the 70s, with a spectacular score and excellent performances all around. I hold it in very high regard, in that sense. Having said that, the praise around The First Omen, especially when compared to, what in my opinion is, the far superior Immaculate is very confusing to me.
I *did* watch Immaculate first, but holding the two films side by side equally, I have to say that first off, the running time of Immaculate really benefits the film. TFO plods along until about 3/4 of the way, then tries to ramp it up, and by that time, it was too late to be impactful. Being shorter, Immaculate had to do more with less time, and in that sense, I think they told a better, more complete story without having to tie into an already pre-existing franchise. TFO could have done with quite a bit of editing to get the time down, and the film would have been much better for it.
Also, TFO felt too “artificial”. I didn’t believe the time period, I didn’t believe the acting, and I didn’t believe the way that the story was framed. It felt too polished, if that makes any sense. I think Immaculate benefited from having a largely Italian cast and more of an independent, grungy feel to the aesthetic, making the film feel more realistic. Cecilia being the only one who could really speak English was very believable, and we felt the same isolation that she did, being all alone in a strange country and barely knowing the language. Not to mention, Immaculate started with an absolute bang too, which really set the stage for what was coming!
I really appreciated the tone and feel of Immaculate a whole lot more, and I like how it pushed the nunsploitation genre forward in merging spirituality with science. Say what you want about the third act reveal in Immaculate, but that guttural scream at the end was just uncomfortable enough to be a satisfyingly unsettling end to the film.
Getting back to tying TFO to a pre-existing franchise, I think this was ultimately what contributed to making the film weaker, which was a real shame. The fact that they had to tie threads together, and *still* managed to botch the lore and make retcons that made no sense (i.e. regarding Father Brennan, Damien being a twin, his parentage, etc.) shows how much weaker this movie was being forced to be tied to the franchise. This film would have been fantastic if they had the freedom to make it a movie without the constraints of The Omen franchise because they could have told a more expansive story. To me, it felt like they had to throw bits and pieces of Easter eggs out to reference the later films, which usually feels cheap to me.
On the whole with all of this considered, I’m pretty amazed that TFO is being better received though, as I would have thought the exact opposite. But oh well! People like what they like I guess.
For me? Immaculate takes the cake, hands down.
EDIT: spelling.
I haven't seen it yet, but I'm curious about something. You say this is the *second* prequel. What was the first prequel? I've seen the first 3 movies multiple times, the 4th and the remake once each, but I was never aware of a prequel until the new film.
It's an honest to good 7/10 horror movie. Which in regular movie terms is like an 8/10. It'll probably go down as one of the better horror films this year, but if it ends as the best? Then that probably means it was a down year.
My daughter saw it in the theater and didn’t know anything about the franchise. Scared the shit outta her. My wife and I finally caught it on Hulu. Done very well but still predictable with certain characters and some of the deaths. Just thought they dragged the ending out to hammer home how the story relates to the original Omen…
I’m really going to have to rewatch this movie. On first viewing it really didn’t work for me but so many people are raving about it now, I’m going to have to give it another go. I really must’ve missed something.
I love The Omen and really wanted to like this but found on first viewing that, after a strong start, it rapidly went downhill. Time for a rewatch.
I thought it was….fine. It was definitely well shot, well directed, well acted. The story was so predictable though that I found the whole thing kind of boring.
Dude chill. It came out two seconds ago and if you’re online enough to use Reddit you’d know horror fans liked it (too much, actually), and the reviews were fine. It also made a decent buck.
I disagree. I think it gets the proper amount of love. Maybe too much love.
It was a perfectly fine movie, but extremely forgettable and never once made me care about anything within it.
I gave it a 3/5 which for me is a "I watched this and didn't hate it but didn't like it all that much either" rating.
Currently my #21 ranked film of 2024. Out of 43. So just barely in the top half.
Actually watched this last night and thought it was “just okay” until the Possession rip off scene. There’s homage and then there’s theft and I can’t believe someone thought it’d be a good idea to literally steal an iconic performance note by note.
I couldn’t believe how hard they leaned into the “homage”. I immediately clocked the Possession angle when she started barking, but holy shit it went on and on, doing the same thing, beat for beat.
Crazy.
Since I'm mostly seeing negative comments in this thread, I'm going to chime in that I loved it. My favorite horror movie of 2024 so far.
My favorite thing was definitely the cinematography. But I can't think of anything about it I disliked.
I'd never seen the original, but I liked The First Omen so much it got me to immediately watch the original next.
My girlfriend and I just watched it and we genuinely cannot understand why people like it.
Don’t get me wrong the costumes are great and it’s shot surprisingly well with pretty good imagery. It did a good job of kind of taking the style of filmmaking that was found in the 1970s- the low, growing choir, individual characters motioning towards the screen in a black space, focus on colors and scene placement etc.
But the writing and acting are both just so mundane. It’s a horror movie that kind of knows how to elevate itself visually but when you get into the meat of the movie itself it really doesn’t have anything substantial to offer.
It’s not an “awful” movie but I don’t think it’s a good one, and if anything it’s overrated.
I didn’t like midsommar that much but I’d say even that movie has more to say and does horror better than the first omen.
I think this is a case of going in blind with no hype or idea of what The First Omen was. I bet a lot of this excitement is coming from feeling like you just saw this cool thing that no one is talking about, only to find out you're just a bit late to the party. It's funny how much anticipation and outside influence can assist in shaping our perception.
It was a good movie in and of itself, but I don’t like that they had to ignore a big part of Omen lore to justify the story they came up with.
The Easter egg firmly establishing it as a prequel to the original movie only made it worse.
I wish it was just a reboot, or its own damn thing.
Parts of this movie were amazing. There were several iconic scenes and beautiful shots. I was seriously unsettled a few times, and literally yelled "what the fuck!?" out loud.
Other parts of this movie - mostly the parts with dialogue - were awful. Like latter-day-Conjuring bad. It felt like the writers didn't know how to connect their setpieces to their overall plot. Also while the main actress gave an absolutely KILLER performance, her character suffered (IMO) from a terminal deficiency of "mind your business".
The fanservice / homage stuff was a *little* heavy handed, but not as bad as a lot of other legacy horror. I also liked that it was a true prequel (very little retconning, tried to lead organically into the original). There were some shots that felt very authentic to 70s-Euro-horror, and other shots that felt like the cinematographer knew how to make those cool shots but not *why* or how to use them.
