The First Omen review – horror prequel has its creepy moments

Hot on the heels of the Sydney Sweeney-starring chiller Immaculate comes another nun-semination horror. This prequel to Richard Donner’s 1976 classic, The First Omen follows Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a wide-eyed American novitiate who arrives in Rome eager to take her vows, only to stumble upon sinister activities within a splinter group of the Catholic church. The plot seems to revolve around a child, named Carlita, whose troubling behaviour is severely punished by the nuns at the convent-run orphanage where Margaret now works.

It’s a decent attempt from director Arkasha Stevenson to tap into the look and the spirit of the original film. And while it doesn’t match The Omen for scares, it does deliver some skin-crawlingly creepy moments.