I did Lou Diamond Phillips, and somewhere in Robert Resnikoff’s The First Power is a solid supernatural police thriller. But everything in it is painfully familiar, though some of it, like the visions characters have are strongly created.

Phillips is Russell Logan a Los Angeles homicide cop who has been tracking a serial murderer christened the Pentagram Killer because of the carvings on his victims. When he finally catches Patrick Channing (Jeff Kober), he does so with the help of a voice on the phone, Tess Seaton (Tracy Griffith) who provides information in exchange for the promise that they won’t give Channing the death penalty.

And it’s not because Tess, a psychic, has a tender spot for him. No, Patrick is able to live on after death, he is Evil Incarnate, and he is able to body-jump, only revealing his true visage to Logan.

Logan isn’t sure he believes in this religious hokum, but when his partner, Oliver Franklin (Mykelti Williamson) ends up a victim, he begins to suspect that Tess is telling the truth. As unbelievable as it is.

So the two pair up, let the romantic tension sizzle, and chase Channing across town. Throughout Channing seems to grow more powerful, and there may be no way to stop him!

The body-jumping killer thing has been done. But if it’s done well, you can take it in stride, and while Phillips is solid, boy he looks young – is he old enough to be a homicide detective in this?

It’s not as well-crafted as it could be, but there is something here. A little X-files, before they were a thing. And it has some interesting cast and crew choices. Stewart Copeland did the score. The supporting cast includes Carmen Argenziano and Dennis Lipscomb. Marilyn Vance served as Producer.

This one came out at a time when urban supernatural horrors were making a resurgence at the box office. The Seventh Sign was a couple of years before this, Candyman not long after. And of course, Flatliners, Jacob’s Ladder, The Exorcist III. Evil stalked cities, tenements and campuses.

Kober is positively unnerving as Channing, there’s a real sense of menace to his performance.And I will give total credit to Kober and Resnikoff’s script for that. And that leads me to the script.

I honestly feel that this could have been a bit longer. Layer the characters and story a little more. Make the horror more immersive, and maybe even a couple more set-pieces. Or go the other way, and make it a moody noir-esque horror film.

Despite the retread of material, there is something entertaining here. It just needed a bit more oomph to it. Not everyone agreed with me, it did well box office wise, but the critics gave it an absolute drubbing.