'The First Omen': Disney's Evil Birth
With The First Omen, Disney, the quintessential family studio, is moving away from its brand image. In fact, this horror drama contains a rather explicit childbirth scene with diabolical connotations that almost earned the film a ban on under-17s in the United States. In an exclusive interview, director and co-writer Arkasha Stevenson is still amazed at the latitude she enjoyed for this prequel to the horror classic The Omen, a huge 1976 hit about the rise of the antichrist. Set in 1971, this film imagines the genesis of this infamous conception.
"A vagina in a Disney movie!" exclaims the young filmmaker, as if surprised by her own statement.
Technically, The First Omen, which tells the story of a young novice's descent into hell as she unwillingly becomes involved in a dark plot to bring the son of the Evil One into the world, was produced by 20th Century Studios, as was The Omen, its three sequels and the 2006 remake. However, Disney now owns the banner.
In any case, this sequence showing a not-quite-human birth is destined to become iconic. In fact, since the release of The Exorcist in 1973, no horror film from a major Hollywood studio, I'm not mistaken, has gone so far in terms of raw imagery (as opposed to independent productions, which are traditionally much less cautious).
And just as we quote some famous passages when we talk about The Exorcist, such as the crucifix scene, we will come back to demonic childbirth when talking about The First Omen. The imagination is struck.
"There were discussions between the producers, the studio and me, because we were acutely aware that we were dealing with sensitive subjects," Stevenson admits. "One of the things in the film is about forced reproduction — and more generally about women's bodies, let's not forget. At the same time, everyone was supportive, and everyone wanted to push the boundaries, because it's in the DNA of the original film. »
Themes of one's ownIn fact, The Omen caused a lot of ink to flow, especially with its elaborate kills, all arranged in the plot
not with the proverbial sight boy, but with Lucifer.
In this regard, Arkasha Stevenson makes ingenious nods to two of these notorious deaths. However, the director develops her own vision as well as her own themes. "One of the things I wanted to do was talk about the place of women in the Catholic Church. I wanted to show how, in a male-dominated religious context, where women are oppressed, even those who seem to have a bit of authority, it encourages abuses. Women can turn against each other because of a lack of autonomy and self-determination. Women's bodies are often treated like meat. To have these characters of nuns and priests, and to set the action in an orphanage that only welcomes girls, it was deliberate. I wanted to show how these little girls are conditioned from an early age to be vulnerable and malleable. »
Like The Omen, The Exorcist, The Nun or the recent Immaculate, The First Omen belongs to the subgenre of religious horror.
"The beauty of religious horror is that it subverts supposedly benevolent figures. From a young age, we are taught that religion, priests and all that are beneficial. But when you realize that, no, not necessarily, that it can also be harmful, it shakes you very hard. Because it's like a betrayal of the innocence of the gullible child that we were. Then you understand that you can't trust something you absolutely trusted. When you're working in horror, it's very promising. »
Speaking of working in horror, this long-in-development prequel project was pitched to Arkasha Stevenson after she made a name for herself directing various episodes of splintered fantasy and horror series, including Channel Zero, Legion, and Brand New Cherry Flavor.
"My co-writer Tim Smith and I were initially terrified of touching The Omen, for fear of ruining its legacy: we grew up watching that film. What changed the rest of the story was that the first draft of the script that we inherited already put in place, at the end, certain elements that fit seamlessly into the 1976 film. And at the same time, it left us with this whole blank narrative space, where we could conceive and explore, with this interesting heroine on top of that. »
Growing Up with HorrorFor Arkasha Stevenson, this unbridled cinematic nightmare represents, in short, the realization of an old dream. "Tim and I are obsessed with horror movies. For my part, I grew up with horror cinema, but without realizing that it was unusual. I saw The Exorcist and The Shining when I was 7 years old... To me, it was just like watching people on television, without it being associated with a particular genre. It fed my imagination. Later, I understood my affinity with this genre, through contact with films that proved to be decisive in my development. »
Another way to "grow" with horror cinema...
"I see your t-shirt from Andrei Żuławski's Possession, starring Isabelle Adjani: I can't help but tell you about this film! He was the one who made me realize that through horror cinema, I could express things that I couldn't put into words in real life," says the filmmaker.
Speaking of which, Arkasha Stevenson has been given free rein for a very audacious tribute to the radical cult film Possession. We won't spoil the content, except to make it clear that, once again, the film goes very far for a Hollywood production. Arkasha Stevenson reiterates with good reason: "A vagina AND a tribute to Żuławski in a Disney film, can you believe it!?"
