Detective Russell Logan (Lou Diamond Phillips) is a police detective for the Los Angeles Police Department who has been credited with the death or capture of three serial killers in the last five years. The last one, Patrick Channing (Jeff Kober) was christened by the press as the Pentagram Killer.
An unidentified informant tells Logan where to find the killer. Her only requirement was that he not be given the death penalty. Logan tracks down the killer. During the struggle with Channing, Logan is stabbed and ends up in the ICU. After recovering he goes back to work and is present when Channing is executed by use of the gas chamber. Logan has nightmares.
Not long after that another murder is discovered with the same MO as the Pentagram Killer. Tess Seaton (Tracy Griffith) visits Logan at the police department. It turns out that Tess is a psychic and the informant that led Logan to Channing. Tess garnered a connection with Channing when she used her power to find him. She tells Logan that when Channing died in the gas chamber his spirit was released. She tells him that even though Channing was executed, his body may have died but his spirit was released. She then reveals that Channing is a Satan worshiper and has the ability to reincarnate his spirit into the bodies of others.
Tess is soon proven correct when Channing begins hopping from body to body killing people that Logan knows. One of the dead was his partner, Detective Oliver Franklin (Mykelti Williamson). Tess continues to have premonitions of Channing’s murders. Channing then turns his violence on Tess by kidnapping her. Logan races against the clock to try to find her and save her before she becomes one more victim. To do that Logan must convince a nun, Sister Marguerite (Elizabeth Arlen) to help. At first Marguerite is hesitant, but eventually she realizes that the demon will not stop and the only way to end Channing’s rampage is through the use of a powerful religious icon.
“The First Power” was released in 1990 and was written and directed by Robert Resnikoff. It is an American supernatural horror film with religious overtones. A novelization of the film was done in 2025 by Christian Francis.
It was a reasonably decent movie with lots of action and some very creepy atmosphere. The chase scenes were a little long and rather numerous but still full of tension. There are issues with the film, but it’s a fun wild ride that seems to have happily gone off the rails. The ending is a bit vague but overall the movie was enjoyable. The plot is basic but not really important. Everybody’s here for the carnage.
The acting was good as well as the special effects. Phillips and Griffith do an admirable job as Logan and Tess; however, Jeff Kober’s performance as Patrick Channing was perfectly diabolical. My favorite performer was Nada Despotovich as the bag lady that attacks Logan and Tess in his apartment. It’s not a big part, but it was memorable.
The film refers to something that Sister Marguerite calls the three powers. They are Resurrection as the first power, Precognition or the ability to see the future as the second power and body possession as the third power. She also said that Channing uses these powers for darkness and that the only other person to possess the three powers was Christ, who used them for good.