THE FIRST POWER
A review in the public domain
by The Phantom
(baumgart@esquire.dpw.com)
THE FIRST POWER is what Hollywood insiders call a "high concept" film. For those phans who aren't familiar with the term, high concept films are films that can be pitched to agents and studio executives in one sentence. That's important, since most of the people in the film industry have just slightly less patience than they have talent; a two or three paragraph summary would have most nodding off before you could say "cut to the chase."
But just because you can summarize a film's plot in one sentence doesn't make it a high concept film, for otherwise nearly every film made since the late 50s could be considered high concept. How best can the Phantom explain? Let us consider, by way of example, THE OMEN and its two sequels. None of these films are high concept; the original most certainly isn't, even though its plot is far from complicated. And its sequels, while easily described (but alas, less easily watched), are just more of the same. This summer's DIE HARD 2 isn't really high concept either, but it comes close ("OK, OK, so this time Willis is in an airport, get it?").
But how about our imaginary third sequel, DIE HARD 3: NOT OF THIS EARTH? (No, the title doesn't refer to Willis' salary.) I'll pitch it to you, phans, and if one of you sells it to Fox remember, the Phantom wants his money above the line. Here's the high concept pitch: "OK, OK, so it's like DIE HARD meets ALIENS, right? Willis is stuck in Moonbase Alpha and meanwhile this thing flies out and attaches itself to his ex-wife's face...."
Now *that's* high concept. The giveaway: any time you use the word "meets" in a description, you're pitching with the best of them.
This brings us, in a rather more roundabout way than usual, to the subject of this week's review, THE FIRST POWER, a film that is nothing if not high concept. Here's the pitch: "OK, OK, so imagine THE OMEN but with those Brat Pack kids, like Damien meets YOUNG GUNS, right? And the killer's like "Freddy meets SHOCKER," so we can throw in a lot of dream sequences. And we'll do the LETHAL WEAPON thing -- make it funny. Did I leave anything out?" And true to its pitch, THE FIRST POWER is the epitome of high concept films.
The Phantom went into THE FIRST POWER expecting an updated version of THE OMEN, one of his all-time favorite horror films. And to be fair, THE FIRST POWER is exactly that, though since it's a 90s horror film, it can't help but be influenced by the legacy of the 80s, including Jason and Michael, but most especially Freddy. In fact, in many ways, THE FIRST POWER is a better ELM STREET sequel than was DREAM CHILD.
Problems abound though. For the Phantom, one of the biggest problems was the miscasting of Lou Diamond Phillips as Logan, a cynical LA cop who heads the investigation into a series of bizarre occult killings. ("Bizarre occult killings"? The Phantom is going to have to stop writing his reviews during Eyewitness News....) Tracy Griffith, as Tess Seaton, the psychic who helps Logan find the killer, doesn't help matters. Both roles call for much older actors, and though Lou and Tracy do their best, they really can't pull it off. Of the two, Lou Diamond Phillips does a better job, but that's perhaps because he has more experience than does Griffith.
The film's plot is fairly simple, although its exposition is somewhat confused. Tess "sees" where the killer (Patrick Channing, played to the hilt by Jeff Kober) is going to strike next. Though she is curiously mute on the point of *who* is he going to strike next, she tells Logan where Channing is going to be, but only on the condition that he promise that there will be no death penalty. Why she believes that a cop could possibly honor such a promise is one of the least puzzling aspects of the film, though it is sadly indicative of the feeble plot devices that abound throughout. In any case, suffice it to say that Logan would have been wise to plead Channing's case before the Supreme Court, since once he is executed, he gets much more screen time than he did when he was just a garden variety, occult-inspired, serial killer.
Indeed, it turns out that all those pentagrams that Channing had been carving into his victims served a purpose: Channing made a deal with the Devil, who in return has granted him what the film refers to as "the first power." At a very late stage in the film, the audience gets to find out what all the other powers are (there are three), though by the time we're told, it's rather hard to care; the "powers" seem to exist solely to explain the film's title, which would better have been left as TRANSIT, the title by which it was known throughout preproduction. At least TRANSIT is original, and as a title it makes as much sense as does anything else about the film, so perhaps then audiences would be more prepared for the barrage of plot holes awaiting them after the last preview is over.
As to the film's title: according to a slightly deranged nun, the first power is the power of resurrection. The second and third powers are related to this, though as the Phantom scored poorly on the "bogus Catholic theology" quiz in the theater lobby, he is unable to explain precisely what those other powers might be. He himself had sadly lost his own first power, the power of concentration, by the time the film had gotten around to explaining all of this to the audience.