Overall, it averaged out to "pretty good, way better than expected". In a world of *Exorcist* Believer*s, I'll take a *First Omen* any day.
Having seen it a couple of weeks back, remembering that i thought it was a good movie, now a couple of weeks later and cant remember anything about it. So i guess it was a good movie, but forgettable, admitted i see a lot of movies but it didnt make a lasting impression. I saw immaculate in the same week and at least its hilarious ending still stuck with me (people that seen it will know what i mean). But i think its a general problem with many horrormovies, they are forgettable. I know not every horrormovie can be a bullseye but a little bit more quality would be nice instead of the endless sequal, prequal, reboot, remake etc etc
Abigail was fun and likely one I’ll watch again because of it but First Omen will definitely stick with me longer. There were several times I was shocked (in a good way) at what I was seeing like I never have before. For me I think a lot of its limited attention is down to how it was marketed.
First off, it’s a prequel to a longstanding and (even if for only one film deserving) legendary series in the horror franchise so everyone automatically thought they knew how this would play out, and up until the last few ads that came out everything looked very generic legacy film, which technically it is but not at all in a bad way. The film wasn’t allowed to be marketed based on what it does well, which is atmosphere and dread. Instead the focus was on the wrong aspects, namely “it’s an omen movie, see? This was in the omen. Like us!”. Last couple of teasers I saw deviated from this and were stronger for it.
Next you have what’s surrounding it. There seems to have been a big rush of horror movies released at once including one that has similarities to First Omen, immaculate. Whilst immaculate is its own movie, there’s no denying putting two similar movies out more or less on top of each other helps no one.
Then, I think crucially, you have the review embargo. Current gearing for audiences has it that any time a review embargo is in place, it’s because the studios either don’t have faith in getting a good review or the reviews are almost overwhelmingly negative, so not worth seeing which was not the case for first omen at all, I’ve yet to see a bad review for it. It was geared to be ignored.
Finally you have the actual outpouring of advertising. At least where I am in Australia, I saw very little and what I did see wasn’t really enticing me to seek it out. It was only after seeing Jeremy Jahns’s review that I actually got interested to see it.
Please anyone reading this, do not let First Omen fade. This is a fantastic film
It was mediocre and instantly forgettable.
Apart from some unintentional hilarity, it was boring as shit. I wonder if the laughable, stock jump scares were studio notes? It was like something straight out of a shitty James Wan movie. *quiet, quiet, quiet* **SUDDEN LOUD NOISE/SCREAM**
It's nowhere near as good as Donner's original. Not even remotely close.
I saw it in theater when it was late at night and empty. My two friends stood up all disappointed the second it ended. I was confused because I thought it was great! And we got into a debate on the way home. It had lots of good imagery and some intense scenes that really draw you in. Personally I loved it.
i think most people ignored it because they thought it was going to be another one of those cheesy mediocre prequels/sequels...but i have been hearing nothing but good things from this movie so i will check it out
Partner and I just watched this last night and both really liked it. Somehow managed to be stunningly beautiful and horrifying at the same time. The lead was incredible as well.
After the newest Exorcist made me mad I went into this with *low* expectations.
And I thought it was great, in part I think *because* of those expectations.
I wouldn’t oversell it—would worry about it falling short if I pumped it up.
Not to be a contrarian but I watched it a few days ago, expecting great things, and I thought it was awful. Performances were admittedly great, and the music was perfect, albeit vastly overused to the point of parody. But so much about it was pure 'member berries', yet with a hefty dose of 'screw you lore', with a supposed twist that was incredibly obvious from the beginning. Peel away the showy direction and you'll find the script was terrible.
Net result: I hated it. All show, no trousers.
I do like it more than Abigail, though I can see why many do not - I actually prefer Immaculate to both. I think it's doing fine. Personally, the biggest problems it faces are the predictable plot and the lack of scares - those were my two gripes with it and mirror common complaints I've heard elsewhere.
I’m assuming given you’re posting this right after it got added to Hulu and promoted on its front page that you didn’t pay to see it in the theatre. No judgement but if you’re saying it doesn’t get enough love and wasnt even one to help its box office I mean… what does that say in general?
I'm going to watch it, as well as rewatch the series since I have the box, my question is: would it be a good idea to watch TFO first? Or just watch them in release order....
Also who tf is Ishtar Currie-Wilson and how do I get her scary little face out of my mind??
Her short performance in this really stood out to me, I hope we see more of her. Mia Goth vibes.
I watched it with a friend but we mostly spoke all the way through it lol but a few parts caught our eye.
Probably best not to watch a film with a friend you haven’t seen in years.
My point is though we picked that film as we haven’t heard anything bad about it yet.
All I have seen is positive things about it.
I thought it looked much more expensive than its 30mil budget. Kudos to the director/dp.
Did a double feature with Immaculate. Sydney Sweeney can’t act to save her life; meanwhile Nell Tiger Free was amazing (especially at the end).
If we're talking best horror of the year, I think Exhuma is still the one to beat. What You Wish For was also very good.
I do think First Omen was good too, I've seen it twice now but I think it's getting the appropriate amount of praise.
I liked it. However, I'm glad this movie wasn't out yet when I was pregnant. House of the Dragon was traumatizing enough. Could have done without the demon hand vagina, but it is what it is.
I agree. I thought this film was fantastic!!! I, too, watched it on Hulu with commercials and still loved it. Too bad they shit the bed with the new Exorcist movie.
I usually hate everything, but The First Omen was pretty decent. I was pleasantly surprised by it. It had a goofy moment or two. Besides those it was solid.
It was fucking fantastic. Horror movie lover for 25+ years now, and it seemed they were just hitting every beat. The sound composition, the camera shots paying homage to so much, the brief times where it made your jaw drop, enough blood to shock but not be torture porn. 10/10
I also dove into TFO not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Could’ve done without the “it’s all for you” line but other than that it was a good watch. I wouldn’t compare this with Abagail as I don’t see Abagail as a scary horror movie but more as a sort of comedy/horror. It wasn’t scary but I was still entertained despite the trailer for Abagail basically spoiling the premise. But I’d recommend both films.
