Film Preview: The First Omen (2024)

Film Poster

Page Revisions:

(January 7, 2024) Original
(March 17, 2024) New Trailer (#2) — New Posters (#2-#4)
(March 31, 2024) New Trailer (#3) — New Posters (#5-#7)

Release Date:

April 5, 2024

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.”

Poster Rating: C+ / C+ / C / C / C / C / C

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Review: (#1, C+) Iconography can be important in a film with such a hefty religious foundation, but it’s overused and this formation of such is unappealing to boot. It might work somewhat well, but it won’t be appreciated.

(#2, C+) An interesting design choice that’s overburdened by the white background and the change in color of the hair from its blackness into a dull gray. (#3, C) this confessional doesn’t tell the viewer much about the film, though it does tie into the setting of the film and the live-action event that’s happening somewhere. (#4, C) A overbearing use of black-and-red without any originality or inventiveness.

(#5, C) Another generic poster design using the black-white-red motif and highlighting the 666 element of the design without being itself interesting. (#6, C) While this doesn’t conjure the same level of intrigue that a decidedly Catholic image might, it has the rosary, which should be enough for many. That said, it’s rather dull. (#7, C) This busy design doesn’t have anything to merit its busy nature and the color scheme is rather hideously employed.

Trailer Rating: C+ / C / A

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Review: (#1, C+) A prototypical possession horror film breaks no new ground and doesn’t highlight The Omen theme sufficiently (if it really is a prequel to that film, which isn’t obvious from this trailer). The details are presented so briefly that it’s hard to get a sufficient interest built up by the time the trailer concludes.

(#2, C) There have been plenty of religious-themed horror films over the years and The Omen was certainly one of the major progenitors of the genre; however, with every film looking like a derivative of the others, the need to distinguish oneself from the pack is a necessity and this trailer doesn’t even come close to doing that. If you want to tie into that film, incorporating the original theme might have given this trailer some heft.

(#3, A) This retro trailer takes the audience back to the 1970s when the original The Omen released and it’s everything you could want from a trailer. Whether it’s the nostalgia talking or the cookie-cutter method of putting together trailers, this one feels completely refreshing.