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THE FIRST OMEN – Mark Korven
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A movie that nobody asked for, but which in my opinion ended up being the second-best film in the series, The First Omen is a prequel chronicling the events leading up to the birth of the antichrist Damien as shown in the original 1976 Richard Donner Omen film, which adds a great deal of depth and intrigue to the backstory of David Seltzer’s characters. The film is set in 1971 and stars Nell Tiger Free as Margaret, an American novitiate nun who arrives in Rome to take up a position at a convent orphanage overseen by the kindly Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy). However, Margaret soon discovers that all is not right at the orphanage; a young girl named Carlita is plagued by terrible visions, a fellow novitiate appears to want Margaret to experience sexual vices before taking her vows, and – worst of all – she is visited by an agitated Irish priest who is convinced that the orphanage is a front for a cult intent on bringing about the birth of the child of Satan. The film is directed by Arkasha Stevenson, and has a supporting cast that includes Alice Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Maria Caballero. Read more…
THE WITCH – Mark Korven
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
One of the most unexpected critical successes of 2016 is The Witch, a supernatural horror film set during the earliest days of the colonization of North America. The directorial debut of young filmmaker Robert Eggers, The Witch stars Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie as William and Katherine, who despite their exceptional devoutness, are banished from a Puritan Christian plantation in New England circa the year 1630. Months later, William and Katherine and their five children – including a newborn baby – are eking out a meager existence on a farm at the edge of a vast forest; one day, the baby is abducted by a mysterious figure while in the care of the eldest daughter, Tomasin (Anya-Taylor-Joy), adding more strain to the already desperate family. As time goes on, the almost fanatically religious family comes to believe that supernatural forces are at work, and the spectre of witchcraft comes to the fore, with the family’s two youngest children suspecting Tomasin of dabbling in the dark arts… Read more…
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