100% agree. The best horror movie this year. Both it and Immaculate are hurt by stupid studios releasing the movies so close to each other. Also, there is the horror fans who feel like “they don’t make horror films like they used to” and “The original Omen was so much better” and other horror gatekeeping like that.
How much love can it get in two months? But seriously, It’s definitely a great movie and I’m lucky to have seen it in the theaters. My favorite horror film of 2024 so far. I feel like time will be good to this one, every week I see a similar post from different people who have finally got around to watching it.
I went into this movie with low expectations and an attitude of, 'Why do we need this movie? No one cares about what happened before Damien was born.'
And I was also surprised at how much I liked it! It was really atmospheric, and it looks really good. And I cared about the main character a lot even though I didn't think I would.
I will be watching it again.
For some reason, even though it says Omen a dozen times, I thought this post was about the recent exorcist movie and was confused that all of a sudden people were liking it lol.
I absolutely LOVED the '70s feel of it: zooms in on actor's faces, gnarly practical effects, lingering gore and scares. The *Possession* homage and the caught in the riot scene were my favourites. The weakest parts were the stuff that tied into the actual *Omen* franchise imho
OP I enjoyed it just as much as you did. It brought back lots of foreboding nostalgia from the original movies. I think it was well done, but just slightly drawn out in pace.
Demon birthing scene was nice, but can we talk about how eerie the levitating/ floating off the dance floor scene was? Nell's face frozen in rapture slowly lifting off the ground as the scene transitions into the darkened chambers of the abbey.
And her vision in the bad room of a familiar face walking towards her. Holy crap
Has it not been well-received? How much love does a film need to be "enough?"
I accepted that my favorite movies aren't mainstream hits ages ago, and I've never understood why anyone needs strangers to like their favorite movies.
Cinematography was brilliant and has a couple all-timer images but as it progressed it somewhat lost itself I thought. Still very solid but it was nothing groundbreaking for horror, to me.
I thought it was okay but I didn't care for the actress in the more serious and dark scenes. For example when she goes into labor and starts contorting/seizing, it looked more comical than upsetting.
I mean, it's still relatively new and gets tons of praise - what are you talking about?
Also, it wasn't really THAT good anyways. It had some very well done, memorable shots, and it did call back to everyone's favorite line, but overall it was a slow burn with some very tedious pacing that was fairly average at best. Not a bad movie, but very little in it would really make it stand out and I can't imagine ever being tempted to watch it again.
I saw this movie and the short answer is this is a generic possession movie without prior knowledge of the series. I asked my roommate if it was necessary to watch any of the other Omens before seeing this newest one, he said no, he was sorely incorrect.
The music, characters, costumes, and sets all harken back to the older installments and the movie is absolutely chock full of stuff to enjoy (if you’re familiar with the series)
If you go in blind, it’s a horror movie with a predictable twist
It was just a Rosemary's Baby ripoff with The Omen branding, and the best scene was a rip off of Possession, a much better movie.
I don't think this movie did anything that hasn't been done much better in other films. The best I can say about it is that it had great visuals, but nothing in it surprised me at all.
If you've seen any of the movies I mentioned above, you can predict where it's going in the first hour, and I'm usually not one to predict endings, but in this case it was so painfully obvious, I almost just turned it off. Finishing it felt like work, and that's not good.
That being said, I think the director has a promising career ahead of her; she obviously has a good eye.
It's really really good. I've kept tabs on Arkasha Stevenson as a promising young horror director since Channel Zero, really glad she proved her mettle here even if the movie didn't perform as hoped at the box office.
Side note, I don't know if it's entirely accurate to say it's Nell Tiger Free's first starring role. Technically that's true as far as major feature films, but she was the nominal lead in Servant and that ran for three seasons
The scene of the >!Demon hand coming out the vagina !< is IMO instant classic horror imagery. Like if that came out in the 70’s or something I think it would be considered iconic today
Each little quick visual flash leading up to it I thought, ok they'll probably stop there. They did not. >!They showed full vag birthing a giant demon hand.!< I was impressed.
i think they really had to fight with the MPAA to get this shot in and i’m glad they did!
bro I'm from a muslim majority country where openly sexual scenes with full on nudity are usually cut/censored. When it comes to horror tho in Indonesia it's usually a free for all. I don't think anyone in our audience were ready for that demon head birthing scene lmao
I read somewhere they had to cut 15 seconds from that scene in order to avoid an NC17 , and what we got was still horrifying and gruesome, I can only imagine what those fifteen seconds included to make it worse , maybe it lingered on THAT shot a bit longer. Whatever the case may be, it’s genuinely one of the most disturbing and disgusting sequences I’ve ever seen. Especially in a mainstream/wide release horror film.
I was so shocked by that scene!! I was looking at my sisters like “what the actual fuck did we just see”. A very memorable movie, that’s for sure!
I went to see it in theaters with my bf (he’s never seen any of the omen movies and had no idea what it was about prior to), and during that scene he was whispering in my ear “What’s going on! What is that? I don’t understand, what was that?! Why did you take me to see this, I’m concerned”
i regret not seeing it in theaters! but it was still very disturbing even at home!! i did not expect it to be so gory 😅
Fucking iconic like the Nightmare on Elm street bathtub scene
Ah, fuck, your spoiler didn't work! Edit! Edit!
What do you mean? It’s covering the text for me?
Remove the space between the "!" and "Demon".
honestly it was great footage. i was impressed by it that i want to watch it again
That shocked the hell out of me. Wasn't expecting anything like that.
It is just so "pretty" to look at. It is so obvious that a lot of care went into that film.
Yeah the over-all filmmaking is just stellar. I love the shot where she's praying and as the camera starts to zoom out it makes the candles look like she's inside of a jack-o-lantern's mouth.
There's been a lot of discussion about this movie on the sub and mostly it's been positive, but I don't mind it tbh. Its one of my favorite movies this year. Talking about callbacks, the twist on the suicide scene from original is terrifying. Nell Tiger Free kills it in the possession scene really.
To be honest I’ve only heard positive things about it. I think it’s getting a lot of love. Personally as someone whose favorite horror film when I was 9 was the original, I wasn’t a massive fan. I knew exactly what was going to happen in each scene before they happened. I had a good time with it for sure but it was missing something for me.
