As much as I love Sam Neill as the Antichrist in The Final Conflict, and my first introduction to the series with the novelization of Damien: The Omen II, The First Omen has taken its place as my second favorite in the franchise.

Working to tie itself into the original film directed by Dick Donner the film tells the story of how baby Damien came to be and the machinations to put him into the Thorn family. There are visual homages and actual nods to other events in the franchise, and it’s obvious that the filmmakers wanted to deliver a serious and unsettling religious horror.

There’s also a nice revelation through the course of the film that changes the motivation behind the series which actually works really well. It also works to expand the mythology of the franchise, and make it work on an even broader scale.

And while the film definitely incorporates a couple of jump scares (with audio stings) the film is more about unsettling the viewer by building a frightening tension about the things that are happening around the film’s main character, Margaret (Nell Tiger Free).

It also has come great moments with Charles Dance, and Bill Nighy (who is always fantastic!). We also get Ralph Ineson as Father Brennan who was played by Patrick Troughton in the first film.

It’s 1971, and Margaret has just arrived in Rome at the behest of her mentor, Cardinal Lawrence (Nighy). She is preparing to ‘take the veil,’ and become a nun. She is working in one of the church’s orphanages and comes across a troubled young woman, Carlita Scianna (Nicole Sorace).

Carlita is troubled, and her troubles soon begin to affect Margaret who’s overactive imagination may, or may not, be causing her to have horrifying visions.

As she investigates, she learns a number of terrible secrets including a breeding program to help bring about the Antichrist. And while you know how that has to end, there are some chilling twists and turns along the way that expand the options for the franchise as well as offer a number of chilling possibilities for the characters and their situation.

The film definitely takes itself seriously and plays it straight, and as much as I enjoyed Omens II and III, following the first film, this one is definitely the next strongest of the series. Not only does it tell its narrative in an interesting way, it also lets you see the films that follow it in a different way.

And it’s visuals! It’s visuals are solid, scary, and tied strongly to Christian mythology.

I definitely enjoyed this one.