The First Omen

A rare example of a legacy prequel that stands on its own despite the requirement to tip its hat to the original film and drop lots of fan-servicey Easter eggs. It helps that the original The Omen was by far the weakest of the three iconic religious horror movies of the 1960s and '70s, which started with Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. Making her feature debut, director Arkasha Stevenson and co-writers Tim Smith, Keith Thomas, and Ben Jacoby find their own story to tell even though it narratively connects directly to a film from almost 50 years ago. Nothing about The First Omen feels like it takes place in the mid-1970s, which helps it feel distinctive from its source picture yet somehow doesn't hurt it as a prequel. If this movie is derivative of an earlier religious horror movie, it owes a much bigger debt to Rosemary's Baby. The film is also not quite as effectively creepy as 2024's other nunsploitation picture, the similarly themed Immaculate. Still, when it comes to movies that only exist to capitalize on intellectual property, this is a damn sight better than unforgivable shit like Alien: Romulus.