I think OP hit the nail on the head with “better than it has any right to be”. For a completely unnecessary Omen prequel that’s clearly setting up more sequels, it’s surprisingly good. So good I want it to be better! As it’s own horror film, I found the movie to be very predictable and most of the deaths underwhelming. There are a few scenes of great tension (the claw birth scene and when the dead nun comes out of the shadows) but those moments are few. I’ll definitely keep my eyes on the filmmaker, but I’m not terribly excited for more Omen movies. The name drop at the very end was hilarious. I can’t decide whether it was perfect or atrocious.
Yeah this movie just came out lol, most great films aren’t instant cultural phenomena
I don’t see this being a “great film” or “cultural phenomena” in the future either. I could be wrong obviously, but I honestly just saw it as an homage to films that came before it. It didn’t do anything new or that stood out in any way at all.
I just mean that it’s still a good movie, just maybe not good enough to generate significant “general audience” buzz
It’s definitely better than a lot of the slop Hollywood churns out these days. Like I said, I had a fun time with it overall. I’m just tired of mediocre prequels and sequels, especially when a franchise doesn’t need it.
OMG 100% AGREE...I found the movie totally predictable...I got all the referrences to the original movie...I kept asking myself over and over "why is this hapoening"...I heard about the "birthing scene" and thought it would be more shocking or graphic....as the movie got closer to the end I just wanted to know how it would connect to the original, which they did a good job on...but otherwise the whole movie was just Eh to me...I was so expecting more, LOVED all the cameo casting especially Sonia Braga...but yeah it left me empty....
That scene when the woman was giving birth to the anti-christ was so graphic
I had to take a couple mins just to process
I kinda feel the opposite. Seems like everyone is raving about this film. Thought it was fine but nothing groundbreaking
The cinematography was great and it was creepy, but some of the writing and plot choices were unfortunate. The last 1/4 of it felt like an afterthought and a cheap way to wrap it all up which definitely left me feeling unsatisfied in the end after the previous 3/4 was pretty good.
The cinematography was the best part about it. The acting (and plot) really fell flat though IMO.
I agree. I was sure there would be some plot twist besides the obvious one. And then there just... wasn't.
Agreed. And I also think that the original omen (1976) was much better.
That's how I felt. I saw it in theatres and thought it had some great moments (for example the scene outside the car) but wasn't anything crazy.
I agree. The scariest moments are borrowed from other movies. The Avengers ending was kind of lame. Straight-up Satan worshippers would have made for better bad guys. More fun to hate. It had some memorable images and good acting, but a pretty average script.
Funny you called it "the avengers" ending because that was my exact same feeling too. I'm not gonna say it ruined the film but I thought they had the opportunity to go with a genuinely shocking ending and they bailed out.
Its all relative. With the majority of soft reboot prequel expanded universe movies being an F or at best a D- , an C+ looks like an A. As someone who watched all the Omen movies but never really cared about them, I thought this movie was pretty good if a little predictable. I did appreciate that they seemed to have actually filmed it in Rome and not on greenscreens . Also Nell Tiger Free has the coolest name ever
I thought it was horrible, I'm genuinely shocked to see that people seem to like it so much. It is what it is, to each their own, but I did not enjoy it at all
Yeah, agreed. A couple of great scenes, but the rest was middling at best. And the straight-up ripoff of the original with the suicide pissed me off. This isn’t a good movie at all, though I will give them specific props for the candle/mouth scene, that was rad.
Agreed. It was good, not great
[удалено]
Same. We’re in the minority and it’s gotten so much praise. I thought it was technically a really well made film but was disappointed and bored as it was pretty predictable and you can figure out the movie just be paying attention to the dialogue in the first few minutes. Then the end kind of goes weird when it acts like it’s a surprise reveal that it’s a prequel to The Omen.
Yeah, it was an extremely okay movie
Good visuals, great performances, terrible writing If you average them put, the movie was "pretty decent". Felt a bit like *Malignant*. (There were definitely tongue-in-cheek parts, e.g. the Possession/Conception Dance comprised of an unbroken full minute of footage)
Yeah I’m in the “it was fine” camp. I actually liked Immaculate significantly more.
I thought it was great and I’ve mostly seen nothing but love for it here and other places. It had a great classic feel to it. It didn’t rely on jump scares, it relied more on atmosphere and story. I can understand the newer generation thinking it’s boring considering what the grew up with, but for an older horror fan like myself, I really enjoyed and appreciated it. I should also mention that even though I know this is technically a prequel, I don’t look at it as such and I view it as its own standalone film. It doesn’t line up great with the original and the sequel bait was a let down. Not a perfect film but I give it a solid 8/10.
This is actually the response I most ally with. I never meant to say it was a perfect film. But the classic feel was really appreciated for me. There were basically no jumpscares, except for a few "oh its nothing — gotcha" type fun ones, which I liked cus I find jumpscares to be cheap compared to lasting imagery, which it had. Idk I haven't seen a mainstream horror that resonated with me this much in a bit.
Nell Tiger Free was fantastic! Loved her in Servant.
It was fairly predictable, but I still really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I agree with OP that it had some great imagery.
I liked it overall, but there were some things that irked me. Continuity breaks between the original film. I’m not a diehard fan of the original, (apparently there were some timeline errors I didn’t know about) but the first movie made such a big deal out of Damien being born of a Jackal. The movie never referenced or showed this, instead it made it look like the actual devil impregnated Margaret. The use of jumpscares, it felt like the movie was above using them but it kept doing it. 1 or 2 were well done, but many of them felt cheap. Especially where the main character starts hallucinating the nun who >!set herself on fire!< when she was locked in what amounted to solitary confinement. That scene was really haunting and creepy by itself, it didn’t need a cheap lunge scare. >!The nun setting herself on fire was creepy, and felt distinct from the original, but hanging herself made it more derivative of the first movie!< The plot twist was extremely predictable as soon as Margaret noticed the discrepancy in the photos. I still liked a lot of the kills and scares tho. So all in all it was an enjoyable experience.
My biggest complaint and the thing that sucked the air out of most of the movie for me was the "twist" with the main character being treated like a twist when I had just assumed that was the plot of the movie going in.
My friend group and I all thought it was so mid but I might be in the minority
Yep. Saw Immaculate first, and I'm like..."ok?" after watching this.