In any case, once Channing has been dispatched, he returns in a number of ways and in several different guises, since he has the power to take control of the recently dead (but oh how the Phantom wished he had the power to take control of the plot). Sadly, Channing seems to have little motive for coming back or not; though he pops in and out of the rest of the film (and of course fights Logan to the death in the rather less than epic struggle at the film's end), it's not clear why. Surely if he wanted to kill Logan or Tess he could just appear, push them into a bad career move, and leave. But by the middle of the film, there are really only three main characters, so unfortunately Channing does not have the luxury of Freddy, Michael, or Jason; the screenplay doesn't allow for a similar, metronome-like killing every 10 minutes.
Still, things do get interesting when Channing makes an appearance, and the audience never fails to perk up, if only because they know that an appearance by Channing means that they'll have a badly need, though all-too-brief, respite from Tracy Griffith's acting. Tracy's very young face is capable of nearly three different expressions, and we're treated to all of them in various, usually inappropriate, combinations. We're also treated to dozens of scenes filled with, and focused on, her chest (though she never goes topless). But if there's a tight tee-shirt around, she'll wear it; if she has to stand still, she'll be sure to throw her shoulders back; if she has to move, she'll make every attempt to run toward the camera; and if she has to lie on the ground, you can bet she'll be spread-eagled. To be fair, she only lies on the ground in one scene, but for that scene she removes her bra, just to keep things interesting.
This is, of course, nothing more than a classic case of "naked-Ripley-syndrome" (from ALIEN: "I've just escaped the monsters, so I better strip off all my clothes..."), and though The Phantom appreciates any bit of sexploitation thrown his way, even he felt that someone here was going overboard. Tracy would be well advised to consult with Melanie or Don before making her next film, since if this trend continues she'll have her name above the credits for BLUE LAGOON II: THE NEXT GENERATION before she knows what hit her. Think, Tracy -- do you really want to be our generation's Phoebe Cates?
As for Lou Diamond Phillips, he does his best, but he really looks less than comfortable here. He gets kicked around an awful lot in this film (in fact the fight scenes are fabulously unrealistic -- most reminded the Phantom of Dolph and Sly going at it in ROCKY IV), and he always appears to be dreading the next scene. Will it be Channing this time? Will he be thrown off a roof? Down a sewer? Will the stunt-nun finally get him? Logan's life is not an easy one, and the Phantom was impressed with how well Phillips held up even after taking all those kicks to the head. Of course, the Phantom could sympathize a little, since after THE FIRST POWER, he, too, felt like he had taken a few too many kicks to the head -- by the time every one ends up in the sewer (no doubt tripping over screenplays for THE SECOND POWER), he needed a score card to keep track of who killed whom and of those, who was dead, who had been resurrected, and who was currently possessed.
But the Phantom doesn't want to paint an entirely bleak picture. Although it doesn't make sense for even 10 minutes, THE FIRST POWER was still entertaining, especially if you could forgive it all of its self-contradictions and other stupidities. Although there are enough dream sequences to make even Freddy roll his eyes, they're still fun to watch, and they're even occasionally scary. On the whole, the cinematography is above average -- the film doesn't have that flat, mass-produced look that so many horror films have -- and Jeff Kober does a great job as Channing. This is the director, Robert Resnikoff's, first film, and he does a fairly good job, given the absurdity of a screenplay he had to work with. Resnikoff has a good feel for horror, and the Phantom hopes that he'll be back soon with another film, though he believes that next time he and his crew should take a lunch together and decide just exactly what kind of film they want to make *before* they start shooting. "A little bit of everything that was successful over the past 5 years" just doesn't cut it.
So the Phantom is undecided: should he recommend that his phans see THE FIRST POWER now, or wait until it hits Blockbusters? For all its problems, THE FIRST POWER is still fun to watch, and it's rarely boring. But is it worth $7.50? Let the Phantom put it this way: if you liked SHOCKER, you'll like THE FIRST POWER. If you were upset that SHOCKER turned out to be so utterly brainless, it might be best to wait for the $2, two-night special, since THE FIRST POWER is, unfortunately, very nearly a homage to Wes Craven's botched masterpiece.
Perhaps the Phantom will organize a half-film festival, for all the films he's seen recently that start out so well, but then take a bad turn about half-way through, and finally end very badly indeed. Admission will be half-price, of course, and all the films will start every half hour, so his phans can get up and walk out when a film's gone half way to hell (if a film's gone all to hell, you know you've stayed too long). Not a half bad idea, if the Phantom does say so himself.
: The Phantom
: baumgart@esquire.dpw.com
: {cmcl2,uunet}!esquire!baumgart
.
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