10 Recent Movies NOBODY Expected To Be Good

9. The First Omen

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20th Century Studios

It was tough not to groan when a prequel to legendary horror film The Omen was first announced, because did anyone outside of the studio actually ask for this? The Omen is a fantastic self-contained story that really didn't beg for elaboration.

Couple this with the film being filmmaker Arkasha Stevenson's feature debut, and it was tough to muster even a shred of enthusiasm for this glorified exercise in cynical brand reinforcement.

But oh, how wrong we all were.

The First Omen isn't just a competent horror prequel - it's one of the most well-made and brilliantly acted horrors of the entire year. 

Girded by Stevenson's tense, unsettling direction and an astounding central performance from the great Nell Tiger Free, this is a rarest of horror prequels that truly justifies its existence.

It's clear in every frame of this film that all involved cared about making something memorable and impactful, rather than a mere bucket of genre mulch to feed the unrelenting content algorithm. 

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.