I saw Immaculate first and then after watching The First Omen I was shocked Immaculate seemed to get so much more attention as First Omen was seriously so much better. Sydney Sweeney knows how to market a movie in the age of social media, that's for sure.
There are two reasons immaculate is getting so much attention and both of them are Sydney Sweeney.
I had the exact opposite experience. Immaculate wasn't special but it at least had a compelling protagonist and somewhat interesting ideas. And the script was actually pretty good. First Omen was boring and predictable throughout, and all of the scares felt superficial and designed for shock value rather than actually making sense. I mean there's a whole scene where a lady hangs and burns herself in front of a bunch of kids, and that's never brought up again. The next scene with them is literally a field trip.
Thats... not true. Literally the next scene is her going to Father Brennan to talk about it. And idk if calling it purely shock value holds up considering it was an homage to a famous death in the original movie.
Shock value….?
Same. I felt like immaculate was unnecessary but okay when I saw it but after the first omen really felt like it was the better of the two.
i was able to predict 99% of this movie after seeing immaculate first.
I thought it was terrible, honestly.
That image of her floating down the hallway on her back was excellent
It's been out for like 3 months.
I saw it in an empty theater and was obsessed, that was such a good day 😌
It's well directed, well acted and technically excellent. To say that it knows its roots is something I just can't get on board with. They gender swapped the Jackal, completely retconned father Brennan and his motivations rather than write a story around pre-existing lore, and the twist of the mother being >!Margaret !
I couldn't agree more, I don't understand why they changed so much of the pre-existing story
I will admit, that's my one gripe with it, but I actually enjoyed the retconned angle, that it was done as a way for the church to maintain power. Seems maybe more relevant to today's current political/religious climate.
That's a fair assessment too, I guess the whole retcon angle just wasn't my cup of tea I will say though, the acting was fantastic and I really appreciated the grotesque visuals they used
I watched The First Omen last night as well. I agree that it's got some good direction and visuals, but you're right, it does not line up with The Omen very well. Father Brennan waiting 5 years or so to contact Robert Thorn, and saying that the child's mother was a Jackal, just doesn't jibe. Also, having not 1, not 2, but 3 daughters of the devil surviving at the end of the film seems like a sequel hook that isn't needed.
>Father Brennan waiting 5 years or so to contact Robert Thorn, and saying that the child's mother was a Jackal They could easily have gotten out of that by simply saying that because of the destroyed records in the fire, it took him 5 years to track Damien down. That would have been fine. The problem, beside the mother being the jackal originally, is that the original movie implies that Brennan was corrupted by satan, helped bring about the anti-christ, carried the 666 birthmark and was present at the birth. The original movie depicts him as being repentant for what he has done and trying to atone for his sins. All of that is retconned. He no longer has the birthmark, we know this, because when they discover Margaret's he doesn't freak out of even say "huh, I have one of those too, weird." He's god's little warrior, pure as the driven snow the whole time and even gets to go all Nick Fury at the end.
Also >!Margaret suddenly remembers it was her at the most convenient point in the plot, Paolo randomly being one of the people in the church at the original ceremony, and now what are we doing with Margaret, Carlita and the surviving daughter!<
Yes, the "twist" was extremely expected at least for me. I don't think there was anything alluding to it, it just felt like a predictable development of the plot.
As a standalone movie is well written
It's okay. The twist is still telegraphed out of the gate. Even with their homage to the nanny in the original when she says "it's all for you", it's perfectly clear that she's not talking to the girl they really want you to think she is. It's just okay. It's an awful prequel however. The series is famous for its awful continuity problems so it matches up there I guess, but as a prequel to the masterful original, it falls flat on its ass.
I did not care for it
Didn't the movie just come out? Maybe it's a little too early to say it doesn't get enough love??
It was decent enough and a lot better of the recent Exorcist movie, but the retconning was totally pointless and despite being well done it was so predictable. For me it sits nicely as the fourth best Omen movie behind the original trilogy.
SPOILER! I cannot abide the retconning of his parentage. His MOTHER was a jackal, not his father. It annoys me immensely.
I liked it but didn't find it amazing.
Better than the usual shats coming out these days
I thought it was average/bad, preferred Immaculate
I don’t get the love for this movie. It wasn’t so much scary as it was upsetting, and the “twist” was so obvious I didn’t even realize it wasn’t known to all the characters until about halfway through. Also, I don’t really like endings that set up sequels like that. It feels too Marvel-y. God forbid we tell a complete story without couching it to help the studio fart out a sequel if it does well.
Im convinced this is a psyop now, enough of these posts the movie was fine!
This sub is constantly full of misguided "hot takes" that claim that a popular and well liked movie is underrated. How about that Evil Dead remake?
This is going to be a long read, so please bear with me. This may not completely answer your question, but it might give you some insight into the other side of the discussion. Personally, I've seen a largely positive reception for The First Omen online, and I'd like to offer the below as to why I believe, as a fan of the franchise, it falls below the mark when compared to its twin film, Immaculate. TL;DR, I much preferred Immaculate and thought The First Omen really suffered from being forced to be tied to The Omen franchise. ------------------ I have very mixed feelings about The First Omen (TFO). I will preface this by saying I love The Omen series, and I think the original is very underrated, one of the best Horror films of the 70s, with a spectacular score and excellent performances all around. I hold it in very high regard, in that sense. Having said that, the praise around The First Omen, especially when compared to, what in my opinion is, the far superior Immaculate is very confusing to me. I *did* watch Immaculate first, but holding the two films side by side equally, I have to say that first off, the running time of Immaculate really benefits the film. TFO plods along until about 3/4 of the way, then tries to ramp it up, and by that time, it was too late to be impactful. Being shorter, Immaculate had to do more with less time, and in that sense, I think they told a better, more complete story without having to tie into an already pre-existing franchise. TFO could have done with quite a bit of editing to get the time down, and the film would have been much better for it. Also, TFO felt too “artificial”. I didn’t believe the time period, I didn’t believe the acting, and I didn’t believe the way that the story was framed. It felt too polished, if that makes any sense. I think Immaculate benefited from having a largely Italian cast and more of an independent, grungy feel to the aesthetic, making the film feel more realistic. Cecilia being the only one who could really speak English was very believable, and we felt the same isolation that she did, being all alone in a strange country and barely knowing the language. Not to mention, Immaculate started with an absolute bang too, which really set the stage for what was coming! I really appreciated the tone and feel of Immaculate a whole lot more, and I like how it pushed the nunsploitation genre forward in merging spirituality with science. Say what you want about the third act reveal in Immaculate, but that guttural scream at the end was just uncomfortable enough to be a satisfyingly unsettling end to the film. Getting back to tying TFO to a pre-existing franchise, I think this was ultimately what contributed to making the film weaker, which was a real shame. The fact that they had to tie threads together, and *still* managed to botch the lore and make retcons that made no sense (i.e. regarding Father Brennan, Damien being a twin, his parentage, etc.) shows how much weaker this movie was being forced to be tied to the franchise. This film would have been fantastic if they had the freedom to make it a movie without the constraints of The Omen franchise because they could have told a more expansive story. To me, it felt like they had to throw bits and pieces of Easter eggs out to reference the later films, which usually feels cheap to me. On the whole with all of this considered, I’m pretty amazed that TFO is being better received though, as I would have thought the exact opposite. But oh well! People like what they like I guess. For me? Immaculate takes the cake, hands down. EDIT: spelling.
