''The First Power'' is a 1990 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

written and directed by Robert Resnikoff, and starring

Lou Diamond Phillips Louis Diamond Phillips ( born Upchurch; February 17, 1962) is a Filipino-American actor and film director. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film '' La Bamba'' (1987). For ''Stand and Deliver'' (198 ...

Tracy Griffith Tracy Lee Griffith (born October 19, 1965) is an American actress, sushi chef and painter. Early life Griffith was raised in Bedford, New York, the daughter of actor/producer Peter Griffith and his second wife, model/actress Nanita Greene. Her ...

Jeff Kober Jeff Kober (born December 18, 1953) is an American actor, known for his television roles as Dodger in ''China Beach'', Jacob Hale Jr. in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Joe in the fourth season of '' The Walking Dead''. He is also known his movie role ...

and

Mykelti Williamson Mykelti Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films ''Forrest Gump'', ''Con Air'' and ''Ali'', and the television shows ''Boomtown'', '' 24'', and '' Justified''. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxso ...

. The film received mostly negative reviews, but was a financial success.

Plot

A sadistic serial killer, Patrick Channing (

), known by most as the Pentagram Killer, is at large in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, killing innocent people as a sacrifice to Satan. His specific MO is engraving a

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...

symbol into the flesh of his victims before killing them. Detective Russell Logan (

) is determined to bring the Pentagram Killer to justice. He receives an anonymous phone call from a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

called Tess Seaton (

). After getting his promise that the man will not be executed, she tells him where the killer is going to strike next. With time running out for the next victim, Logan decides to take Tess on her word. Logan goes on a

stakeout Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

and successfully tracks down Channing's lair. During a struggle in which Logan apprehends Channing, Logan receives a severe stab wound to his torso. Logan manages to recover from his

stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...

injury and breaks his word, and successfully seeks a death penalty sentence. Tess makes another phone call to Logan, pleading with him to keep his promise that Channing not be executed. Logan refuses, satisfied that Channing is now caught and cannot harm another person and, therefore, is not interested in sparing the serial killer from what he believes is a much-deserved fate. Channing is later convicted and sentenced to be executed in the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Histor ...

. However, since Channing was a worshipper of Satan, the latter seemingly grants Channing ''The First Power'' --

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

. This is the first of three special powers Channing is attempting to gain, and is directly stated in the film that

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

also possessed all three of these powers. Channing returns from the grave and is able to appear or disappear at will, as well as possess others. His main objective now becomes to get his revenge on Russell Logan as well as continue his work. Logan must then team up with Tess in order to find a way to defeat Channing once and for all. The climax of the film takes place at an unused part of a water treatment plant where Logan finds Tess after she was kidnapped from his apartment by Channing. Logan and Channing fight, while Channing is possessing a nun, resulting in Channing getting stabbed in the chest with a crucifix that has a knife hidden in it which is the only thing that will kill him. A police officer shoots and wounds Logan after he thought Logan was attacking a nun. Tess visits Logan in the hospital, where he wakes up and attacks her. She wakes up to realize that she was having another psychic vision of Channing possessing Logan, and she hears Channing's voice taunting her with the same line he used throughout the film to taunt Logan. This suggests that Channing's spirit is still free and roaming around.

Cast

as Detective Russell Logan *

as Detective Oliver Franklin * Elizabeth Arlen as Sister Marguerite *

as Patrick Channing *

Dennis Lipscomb Dennis Lipscomb (March 1, 1942 – July 30, 2014) was an American actor. Lipscomb's first feature film was '' Union City'' (1980). From the early 1980s to the 1990s, Lipscomb appeared in key roles in various motion pictures including '' Love Ch ...

as Commander Perkns *

Carmen Argenziano Carmen Antimo Argenziano (October 27, 1943February 10, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 73 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes. He was best known for playing Jacob Carter on ''Stargate SG-1''. He had recurring role ...

as Lieutenant Al Grimes *

Clayton Landey Clayton Landey is an American actor who has appeared in films and television shows. He played James Westmont in the TV series '' Knots Landing'' from 1982-1983. He has been a professional performer, mime, actor, director, producer, writer and te ...

as Detective Mazza *

as Tess Seaton * Sue Giosa as Carmen * Oz Tortora as Antonio *

Dan Tullis Jr. Dan Tullis Jr. (born July 8, 1951) is an American actor. He has played the recurring role of Officer Dan on the sitcom ''Married... with Children''. He also has made an appearance in shows such as ''227 (TV series), 227'', ''The Drew Carey Show ...

as Cop At Arrest *

Hansford Rowe Hansford Herndon Rowe Jr. (May 12, 1924 – September 5, 2017) was an American film, stage and television actor. Early life and education Rowe was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Virginia Isabel (née Willis) and Hansford Herndon Rowe, ...

as Father Brian *

Grand L. Bush Grand Lee Bush (born December 24, 1955) is an American actor of stage, television and major motion pictures. Early life and education Bush was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Robert Bush and his wife Essie Bush. Shakespearean- ...

as Reservoir Worker *

Bill Moseley William Moseley (born November 11, 1951) is an American actor, primarily known for his performances in horror films. His best-known roles include Chop Top in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (1986), Otis B. Driftwood in Rob Zombie's ''Firefly ...

as Bartender *

David Gale David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

as Monsignor *

Philip Abbott Philip Abbott (March 20, 1924 – February 23, 1998) was an American character actor. He appeared in several films and numerous television series, including a lead role as Arthur Ward in the crime series ''The F.B.I.'' Abbott was also the founder ...

as Cardinal * J. Patrick McNamara as Priest *

Lynne Marta Lynne may refer to: *Lynne (surname) *Lynne (given name) *Lynne, Florida, an unincorporated community *Lynne, Wisconsin Lynne is a town in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 210 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated comm ...

as Nun * Brian Libby as Bum / Detective * Nada Despotovich as Bag Lady * Juliana McCarthy as Mrs. Channing, Patrick's Grandmother * Charles Raymond as Gang Member #1 *

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being the maj ...

as Gang Member #2

Production

The movie began production under the title ''Transit''.

Reception

The film received negative reviews, including Desson Howe's in the ''Washington Post'', which called it "shopworn and imitative". In ''The New York Times'',

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

wrote that Phillips "doesn't seem altogether comfortable here, but he certainly is not bad". He added that, despite the film's fast pace and impressive special effects, "the whole thing is seriously stupid". As of November 2022, ''The First Power'' has a 25% "rotten" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 12 reviews.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:First Power, The 1990 films 1990 crime thriller films 1990 horror films 1990s serial killer films American neo-noir films American serial killer films Films about religion American supernatural horror films Orion Pictures films Interscope Communications films Films scored by Stewart Copeland 1990s English-language films 1990s American films