Customer Reviews

The First Power

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lou Diamond Phillips plays an LAPD detective who pursues a serial killer who has somehow obtained "The First Power". Though Phillip's character has nabbed the guy and ensured his execution, a string of brutal murders suggests the perp has come back from the dead. With the help of a psychic and a nun with an agenda of her own, Phillips comes to realize that the killer has obtained the power to become anybody, go anywhere, and scariest of all - attained immortality. (The flick tosses in an added chilling detail - the killer communed with the powers of darkness, but it was his execution that sealed his link with the ultimate power. Phillips tracks the killer with an anonymous tip, one that refuses to cooperate unless he can guarantee that the killer won't face execution.)

This flick is much better than it has the right to be. The plot tosses in the indestructible annihilator, yet doesn't do much with him - he'll just keep on killing, keeping the heroes alive long enough for them to appreciate his brutality. The flick tosses in a mystical icon with the power to destroy the first power, but doesn't define what it can do, and spend little time with it.

Still, "Power" was a lot of fun. Good use of mood music and heavy atmospherics create true tension, even in scenes when there shouldn't be any. (One excellent scene has Phillips visiting the home the killer shared with his elderly mother, one in which he learned the secret root of the killer's evil). If you want something that will keep you up for a long night, the "First Power" can't be beat.

Writer director Robert Resnikoff's action thriller is about the battle between Lou Diamond Phillips as a LA cop and a serial killer who's mark is the inverted pentagram, which he knives into the flesh of his victims. LDP thinks he has the upper hand when the killer is captured and executed in the gas chamber, not knowing that he will return as an entity with "the first power" ie the ability to inhabit the body of others. Therefore the problem arises - how do you stop something that is techically dead? The killer feels a personal connection between LDP and himself and chooses his future victims as people associated with LDP, that is when others with a "lesser sense of reality" like the homeless, junkies and drunks, aren't available. Resnikoff gets his biggest laughs when a baglady is possessed and taunts LDP with "Give us a kiss" and "It's not nice to hit a lady". Resnikoff makes good use of the atmospheric Stewart Copeland music score (nearly as effective as the one he did for Frances Coppola's Rumble Fish) and moves things along pleasingly, taking great satisfaction in the stuntwork, since the killer is remarkeably agile, and adding more of the supernatural in the form of LDP's helper Tracy Griffith as a smarmy red-headed psychic, with partly overcomes the general silliness of the concept. Resnikoff also scores laughs from the killer's grandmother, with Julianna McCarthy giving lines like "He was not illegitimate" and "You're that cop" a comic hiss. There is also much hissing of cats, optical and aural hallucinations, a demonstration of Griffith's predictive vision and then the playing out of it, an unsafe abandoned water sewer with an available waterslide, and a nun brought in to explain the differences between the first and subsequent powers which hold the key to the destruction of the demon. One might question the logic of running from a being that is able to transport itself to your destination before you can get there, a kind of anti-chase joke, and also firing into a fan when the bullets ricochet off the spinning blades, and Resnikoff overplays the animosity with matching eye closeups. LDP is said to be "surrounded by a shell", cynical and nihilistic after the death of his father and perhaps rather burnt out from his third serial killer. However that still doesn't excuse LDP's pugnacious attitude or flat acting. He's the kind of protagonist that you enjoy seeing hurt, and I was grateful that Resnikoff cut his romanctic scene short. However the ending is left unresolved, as if a setup for the sequel.

One of the most chilling and memorable movies I have since in years. This ranks right up there with Silence of the Lambs. This movie deserves a sequal and hopefully someday we will be granted a sequal that is as memorable as the first. I have watched this movie many times and I have never grown tired of it. Everytime I have a friend over that has not seen it I play it for them or lend it to them and all are glad I did. I have not heard one bad comment about this movie nor have I ever heard of anyone being disappointed in it. Don't bother renting it just buy it because you will definately want to see it again and again.

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.

This film is one that I'd never forget. The story is very intriguing and really gives you the creeps. The idea of having these kinds of powers is really creepy. A classic must have DVD for horror and suspense lovers!

Lou plays a cop who thinks the pentagram killer's murders are finally over after he's executed, but really, the terror has only just begun. As he scrambles through LA trying to re-capture the Satanic madman, it becomes clear that this killer has...the First Power. If you haven't seen this film, it's definately worth a look, depending on where you stand with religion. No I'm not a Satanist, I'm a Christian, but I didn't take this film to heart. Anyway, this is another good vs. evil movie that may appeal to some. Final note: ignore the negative reviews from so-called expert critics and give it a look, but a friendly warning: certain scenes and images are very creepy and disturbing, plus if you have a weak stomache, I can't recommend it. It's also creepy enough to create some wicked nightmares. You've been warned!

I saw this movie on VHS tape over a friend house, back in O' I believe 2005. So when I saw it for sell at Amazon.com from seller goHasting, I just had to buy it on DVD. Plus it was real cheap. I don't want to tell the story and ruin it for everybody, but anyway... trust me when I say it a good suspense thriller that will keeps you on your toes from beginning to end. It's a must buy/must have old flick to add to your collections.

I can't understand the low ratings for this film. I will always remember it for its odd but attractive cast, the strange twists and novel occult storyline and for the first appearance to me of Jeff Kober who went on to scare me by turning up in many movies and tv shows including Buffy and Kindred the Embraced. This movie made me laugh and yelp. Watching this movie was the first time I appreciated being in a crowded movie theater because the howls and laughter of the young audience really enhanced the experience.

in Stephen King's Maine,and and The First Power debuted as the showcase in our small film festival. Ten Horror buffs were glued to the screen for the duration of the film. When the The First Power ended,a standing ovation was at hand! This Horror film is just that good.
The plot of a demonic killer is nothing new,but the presentation of Patrick Channing was something quiet different. This young man was destined from birth to follow the left-handed path. Born of an incestuous relationship,he was reared in an environment that did nothing,but encourage him to fall from grace and become the instument of evil. Veteran actor,Jeff Kober,in the role of Channing,armed the character with all the attributes of a Satanic desciple,more than willing to the bidding of the Dark Lord. Channing slaughtered with a glee,showing no mercy to victim,be it,adult or child.
Enter Detective Russell(Lou Diamond Phillips) Logan,a cop with a history of nabbing serial killers. Logan was having no luck at all with the "Pentagram Killer",as Channing was hailed in the press,when psychic Tess Seton(Tracy Griffith) began to have contact with Channing in her own special way-through telepathy. She warned Logan of Channings whereabouts and then..................Well,you will have to view The First Power to find out! Don't miss this one folks,it is a scarefest that you won't soon forget!!!

this movie is with out a doubt one of the most unique films i ever seen..well at that time. its about a detective on the hunt after the pentigram killer. after the detective ruins the killers ritual before killing the victim they capture him and later on he gets the gas chamber..after that his demented soul lurks around jumping through bodys basicly making the detectives life a living hell..now thats all im going to say on that. but the thing that i really like about this movie is the fact that it was orignal at the time.. and its wicked..

see you around buddy boy