THE FIRST POWER (1990)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical*

THE FIRST POWER is a generally dumb blend of action and horror elements, but perhaps because it seems reasonably energetic, I choose to view it as "amiably dumb" rather than "offensively dumb."

Los Angeles detective Logan (Lou Diamond Phillips) relentlessly pursues a serial murderer dubbed "The Pentagram Killer," because he kills victims after carving a Satanic pentagram in each victim's hand. He gets an anonymous informant's call from a female psychic who will direct Logan to the killer's hideout, but only if Logan promises not to seek the death penalty for the criminal.

This setup will be given more explanation later, when we learn that psychic Tess (Tracy Griffith) doesn't want the Satan-worshipper slain because somehow this will give him access to the titular "First Power." What's never explained is the movie's first venture into terminal dumbness, in having Tess asks a police detective to somehow discourage a death penalty, which is generally under the control of district attorneys, judge, and lawyers. Nevertheless Logan humors the psychic, and ends up capturing and convicting the Pentagram Killer, a.k.a. Patrick Channing (Jeff Kober). Channing appears to die in the gas chamber, but undergoes a Satanic resurrection through "the first power," which is supposed to be one of the powers of Jesus Christ. So I guess Channing's post-death abilities are supposed to be a true "imitatio diaboli," in which a minion of the Devil satirizes the righteous associations of the Christian faith. 

Writer-director Robert Resnikoff really didn't need to bother with this bogus mythology; all he needed to do was to say that, as a result of bargaining with Satan, Channing gained the power to have his spirit jump into the bodies of other mortals, sometimes (but not always) if they're low in spirit. Anyway, Channing starts killing again, and psychic Tess comes forward to help Logan deal with this metaphysical menace. Channing's powers while possessing others are not consistent-- sometimes he can make his bodies levitate, and sometimes not-- but they're impressive enough to convert Logan away from his cop-skepticism. Tess gets Logan to contact a nun named Sister Marguerite (Elizabeth Arlen) who has recourse to a weapon that can vanquish this evil spirit. But until Logan gets the weapon, he has to deal with all sorts of possessed bodies coming at him, demonstrating supernatural powers (mostly jumping and tossing people around, stuff easily faked by stunt men). Eventually there's the usual throwdown at the end, and Channing is apparently destroyed, though the film ends with the suggestion of a recrudescence that never eventuated in a sequel.

The stunts are the real stars of this show, and despite some flubs they're generally well handled. Both Logan and Tess are paper-thin characters, but the actors playing them have decent chemistry together, leading to a not unexpected romantic arc. There's barely any horror as such here, though occasionally it's creepy when the possessed victims speak with Kober's gravelly voice. The movie's only power in our world is its ability to kill time in a mostly inoffensive manner.