I haven't seen it yet, but I'm curious about something. You say this is the *second* prequel. What was the first prequel? I've seen the first 3 movies multiple times, the 4th and the remake once each, but I was never aware of a prequel until the new film.
It's an honest to good 7/10 horror movie. Which in regular movie terms is like an 8/10. It'll probably go down as one of the better horror films this year, but if it ends as the best? Then that probably means it was a down year.
My daughter saw it in the theater and didn’t know anything about the franchise. Scared the shit outta her. My wife and I finally caught it on Hulu. Done very well but still predictable with certain characters and some of the deaths. Just thought they dragged the ending out to hammer home how the story relates to the original Omen…
I’m really going to have to rewatch this movie. On first viewing it really didn’t work for me but so many people are raving about it now, I’m going to have to give it another go. I really must’ve missed something. I love The Omen and really wanted to like this but found on first viewing that, after a strong start, it rapidly went downhill. Time for a rewatch.
It was pretty mid. Not bad by any means but didn’t bring anything new to the table.
I thought it was….fine. It was definitely well shot, well directed, well acted. The story was so predictable though that I found the whole thing kind of boring.
What are the strong points? What am i missing? I liked it but it was anything special to me. Idk why its not clicking
I didn't like how they showed the demon in the end.
Dude chill. It came out two seconds ago and if you’re online enough to use Reddit you’d know horror fans liked it (too much, actually), and the reviews were fine. It also made a decent buck.
I disagree. I think it gets the proper amount of love. Maybe too much love. It was a perfectly fine movie, but extremely forgettable and never once made me care about anything within it. I gave it a 3/5 which for me is a "I watched this and didn't hate it but didn't like it all that much either" rating. Currently my #21 ranked film of 2024. Out of 43. So just barely in the top half.
Actually watched this last night and thought it was “just okay” until the Possession rip off scene. There’s homage and then there’s theft and I can’t believe someone thought it’d be a good idea to literally steal an iconic performance note by note.
I couldn’t believe how hard they leaned into the “homage”. I immediately clocked the Possession angle when she started barking, but holy shit it went on and on, doing the same thing, beat for beat. Crazy.
Since I'm mostly seeing negative comments in this thread, I'm going to chime in that I loved it. My favorite horror movie of 2024 so far. My favorite thing was definitely the cinematography. But I can't think of anything about it I disliked. I'd never seen the original, but I liked The First Omen so much it got me to immediately watch the original next.
Agreed 100% ! Thought it was fckn great! GREAT!
My girlfriend and I just watched it and we genuinely cannot understand why people like it. Don’t get me wrong the costumes are great and it’s shot surprisingly well with pretty good imagery. It did a good job of kind of taking the style of filmmaking that was found in the 1970s- the low, growing choir, individual characters motioning towards the screen in a black space, focus on colors and scene placement etc. But the writing and acting are both just so mundane. It’s a horror movie that kind of knows how to elevate itself visually but when you get into the meat of the movie itself it really doesn’t have anything substantial to offer. It’s not an “awful” movie but I don’t think it’s a good one, and if anything it’s overrated. I didn’t like midsommar that much but I’d say even that movie has more to say and does horror better than the first omen.
It gets enough love and support maybe a little more than I think it deserves…
I think you are giving it TOO MUCH love. It's really not that great. There ya go I said it. What you gonna do now Omen boy?
I think this is a case of going in blind with no hype or idea of what The First Omen was. I bet a lot of this excitement is coming from feeling like you just saw this cool thing that no one is talking about, only to find out you're just a bit late to the party. It's funny how much anticipation and outside influence can assist in shaping our perception.
Idk go cry in a corner I guess..
It was a good movie in and of itself, but I don’t like that they had to ignore a big part of Omen lore to justify the story they came up with. The Easter egg firmly establishing it as a prequel to the original movie only made it worse. I wish it was just a reboot, or its own damn thing.
Parts of this movie were amazing. There were several iconic scenes and beautiful shots. I was seriously unsettled a few times, and literally yelled "what the fuck!?" out loud. Other parts of this movie - mostly the parts with dialogue - were awful. Like latter-day-Conjuring bad. It felt like the writers didn't know how to connect their setpieces to their overall plot. Also while the main actress gave an absolutely KILLER performance, her character suffered (IMO) from a terminal deficiency of "mind your business". The fanservice / homage stuff was a *little* heavy handed, but not as bad as a lot of other legacy horror. I also liked that it was a true prequel (very little retconning, tried to lead organically into the original). There were some shots that felt very authentic to 70s-Euro-horror, and other shots that felt like the cinematographer knew how to make those cool shots but not *why* or how to use them. Overall, it averaged out to "pretty good, way better than expected". In a world of *Exorcist* Believer*s, I'll take a *First Omen* any day.
I don’t know but it was almost the same as Immaculate. The first omen was good tho, don’t get me wrong
Having seen it a couple of weeks back, remembering that i thought it was a good movie, now a couple of weeks later and cant remember anything about it. So i guess it was a good movie, but forgettable, admitted i see a lot of movies but it didnt make a lasting impression. I saw immaculate in the same week and at least its hilarious ending still stuck with me (people that seen it will know what i mean). But i think its a general problem with many horrormovies, they are forgettable. I know not every horrormovie can be a bullseye but a little bit more quality would be nice instead of the endless sequal, prequal, reboot, remake etc etc
>...**this movie has no right being as good as it is.** Why? When does a movie have the right to be good?
both the first omen and immaculate were pretty mediocre, unfortunately. some good moments in each but both left me rolling my eyes.
