StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Cortechba Overrated

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

FlashCallahan Patrick Channing,born out of an incestuous relationship, and living through an emotionally scarring childhood, gives in to Satanic forces and becomes a murderer known as The Pentagram Killer.He becomes the main target of Detective Russell Logan, whom engages in a battle of wits with Channing in life and after death.It appears that Channing can't be stopped, because sentencing him to death gave him the titular power...If the summary sounds familiar, that's because it was remade in 1997 as the Denzel Washington film 'Fallen'. And while that film is the better known and has the bonus of a more 'talented' cast, this one is by far the most fun.Finally after years of being sandwiched between Kiefer Sutherland, Diamond Phillips gets his own action vehicle, and he's loving every minute of it.His Logan is your atypical yuppie late eighties cop. Wearing trousers up to his chin, holding a gun in a very silly way while running down dark alleyways with Melanie Griffiths less famous sister.And the film gets straight to the point with an outstanding film stealing performance from Kober as the antagonist. Kober must have known that this would have been a breakout performance for him, so he gives it his all, absolutely owning every scene that he's in.Phillips is good, but he's just playing the straight second fiddle cop to the maguffin of the film, namely the killer. So whilst we are following the narrative from Logans point of view, what your really waiting for is what he will discover next, and whose body will be taken over next.It's a good looking film, especially when you consider the budget, and the fact that it could have easily have been stuck in a fashion/music time capsule (there is the trousers though).some of the stunt work is pretty jaw dropping, even today, particularly the car chase, the way once the killer is reborn he knows martial arts, and the films standout scene, the jump from the building, which is alone worth watching the film for.So all in all, it's a forgotten slice of early nineties cheese, but thanks to the recent release of the Blu Ray, it may finally get the recognition it deserves.

nomoons11 Well...I was kinda lookin forward to this one but by the end my attention was diverted away from the screen doin other things. When this happens...it's a stinker of a film.Where to start. Right off when you see the year of the film and Lou Diamond Phillips then you know this was his heyday of his starring in films. Not long after this he was relegated to worse B movies and straight to video status. He's not bad in this he's just the same as he always is. He's put in a movie with a really stupid script/concept.I think the part of this film that makes it not work is the concept itself. Basically what you get is a quasi Devil worshiper fella who has a nasty habit of killing whenever and to whoever he wants. LDP's character comes in and saves the day and then he diverts his attention to all his friends/co-workers to try and kill all of them. He meets up with a psychic who tags along throughout the entire film to a believability factor of "0".The funny part of this film is the editing. There are major stunt scenes in this where they switch the characters with stunt men but they don't even come close to makin it work. A scene were the killer busts out of the Gas Chamber and the character is suppose to break through the glass and they switch to the stuntman and he's taller and doesn't look remotely close to the guy playing the killer's role. They let the scene/camera role for so long you can clearly see that this isn't the same guy. There's a scene where the Devil/Killer does some martial arts super kick towards the end of the film. It's a laugh. How many Satan/Beelzebub/Lucifer characters in history do you know of who can do this stuff? LOL..There so many stunt scenes where it's plainly evident that it's s stuntman it's just sad. BTW...some of the stunts in this are just fantastic. It's the only reason to see this film.Bad Casting...Stupid script and terrible editing make for a waste of 90 minutes of your life. Take that time instead and watch Ishtar :D

Bjorn (ODDBear) When childhood memory tells you this was a scary movie; it's touch and go whether you should revisit it. Anyway, I remembered a scary scene involving a homeless person and a cool villain played by Jeff Kober."The First Power" is not a very good movie, sad to say. It's chock full of those cop clichés and a very poor script with holes a truck could drive through (along with countless convenient "twists" that help the story run along). Lou Diamond Phillips is the over-confident bad ass cop who sends baddie serial killer Kober to the gas chamber only to find out he was a minion of Satan himself and now has the power of resurrection along with the power of possessing every weak minded person who he comes across. Through in the mix a very poorly realized psychic who helps with the case.Ahhh, this is trash. But enjoyable as such, especially if you have fond memories of it. It scared me as a kid and that scene with the homeless person is still pretty good. As for any kind of logic here; forget it, just about every scenario is thrown in for good measure and you end up with a cross between a Steven Segal action flick and a 70's demonic flick. And who on earth thought it was a good idea to cast Lou Diamond Phillips in the lead here? Needless to say he's not convincing at all but he tries his best and I've never had the problem with the guy so many reviewers here seem to have. As for Tracy Griffith as the psychic, the less said the better. But Kober is pretty good as the killer; always liked that actor."The First Power" may be just what the doctor ordered after a hard day's work and a "brain switch-off" is needed. Beer will most likely enhance the viewing experience and I'll definitely have loads of it the next time I give this movie a spin. All in all; not a good flick but a somewhat guilty pleasure for nostalgic fans who were easily scared as kids. "See you around, buddy boy"!

le_wubster 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!