31 Days of Halloween

I’d always known that there were two Alligator movies but until this watching I’d never realized that they were actually made more than ten years apart, which seems to go against the usual pattern of releasing quicky sequels to capitalize on the success of an original. That’s probably because the original Alligator actually did not do that great at the box office upon original release. Instead this is most likely a reaction to that film doing well on the VHS market and was made in part to have a second Alligator film sitting there on a shelf next to it. In fact, while this “sequel” did get a limited theatrical release it was essentially a direct-to-video release and in keeping with that it’s kind of half-assed. The movie has none of the cast or crew of the original film, aside from producer Brandon Chase (whose actual involvement in production may be in question) and it also does not reference any of the events of that previous film. It’s basically just taking the basic premise of a mutated alligator attacking a populated area as a cop tracks it down, and remaking it all over again, this time in a smaller town in an unclear location. Everything about it is a downgrade. You see a lot less of the gator itself and its attacks are less visceral since this one is PG-13, Joseph Bologna is no Robert Forster, and the film also rips off Jaws more shamelessly than its predecessor did. In fact, the movie takes the “craven mayor refusing to shut down the city” trope to new heights of ridiculousness by having them actively murdering people to cover up their actions. In fact there may be more runtime dedicated to this corrupt mayor than to the actual alligator. The film is still a bit more competent than some of the really low budget stuff I’ve been watching and there are one or two encounters with the gator that are at least decent, but by and large it’s pretty second rate.

In an Armageddon/Deep Impact sort of way, Immaculate is one of two 2024 horror films set at a convent and centered around an immaculate conception of a baby that could just be the Antichrist -- the other being The First Omen. Just one of those odd coincidences, I guess you could say, both in terms of the movies and pregnant nuns. So, focusing in on Immaculate for now...something this movie has going for it is a certain sense of brevity. It's able to establish a palpable horror atmosphere while keeping the story moving along at a nice, crisp pace. Even if it fall back on jump scares a bit too much, director Michael Mohan creates and sustains a rather tense feeling pretty effortlessly throughout that doesn't let up. And especially when this movie reaches its Third Act, the tension explodes with a pretty bonkers climax that can get pretty uncompromising, particularly in its final few minutes. Part of me just has to admire this movie for just going there in that regard. It's certainly an ending that'll stay with me for a while. As for the performance of its star, Sydney Sweeney, it's actually pretty solid. Sweeney convincingly communicates her character's obvious sense of confusion and fear, and both she and the script hammer home the central theme here of female bodily autonomy in a way that doesn't feel too heavy-handed. If anything, it's the film's reliance on jump scares that kind of robs Immaculate of just a little bit of it's power. It's as if Michael Mohan was trying to appeal to both sides of the horror demographic and ended up with something more firmly split down the middle, stylistically. Still, there's enough here to justify a look.

Like most people, I wasn't exactly encouraged by the fact that Disney/Fox were holding the review embargo until almost the last minute back this spring with The First Omen; almost never a good sign. So, the fact that The First Omen ended up being as good as it is definitely makes it one of the biggest surprises of the year.

There was a part of me here that was asking, "Do we really need to see how Damien from the original Omen came to be born?" before watching this movie. To which, director Arkasha Stevenson has confidently responded, "Hell yes." As a debut feature, too, Stevenson really does impress here. Not only does she effortlessly evoke the original Omen movie in ways that don't distract, instead feeling like genuine tonal and atmospheric choices to serve the overall quality of the film, she also evokes 70's horror cinema in general with this movie. It would be understandable for one's initial gut reaction to there being another Omen movie to be a general eyeroll, but I think this is far from the crapped-out sort of horror IP cash grab that appearances may suggest. It's also a cut above the typical studio horror fare as well. Yes, there are definitely some jump scares in this, but not nearly as many as one might expect -- that said, the ones that ARE in here genuinely work. Why? Because The First Omen as a whole does what any effective horror movie, big or small, should do: it creates a legitimately creepy atmosphere and cultivates true tension and dread through some strong shots and cinematography, eerily-staged scenes and a general all-encompassing atmosphere of suspense and fear. The movie even goes the extra mile, too, in crafting some viscerally memorable horror imagery with a few scenes, one in particular, that are bound to stick in my memory, whether I want them to or not. Inevitable, since this movie deals with the birth of the Antichrist, so we get some genuinely horrific scenes of body horror that are among some of the most graphically effective I've ever seen (and surprised to see in a major studio film, too), but the key there is that they never feel gratuitous. The movie knows how much to show, but also when to pull back. Like I said, a big part of that is due to the work of Arkasha Stevenson, whom I hope gets more work, because I'll see whatever she does next, but also because of the storytelling.

While I think many other learned moviegoers or people just generally well-versed in storytelling will probably become hip to this movie's jive in terms of how it ultimately gets to its destination, I don't think trying to be smarter than the movie is the point here. Instead, I think it's more about surrendering yourself to its power. Not that this is a dumb movie in any way, because it's not, but whereas this year's similarly-themed movie Immaculate was brisker in its storytelling, The First Omen is more patient and lets its atmosphere, imagery and horror envelop you so that you feel the chill in the air. And I haven't even mentioned yet the work of Nell Tiger Free as this movie's lead. But I will be paying more attention to her as well, because she solidly anchors this movie and gives a performance more than worthy of what is asked of her and leaves just as lingering of an impression as the movie itself.

If only all of the current crop of decades-later horror franchise entries were as good as The First Omen. It's a movie that feels like it was made with purpose, craft and care, and as a result, I think it's easily one of the best studio horror movies in years, as well as one hell of a directorial debut. All for you, indeed, Damien.

Whereas The First Omen has more than just one scene that makes you go, "Holy shit!"  And isn't as reliant on jump scares as Immaculate.

Who woulda thought, by the way -- the indie horror movie feels more like a studio horror movie than the actual studio horror movie.