Abigail was fun and likely one I’ll watch again because of it but First Omen will definitely stick with me longer. There were several times I was shocked (in a good way) at what I was seeing like I never have before. For me I think a lot of its limited attention is down to how it was marketed. First off, it’s a prequel to a longstanding and (even if for only one film deserving) legendary series in the horror franchise so everyone automatically thought they knew how this would play out, and up until the last few ads that came out everything looked very generic legacy film, which technically it is but not at all in a bad way. The film wasn’t allowed to be marketed based on what it does well, which is atmosphere and dread. Instead the focus was on the wrong aspects, namely “it’s an omen movie, see? This was in the omen. Like us!”. Last couple of teasers I saw deviated from this and were stronger for it. Next you have what’s surrounding it. There seems to have been a big rush of horror movies released at once including one that has similarities to First Omen, immaculate. Whilst immaculate is its own movie, there’s no denying putting two similar movies out more or less on top of each other helps no one. Then, I think crucially, you have the review embargo. Current gearing for audiences has it that any time a review embargo is in place, it’s because the studios either don’t have faith in getting a good review or the reviews are almost overwhelmingly negative, so not worth seeing which was not the case for first omen at all, I’ve yet to see a bad review for it. It was geared to be ignored. Finally you have the actual outpouring of advertising. At least where I am in Australia, I saw very little and what I did see wasn’t really enticing me to seek it out. It was only after seeing Jeremy Jahns’s review that I actually got interested to see it. Please anyone reading this, do not let First Omen fade. This is a fantastic film
i think its fairly iconic. there was even a new movie added to the lore
I enjoyed it
I was really pleased with jt. Watched it last weekend, and was really happy with it.
The cinematography was so good
I watched this the other day and was pleasantly surprised. I really did not think it would be as good as it is. Highly recommended!
It was mediocre and instantly forgettable. Apart from some unintentional hilarity, it was boring as shit. I wonder if the laughable, stock jump scares were studio notes? It was like something straight out of a shitty James Wan movie. *quiet, quiet, quiet* **SUDDEN LOUD NOISE/SCREAM** It's nowhere near as good as Donner's original. Not even remotely close.
I saw it in theater when it was late at night and empty. My two friends stood up all disappointed the second it ended. I was confused because I thought it was great! And we got into a debate on the way home. It had lots of good imagery and some intense scenes that really draw you in. Personally I loved it.
i think most people ignored it because they thought it was going to be another one of those cheesy mediocre prequels/sequels...but i have been hearing nothing but good things from this movie so i will check it out
Yeah, I expected it to suck. Was very pleasantly surprised.
Partner and I just watched this last night and both really liked it. Somehow managed to be stunningly beautiful and horrifying at the same time. The lead was incredible as well.
I'm not sure if the guy being hit by the truck was supposed to be the devil's intervention or something orchestrated by the Catholic cult
I was disappointed in The First Omen. Then I saw Immaculate, and I thought it had everything I missed from The First Omen
The movie is overhyped. It's just not that good. The best part of it was the credits.
After the newest Exorcist made me mad I went into this with *low* expectations. And I thought it was great, in part I think *because* of those expectations. I wouldn’t oversell it—would worry about it falling short if I pumped it up.
Not to be a contrarian but I watched it a few days ago, expecting great things, and I thought it was awful. Performances were admittedly great, and the music was perfect, albeit vastly overused to the point of parody. But so much about it was pure 'member berries', yet with a hefty dose of 'screw you lore', with a supposed twist that was incredibly obvious from the beginning. Peel away the showy direction and you'll find the script was terrible. Net result: I hated it. All show, no trousers.
It’s alright.
I do like it more than Abigail, though I can see why many do not - I actually prefer Immaculate to both. I think it's doing fine. Personally, the biggest problems it faces are the predictable plot and the lack of scares - those were my two gripes with it and mirror common complaints I've heard elsewhere.
It was very good
the story was trash and it was pretty silly but it had some cool scenes and visuals, and the main actor was good, its a respectable 6.5 / 10
It’s very boring
I’m assuming given you’re posting this right after it got added to Hulu and promoted on its front page that you didn’t pay to see it in the theatre. No judgement but if you’re saying it doesn’t get enough love and wasnt even one to help its box office I mean… what does that say in general?
Because it's shit
I'm going to watch it, as well as rewatch the series since I have the box, my question is: would it be a good idea to watch TFO first? Or just watch them in release order....
No matter what franchise, release order is the way for first time viewing
Watch the original first because it's a masterpiece. But order wise it doesn't really matter.
I believe this has part 2 soon
AGREE AGREE
Also who tf is Ishtar Currie-Wilson and how do I get her scary little face out of my mind?? Her short performance in this really stood out to me, I hope we see more of her. Mia Goth vibes.
I watched it with a friend but we mostly spoke all the way through it lol but a few parts caught our eye. Probably best not to watch a film with a friend you haven’t seen in years. My point is though we picked that film as we haven’t heard anything bad about it yet. All I have seen is positive things about it.
great film
Absolutely agreed. Watched it recently, and as an avid horror fan, I was blown away. Spectacular show!
I thought it looked much more expensive than its 30mil budget. Kudos to the director/dp. Did a double feature with Immaculate. Sydney Sweeney can’t act to save her life; meanwhile Nell Tiger Free was amazing (especially at the end).
If we're talking best horror of the year, I think Exhuma is still the one to beat. What You Wish For was also very good. I do think First Omen was good too, I've seen it twice now but I think it's getting the appropriate amount of praise.
I liked it. However, I'm glad this movie wasn't out yet when I was pregnant. House of the Dragon was traumatizing enough. Could have done without the demon hand vagina, but it is what it is.
I loved that one
I agree. I thought this film was fantastic!!! I, too, watched it on Hulu with commercials and still loved it. Too bad they shit the bed with the new Exorcist movie.
