35
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineRegardless of his true intentions, Resnikoff has made a screwy horror movie that, despite itself, is fun to watch.
- 50Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonA disposable intermixing of son-of-Satan and cop-thriller cliches, featuring the requisite string of murder victims (with bloody pentagrams carved into their bodies).
- 50Washington PostWashington PostThe First Power tries awfully hard to combine two popular film genres -- the police thriller and the occult assault -- and comes up short on both ends.
- 50Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasIn this sleek but grisly and far-fetched thriller of the supernatural, [Resnikoff] means to terrify us but winds up leaving us merely numb, the usual effect of contrived exploitation fare. [09 Apr 1990, p.F6]
- 50Miami HeraldMiami HeraldFirst-time writer-director Robert Resnikoff's visual style is bland at best, and his script has nothing memorable in it -- except for unbelievable occurrences. [12 Apr 1990, p.F8]
- 50The Seattle TimesThe Seattle TimesNo matter what its virtues are, this Satanic gobbledy-gook still tastes like gobbledy-gook. [09 Apr 1990, p.E3]
- 50Time OutTime OutResnikoff fails to sustain the tension established in the opening sequences, and the plot quickly degenerates into a repetitive pattern of possession and exorcism for the victims requisitioned by Channing's soul to do its bidding. With the exception of Phillips, the performances are remarkably unconvincing.
- 25Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanYet another low-grade spectacular about an evil force that leaps from body to body.
- 25Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrThe First Power is nowhere above average for the genre, and frequently far beneath it. [09 Apr 1990, p.2C]
- 25USA TodaySusan WloszczynaUSA TodaySusan WloszczynaIf they were going to make a movie with Phillips about a dead guy who comes back to life, why didn't they just make La Bamba II? [05 Apr 1990, p.6D]