For fans of Richard Donner’s 1976 masterpiece The Omen who’ve long puzzled over the identity of Damien’s birth mother, the upcoming prequel The First Omen may offer some answers. 20th Century Studios recently released a chilling new trailer for the film, offering a glimpse into the shadowy events that set the stage for the 1976 classic.
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson and co-written with Tim Smith, the upcoming prequel will follow Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), a young woman “sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church”. However, “she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.”
RELATED: ‘Black Mirror’ Season 7 Greenlit: Netflix’s Dark Anthology Continues
The First Omen is based on characters created by David Seltzer and features a cast including Tawfeek Barhom, Sonia Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy. The film was produced by David S. Goyer and Keith Levine, with Smith, Whitney Brown, and Gracie Wheelan taking on the roles of executive producers.
While the jury’s still out on whether the Omen franchise needs an origin story, the trailer for The First Omen has us hooked (and a little spooked). Set to Fever Ray’s menacing “If I Had a Heart,” the whole clip plays out in reverse and is dripping with an undeniable creepiness and dread that keeps you guessing.
The teaser offers eerie glimpses of unsettling children’s games, blank-faced nuns and priests, and interestingly a nun, shown with a child, who could be Damien himself. We also see Nell Tiger Free’s Margaret delivering some unsettling and chilling stares as well as a few glimpses of demonic images.
If you’ve seen the 1976 horror classic, then you’ll very well know that it was the hospital chaplain Father Spiletto who persuaded Gregory Peck’s Robert Thorn to adopt the child from the mysterious woman, after his own son was seemingly stillborn. The chilling twist, however, is that Damien’s mother was a monstrous jackal and Robert’s own son was murdered to make way for the Antichrist Damien. Whether the prequel will follow that plot or come up with a whole new story will be interesting to see. The First Omen hits theatres on April 5.