You don't have to have faith to answer in the affirmative. As for whether The First Omen will succeed in resurrecting the august saga, time will tell. But let's hope that Arkasha Stevenson's audacity and, yes, Disney's audacity will be rewarded.
The film The First Omen opens in theaters on April 5.
"A vagina in a Disney movie!" exclaims the young filmmaker, as if surprised by her own statement.
Technically, The First Omen, which tells the story of a young novice's descent into hell as she unwillingly becomes involved in a dark plot to bring the son of the Evil One into the world, was produced by 20th Century Studios, as was The Omen, its three sequels and the 2006 remake. However, Disney now owns the banner.
In any case, this sequence showing a not-quite-human birth is destined to become iconic. In fact, since the release of The Exorcist in 1973, no horror film from a major Hollywood studio, I'm not mistaken, has gone so far in terms of raw imagery (as opposed to independent productions, which are traditionally much less cautious).
And just as we quote some famous passages when we talk about The Exorcist, such as the crucifix scene, we will come back to demonic childbirth when talking about The First Omen. The imagination is struck.
"There were discussions between the producers, the studio and me, because we were acutely aware that we were dealing with sensitive subjects," Stevenson admits. "One of the things in the film is about forced reproduction — and more generally about women's bodies, let's not forget. At the same time, everyone was supportive, and everyone wanted to push the boundaries, because it's in the DNA of the original film. »
Themes of one's ownIn fact, The Omen caused a lot of ink to flow, especially with its elaborate kills, all arranged in the plot
not with the proverbial sight boy, but with Lucifer.
In this regard, Arkasha Stevenson makes ingenious nods to two of these notorious deaths. However, the director develops her own vision as well as her own themes. "One of the things I wanted to do was talk about the place of women in the Catholic Church. I wanted to show how, in a male-dominated religious context, where women are oppressed, even those who seem to have a bit of authority, it encourages abuses. Women can turn against each other because of a lack of autonomy and self-determination. Women's bodies are often treated like meat. To have these characters of nuns and priests, and to set the action in an orphanage that only welcomes girls, it was deliberate. I wanted to show how these little girls are conditioned from an early age to be vulnerable and malleable. »
Like The Omen, The Exorcist, The Nun or the recent Immaculate, The First Omen belongs to the subgenre of religious horror.
"The beauty of religious horror is that it subverts supposedly benevolent figures. From a young age, we are taught that religion, priests and all that are beneficial. But when you realize that, no, not necessarily, that it can also be harmful, it shakes you very hard. Because it's like a betrayal of the innocence of the gullible child that we were. Then you understand that you can't trust something you absolutely trusted. When you're working in horror, it's very promising. »
Speaking of working in horror, this long-in-development prequel project was pitched to Arkasha Stevenson after she made a name for herself directing various episodes of splintered fantasy and horror series, including Channel Zero, Legion, and Brand New Cherry Flavor.
"My co-writer Tim Smith and I were initially terrified of touching The Omen, for fear of ruining its legacy: we grew up watching that film. What changed the rest of the story was that the first draft of the script that we inherited already put in place, at the end, certain elements that fit seamlessly into the 1976 film. And at the same time, it left us with this whole blank narrative space, where we could conceive and explore, with this interesting heroine on top of that. »
Growing Up with HorrorFor Arkasha Stevenson, this unbridled cinematic nightmare represents, in short, the realization of an old dream. "Tim and I are obsessed with horror movies. For my part, I grew up with horror cinema, but without realizing that it was unusual. I saw The Exorcist and The Shining when I was 7 years old... To me, it was just like watching people on television, without it being associated with a particular genre. It fed my imagination. Later, I understood my affinity with this genre, through contact with films that proved to be decisive in my development. »
Another way to "grow" with horror cinema...
"I see your t-shirt from Andrei Żuławski's Possession, starring Isabelle Adjani: I can't help but tell you about this film! He was the one who made me realize that through horror cinema, I could express things that I couldn't put into words in real life," says the filmmaker.
Speaking of which, Arkasha Stevenson has been given free rein for a very audacious tribute to the radical cult film Possession. We won't spoil the content, except to make it clear that, once again, the film goes very far for a Hollywood production. Arkasha Stevenson reiterates with good reason: "A vagina AND a tribute to Żuławski in a Disney film, can you believe it!?"
You don't have to have faith to answer in the affirmative. As for whether The First Omen will succeed in resurrecting the august saga, time will tell. But let's hope that Arkasha Stevenson's audacity and, yes, Disney's audacity will be rewarded.
The film The First Omen opens in theaters on April 5.
