Director Arkasha Stevenson's feature debut, The First Omen, is now in theaters, and while the disturbing occult horror movie does serve as a direct prequel to the original '70s film, it also retcons certain elements in order to lay the groundwork for potential sequels.
If you haven't seen The First Omen yet, beware of major spoilers from this point on.
The movie follows a young American woman, Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), who is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church. There, 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.
It soon comes to light that this conspiracy involves high-ranking members of the Catholic Church attempting to bring the Antichrist into the world in order to terrify the populace to the point that they turn to the church for protection/salvation. Margaret and Father Brennan (Ralph Ineson) initially believe that one of the girls at the convent, Carlita (Nicole Sorace), has been chosen to birth the son of Satan, but Margaret later realizes that she, herself, is the child of the devil!
To add an extra layer of creepiness to the proceedings, it's revealed that Satan must procreate with his own daughter in order to conceive the Antichrist. After (presumably) being raped by the jackal-like demon she sees in her visions, Margaret ultimately gives birth to twins.
A fire consumes the building, but Margaret and Carlita survive, and are seen one year later, raising the girl as their own. Brennan tracks them down, and warns them that the church is aware of the child's existence.
The boy, as you'll no doubt have guessed, will become Damien Thorn when he is adopted by Senator Robert Thorn after his own son is murdered by the conspirators. The addition of a twin sister, however, allows the story to branch off and follow either a second Antichrist or, perhaps, some kind of opposition to the boy's evil nature.
As for the original film's big reveal that Damien's mother was a jackal, the shot of the demonic creature perishing in the flames at the end may go some way towards explaining this, but it's still a pretty significant change.
Have you been to see The First Omen yet? If not, do you plan on checking it out? Drop us a comment down below.