Back in a simpler time, Death Row criminals had to be forced to their appointed hour of execution and all was right with the world. But in the late ‘80s, a worrisome new breed of satanic psycho preferred to be taken off the tax payer’s hands rather than serve jail time. In films like Shocker (1989), The Horror Show (1989), and The First Power (1990), serial slayers who found themselves receiving their final justice courtesy of the state had a return ticket from Hell waiting for them and new opportunities to rack up a body count.
A short-lived trend, this spate of films didn’t yield any success stories but it’s hard not to applaud a wave of movies, no matter how meager that wave might’ve been, that gave Mitch Pileggi, Brion James, and Jeff Kober some of the best opportunities of their careers to chew the scenery as Horace Pinker, Max Jenke, and Patrick Channing (aka The Pentagram Killer) respectively. And even though it’s James who takes the individual acting prize in this contest (otherwise, this blogspot might've been called TV Dinners With Horace Pinker), it’s The First Power that deserves the highest overall accolades for its non-stop pace and gung-ho action sequences.
Lou Diamond Philips stars as Russell Logan, a no-bullshit cop gunning for L.A.'s latest maniac, the Pentagram Killer. As you might expect, this psycho’s telltale M.O. is – wait for it! – the pentagram that he carves into his victim’s skin (a grisly trademark that sets him apart from the equally vicious Isosceles Triangle Killer). Logan gets an anonymous tip from a psychic (Tracy Griffith) who tells him where the Pentagram Killer will strike next but offers her help only on the condition that if he captures the killer that Logan will not seek the death penalty. As this is apparently a psychic with a very narrow ability to read people, Logan agrees, uses her tip to catch the killer, and then totally surprises her by putting his latest collar into the gas chamber as fast as due process will allow. But as Logan's tipster warned, a death sentence is exactly what this unrepentant psychopath (played to eerie perfection by Kober) seems to want.
Soon after the execution, the Pentagram Killer is back in business and to Logan’s disbelief, he sees a robust Patrick Channing out on the streets again. His psychic friend reveals herself as professional medium Tess Seaton and Logan has no choice but to drop his skepticism and join forces with Tess (the fact that she's extremely easy on the eyes probably helps his decision) to take on Patrick, who now has “the first power” – the power of resurrection. Which means that Patrick now has the ability to instantly switch to any body that he chooses. As “first powers” go, that ain’t bad.
With Patrick free to kill with no earthly limits to his urges, Logan and Tess – along with the aid of an anxious, church-defying nun (Sister Marguerite, played by Elizabeth Arlen) – have to stop Patrick from eternally visiting his evil on our world. But with Patrick’s new-found immortality, he’s become the Hell-spawned Road Runner to Logan’s flat-footed Coyote.
First Power writer/director Robert Resnikoff puts action first and keeps his cast (and his stunt crew) on the run. And as this was made at the onset of the CGI-era, before every film started using CG – not just the big budget likes of The Abyss (1989) and T2 (1991) but the much lesser likes of Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1993) – The First Power does it all through death defying stuntwork (the breathtaking scene where Patrick leaps off a ten story building to the ground below and runs off without missing a step is the movie’s signature moment). And that's the main charm of The First Power to me - that everything is done by practical means.
If only the shortcomings of Resnikoff’s script weren't so glaring. Even for a movie about a cop chasing a body-hopping Satanic serial killer, it's pretty weak. It’s clichéd at every turn (even its production design reflects this: Patrick’s bedroom is earmarked with all the telltale signs of a warped upbringing, like a creepy clown painting hanging over his bed). And when it isn't being clichéd, it's simply idiotic. Like, exactly how does an overhead fan continue to keep spinning after it's been ripped out of the ceiling? And maybe things are different on the West Coast than they are here in the East but since when are enormous (and highly combustible) acid vats included as part of the sewer system?
And to unintentional comic effect, Resnifkoff keeps forgetting that Tess is supposed to be a psychic. At one point, Tess addresses a bartender as though he’s the bar’s namesake owner only to have him correct her that he’s not. And in another psychic lapse, she mistakes a plainsclothes cop trailing her as someone looking to pick her up, telling him that if he doesn’t leave her alone, she’ll call the cops!
Resnikoff showed an affinity for pulse-pounding action, however, and that’s where his movie delivers the goods. The First Power showed a lot of promise on the part of Resnikoff - not as a writer, of course, but his direction is confident. With everything accomplished on-set and in-camera with no post-production trickery, The First Power is unusually free of artifice for a modern genre film and Resnikoff never distracts from his story for the sake of attention grabbing camera moves. And yet this was the first and last feature film from him. According to his IMDB listing, Resnikoff completely vanished from the industry after The First Power. He didn’t go into another area, like writing or producing, he just left - severing his connection with film. A lot less talented directors have kept their careers going (to this day, even!) - so why did Resnikoff throw in the towel so soon?
If anyone ever bumps into this guy, tell him that The First Power rocked.
Also tell him that I'm waiting for The First Power Part II and I don't trust anyone else to do it right.
The Dish: The First Power (1990)
What's In It: Lou Diamond Phillips, as a hotshot L.A. cop. Tracy Griffith as a just plain hot psychic with a connection to the killer. Jeff Kober as Phillips' quarry, the Pentagram Killer, executed in the electric chair but causing more mayhem than ever, as his malefic soul leaps from one body to another thanks to his eternal allegiance to Satan. 
Tastes Like: The Exorcist (1973), heavily seasoned with the hardboiled police action of The French Connection (1971), with a dash of Wes Craven's Shocker (1989).
Nutritional Value: Although it's never gotten much attention, even on the cult film level, The First Power is top-shelf junk food. Writer/director Robert Resnikoff delivered a fast-paced action/horror film filled with the kind of CG-free stunt work that that used to be the bread and butter of exploitation movies. 
Lingering Aftertaste: Resnikoff's only previous directing experience was a self-penned 1988 short film starring Terry O'Quinn (The Stepfather) titled The Jogger. He also wrote 1989's Jay Leno and Pat Morita buddy cop vehicle Collision Course. But after his big feature directing break with The First Power, Resnikoff was never heard from in the film world again - at least if IMDB is to be believed. 
Resnikoff's vanishing act is a shame as The First Power showed some promise. Of the spate of late '80s/early '90s tales featuring executed killers returning to life, this was the only one that gelled into a decent movie. If The Horror Show's James Isaac could keep on making movies (including 2001's Jason X), then Resnikoff should've done the same. And for a film that came across as slick and generic in 1990, The First Power now has a pleasing old-school vibe to it but without feeling overly dated, thanks to untrendy wardrobe choices and to the film's action mostly taking place in non-descript locations like back alleys and water treatment plants. 
Star Ingredient: What really brings The First Power together is Kober's wicked turn as Patrick Channing, aka The Pentagram Killer. This being 1990, Kober's character was naturally groomed to be a possible franchise star. Too bad that didn't happen as Kober had the chops to be a horror heavyweight and The First Power is a movie I would've liked to have seen a second serving of. 