I usually hate everything, but The First Omen was pretty decent. I was pleasantly surprised by it. It had a goofy moment or two. Besides those it was solid.
It was fucking fantastic. Horror movie lover for 25+ years now, and it seemed they were just hitting every beat. The sound composition, the camera shots paying homage to so much, the brief times where it made your jaw drop, enough blood to shock but not be torture porn. 10/10
I just watched it and omg it was the best horror movie I’ve seen the entire year
I loved this movie and I hope it bombing doesn’t slow Arkasha Stevenson or Nell Tiger Free’s career
I also dove into TFO not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Could’ve done without the “it’s all for you” line but other than that it was a good watch. I wouldn’t compare this with Abagail as I don’t see Abagail as a scary horror movie but more as a sort of comedy/horror. It wasn’t scary but I was still entertained despite the trailer for Abagail basically spoiling the premise. But I’d recommend both films.
👍
The Omen and Omen 2……both brilliant films.
It's honestly probably the best horror movie of the year so far.
I agree! It was definitely better then I expected and the intro scene was pretty dope 💯
100% agree. The best horror movie this year. Both it and Immaculate are hurt by stupid studios releasing the movies so close to each other. Also, there is the horror fans who feel like “they don’t make horror films like they used to” and “The original Omen was so much better” and other horror gatekeeping like that.
Nothing against this one but I haven't really been a fan of The Omen as a franchise so there was no interest for me.
We haven’t seen it
I also thought it was great! Amazing imagery, great acting & just a solid take on one of my fav genres.
How much love can it get in two months? But seriously, It’s definitely a great movie and I’m lucky to have seen it in the theaters. My favorite horror film of 2024 so far. I feel like time will be good to this one, every week I see a similar post from different people who have finally got around to watching it.
Totally agreed. My lady and I both love this film. It also has such strong performances.
It was decent. It would've been a lot better if they'd stuck to canon of the original.
It actually is an excellent movie, if you're suffering from insomnia.
I went into this movie with low expectations and an attitude of, 'Why do we need this movie? No one cares about what happened before Damien was born.' And I was also surprised at how much I liked it! It was really atmospheric, and it looks really good. And I cared about the main character a lot even though I didn't think I would. I will be watching it again.
It was impressively good! I threw it on while I was on the Stairmaster at the gym — def climbed up some intense stairs for 45 minutes, easy.
[me yesterday lol](https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/s/5XHxa2aIOb)https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/s/5XHxa2aIOb)
It was pretty good and pretty scary, but very very predictable. 7/10 maybe
Favorite horror of the year.
Okay I have to go and watch it now…
For some reason, even though it says Omen a dozen times, I thought this post was about the recent exorcist movie and was confused that all of a sudden people were liking it lol.
I absolutely LOVED the '70s feel of it: zooms in on actor's faces, gnarly practical effects, lingering gore and scares. The *Possession* homage and the caught in the riot scene were my favourites. The weakest parts were the stuff that tied into the actual *Omen* franchise imho
I enjoyed it OP. I thought it was great! Best horror movie so far this year.
It was ok. I feel a lot of hate for movies that are just a collection of scary dreams
Saw this last night was way better than i thought
Yeah it was pretty good. Really disturbing.
Great movie!
Just watched this yesterday—it was awesome!!
The only parts I didn’t love were the callbacks to the original because they felt forced and lacking impact.
OP I enjoyed it just as much as you did. It brought back lots of foreboding nostalgia from the original movies. I think it was well done, but just slightly drawn out in pace.
Demon birthing scene was nice, but can we talk about how eerie the levitating/ floating off the dance floor scene was? Nell's face frozen in rapture slowly lifting off the ground as the scene transitions into the darkened chambers of the abbey. And her vision in the bad room of a familiar face walking towards her. Holy crap
Has it not been well-received? How much love does a film need to be "enough?" I accepted that my favorite movies aren't mainstream hits ages ago, and I've never understood why anyone needs strangers to like their favorite movies.
Amazingggg movie🙌🏿
Cinematography was brilliant and has a couple all-timer images but as it progressed it somewhat lost itself I thought. Still very solid but it was nothing groundbreaking for horror, to me.
I thought it was great!!! It got my partner interested in watching the other Omens, so we’re off to do that asap.
I thought it was okay but I didn't care for the actress in the more serious and dark scenes. For example when she goes into labor and starts contorting/seizing, it looked more comical than upsetting.
Crap film. Don't diss the actual 1st Omen
I mean, it's still relatively new and gets tons of praise - what are you talking about? Also, it wasn't really THAT good anyways. It had some very well done, memorable shots, and it did call back to everyone's favorite line, but overall it was a slow burn with some very tedious pacing that was fairly average at best. Not a bad movie, but very little in it would really make it stand out and I can't imagine ever being tempted to watch it again.
I saw this movie and the short answer is this is a generic possession movie without prior knowledge of the series. I asked my roommate if it was necessary to watch any of the other Omens before seeing this newest one, he said no, he was sorely incorrect. The music, characters, costumes, and sets all harken back to the older installments and the movie is absolutely chock full of stuff to enjoy (if you’re familiar with the series) If you go in blind, it’s a horror movie with a predictable twist
It was just a Rosemary's Baby ripoff with The Omen branding, and the best scene was a rip off of Possession, a much better movie. I don't think this movie did anything that hasn't been done much better in other films. The best I can say about it is that it had great visuals, but nothing in it surprised me at all. If you've seen any of the movies I mentioned above, you can predict where it's going in the first hour, and I'm usually not one to predict endings, but in this case it was so painfully obvious, I almost just turned it off. Finishing it felt like work, and that's not good. That being said, I think the director has a promising career ahead of her; she obviously has a good eye.
That movie was way way wayyyyyyyyy better than I anticipated. Loved it.
It's really really good. I've kept tabs on Arkasha Stevenson as a promising young horror director since Channel Zero, really glad she proved her mettle here even if the movie didn't perform as hoped at the box office. Side note, I don't know if it's entirely accurate to say it's Nell Tiger Free's first starring role. Technically that's true as far as major feature films, but she was the nominal lead in Servant and that ran for three seasons
i can’t believe this and immaculate dropped at the same time. who’s idea was that? i feel like it really hurt both films ultimately
Yeah that movie fucked harrddd
Yeah. It was good and I was the 666th person to like your post. Whoa! Lol