Le premier pouvoir

Entertaining movie, which has a sort of dream-like quality, a good share of scary moments and is quite well thought out. A serial "Pentagram" killer is sentenced to death. It doesn't end here, though, as he's resurrected by the Devil himself and comes back for vengeance. Lou Diamond Phillips is convincing and red-headed Tracy Griffith is a babe. The arch-villain will give you the creeps. Personally, I quite enjoyed this and have it in my personal video collection. Good choice for all occult fans! Rating: 7 out of 10

I've got to be honest here: I first saw this movie in my teens and loved it, so I might be a bit biased here, ignoring it's flaws. Just saw it again, over 10 years later, and I gotta say, while it didn't have the 'wow' effect it gave me before, It still holds up as a decent movie. This movie is fast paced and just crammed with awesome ideas that sometimes work, and sometimes could have been used more effectively.

What do we have?

• An insane serial killer - This guy just oozes evil, amazing bad guy.

• A very cute psychic - man did I have a crush on her!

• Plenty of mysterious happenings and scares (though not very scary for seasoned moviegoers)

• Cool action sequences. That ceiling fan scene is so awesome.

• Satanic superpowers. How is that not super cool?

• The pacing is great, with lots of interesting scenes.

• Nice touches of humor now and then.

So What could be better?

• The ending is a bit unsatisfying.

• Things could be bigger and more epic.

• While decent, Lou Diamond Philips could be replaced with many other actors, and there are more charismatic ones out there.

• Seeing it again, it wasn't that scary, but I remember that it was the first time. Could be scarier though, I guess.

• If you analyze things too much, there are lots of small plot holes.

This movie is like an older, more low budget version of 'End of Days' with Arnold Schwarzenegger (which I liked as well). If what I told you sounds interesting, this movie is a great way to spice up a boring Sunday evening!

Some movies get a bit lost in the shuffle and The First Power seems to have suffered from bad timing if anything. Released at the start of the 90's when horror was on the decline, it didn't seem that there was much of an audience for this kind of movie, but it's not a bad movie at all and a lot of fun.

Lou Diamond Phillips plays a cop whose track record for finding and imprisoning serial killers is some sort of legend. He gets an anonymous tip from a mysterious woman about the whereabouts of a killer named The Pentagram Killer, but warns him to only catch him and imprison him - not to kill him. He catches him, but the killer ends up getting executed in prison and his evil spirit is now free to torment and kill more people - this time, by jumping into other people's bodies.

The First Power might have a few missteps here and there (the killer's need to crack jokes reeks of late-stage Freddy Krueger and the nun character only seems to show up when necessary and is pure plot device), but the pacing is pretty even and the performances aren't bad with Phillips holding down the fort well as the lead and Tracy Griffith does well as the psychic.

You can only see a movie for the first time once and so I have to admit that THE FIRST POWER worked on me the first time I saw it in theaters. It moved with such lightning speed that I didn't have time to ponder its snowballing silliness. The director, Robert Resnikoff, knows how to construct an action film--the cinematography is first rate and the editing superb-- he just doesn't know when to stop. There are car chases, horse and buggy chases, foot chases and innumerable shoot-outs, and at one point the killer even brandishes a ceiling fan as a rather laughable weapon and all the action movie huggery-muggery sits rather uneasily on top of the supernatural elements.Lou Diamond Philips, though a tad young-looking to be such a seasoned detective, gives a competent performance. Jeff Kober is obviously having fun playing the killer and it shows; he has a toothy menace that's suitably creepy. Probably the best thing going for THE FIRST POWER is a truly unnerving and effective soundtrack from Stewart Copeland. The director pulls off some nasty mind-trips on the character played by Philips, one where he wakes to find his apartment seemingly covered in blood and another in a confessional booth when he goes to get some answers from a local priest.

'The First Power' is an underrated and entertaining supernatural thriller flick that blends elements of action and horror together into one hell of an entertaining thrill ride with impressive stunts, exciting action sequences, a cool concept and a great cast. The movie is also well-paced and despite some questionable moments here and there, it does manage to keep you on the edge of your seat until the final act.

The plot - An L. A. detective Russell Logan (Lou Diamond Phillips) teams up with a psychic Tess (Tracy Griffith) to stop a demonic serial killer Patrick Channing also known as the Pentagram Killer (Jeff Kober) who after being executed on death row has been given the power of resurrection and possession to continue his killing spree.

Despite the outlandish premise the movie does manage to handle it in a more gritty and realistic way and delivers a good mix of action and horror, even if it does become very predictable as the movie progress and the third act does lose momentum, but there's enough tension and satisfying moments to keep you hooked all the way through.

Lou Diamond Phillips turns in a solid performance with the material he's given and makes for a believable hero. Jeff Kober is also a standout here as the Pentagram killer with the right amounts of menacing, creepy and flamboyance , he adds some real personality to the character and a blast to watch. Tracy Griffith as the psychic is also great and provides a great foil to the male lead and both have great chemistry together.

Overall this may seem a bit cliched by today's standards, but don't care as I found it highly enjoyable and quite scary at the same time, I would highly recommend it.