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The Sentinel (1977 film)

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Genre
  
Horror

Music director
  
Gil Melle

Country
  
United States

6.4/10
IMDb

Director
  
Initial DVD release
  
September 7, 2004

Duration
  

Language
  
English

The Sentinel (1977 film) movie poster

Release date
  
January 7, 1977 (1977-01-07) (US)

Writer
  
Jeffrey Konvitz (novel), Michael Winner (screenplay)

Cast
  
(Michael Lerman), (Alison Parker), (Prof. Ruzinsky), (Priest of the Brotherhood), (Charles Chazen), (Miss Logan)

Similar movies
  
Hellraiser: Bloodline
,
Brooklyn's Finest
,
Phantasm
,
The Order
,
Phantasm II
,
Phantasm IV: Oblivion

Tagline
  
She's living in the gateway to hell.

The sentinel 1977 apartment building used in the movie cristina raines chris sarandon horror


The Sentinel is a 1977 American horror film based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Jeffrey Konvitz, who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Michael Winner. The film stars Cristina Raines, Chris Sarandon, Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, Sylvia Miles, and Eli Wallach. It also features Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, John Carradine, Jerry Orbach, Tom Berenger, and Beverly D'Angelo in supporting roles.

Contents

The Sentinel (1977 film) movie scenes

The plot focuses on a young model who moves into a historic Brooklyn brownstone that has been sectioned into apartments, only to find that its proprietors are excommunicated Catholic priests, and the building is a gateway to hell.

The Sentinel (1977 film) movie scenes

The film was released by Universal Pictures in 1977.

The Sentinel (1977 film) movie scenes

Plot

The Sentinel (1977 film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters2289p2289p

Alison Parker, a beautiful but severely neurotic fashion model moves into a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone house that has been divided into apartments. The house is inhabited on the top floor by Father Halliran, a reclusive blind priest who spends all of his time sitting at his open window. Alison begins having strange physical problems, including insomnia, and has some terrifying flashbacks of her attempted suicides. She complains to the real estate agent of the noise caused by her strange neighbors, only to be told that the house is occupied only by the priest and herself. The behavior of her "non-existent" neighbors becomes increasingly surreal and disturbing.

The Sentinel (1977 film) The Sentinel 1977 You Had Me at Gateway to Hell by Thomas Pluck

Alison learns that the building is owned by a secret society of excommunicated Catholic priests and is a gateway to Hell. The blind priest is the guardian who ensures that the demons do not escape. The priest is nearing the end of his life, and a new guardian is needed. The society has chosen Alison because her two suicide attempts qualify her as the perfect candidate. She is told that she must pay for her sins by becoming the next Sentinel, and only by doing so will she be allowed into Heaven.

The Sentinel (1977 film) The Sentinel 1977 Hell on the 5th Floor Offscreen

Alison is confronted by her neighbor Charles Chazen and all of the minions of Hell. Among them is her boyfriend, Michael, who was secretly killed earlier and is damned for killing his wife. Alison is chased through the building by grotesque and deformed creatures. She runs to the top floor and into Father Halliran's room where the demons corner her. Chazen hands her a knife and tries to convince her to commit suicide to avoid this torment. Father Halliran and another priest, Monsignor Franchino, enter the room. Franchino supports the infirm Halliran as he wields a large crucifix. They work their way through the hordes of demons and reach Alison, where they prevent her suicide. She takes the crucifix from Monsignor Franchino, and sits down in Father Halliran's chair.

The Sentinel (1977 film) In Defense of Michael Winners THE SENTINEL ComingSoonnet

Shortly after, the brownstone is demolished and replaced with a new, more modern apartment complex. Mrs. Logan, the realtor, attempts to persuade a young couple to move into one of the apartments. The couple asks about the neighbors, and Mrs. Logan explains to them that there are only two: a violin player and an old, blind nun. The nun is Alison, now blind like Father Halliran, who sits at the open window in the top floor apartment.

Production

The Sentinel (1977 film) The Sentinel 23 Alisons Nocturnal Intruder 1977 HD YouTube

The external views of the house were taken from the block built at the west end of the Remsen Street in Brooklyn, and much of the film's locations are located in Brooklyn Heights.

Critical reception

The Sentinel (1977 film) The Horrors of New York On The Sentinel 1977 ComingSoonnet

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Sentinel holds an approval rating of 58% based on 12 reviews, with a rating average of 6.2/10.

David Pirie in Time Out was quite negative in his review, claiming The Sentinel was "just a mass of frequently incomprehensible footage, acted so badly that even the most blatant shocks count for little". Pirie criticised the movie for being derivative of Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and The Omen: "The Sentinel seems little more than a pile of outtakes from recent supernatural successes". Pirie also took issue with Winner's use of deformed people in the film, claiming it was distasteful. Robin Wood described The Sentinel as "the worst—most offensive and repressive—horror film of the 70s".

The film was ranked #46 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments in 2004.

References

The Sentinel (1977 film) Wikipedia
The Sentinel (1977 film) IMDbThe Sentinel (1977 film) Rotten TomatoesThe Sentinel (1977 film) themoviedb.org