Search - The First Power on DVD

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Rottenberg's rotten book review | nyc | 04/26/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

The perfect killer is one who cannot be stopped

Peter Shelley | Sydney, New South Wales Australia | 06/29/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Unforgettable

Nunz | Manila | 01/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"

UNFORGETTABLE CHILLER

Caroline Klangos | Tarzana, CA United States | 11/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."