The Sentinel (1977)

The Sentinel ​is a 1977 American ​horror film directed by Michael Winner and starring Cristina Rainel, Chris Sarandon, Ava Gardne, Burgess Meredith,Sylvia Miles, and Eli Wallach. The film also features Chrisopher Walken, Jeff Orbach, Tom Berenger, and Beverly D'Angelo]] in supporting roles. It is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Jeffrey Konvitz who also co-wrote the screenplay with directed Michael Winner.

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

The film was released by Universal Studios in 1977.

Plot
Alison Parker, a beautiful but severely neurotic fashion model (Raines) moves into a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone house that has been divided into apartments. The house is inhabited on the top floor by Father Halliran (John Carradine), a reclusive blind priest who spends all of his time sitting at his open windoe. Alison begins 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.

Alison learns that the builbing is owned by a secret society of exommunication 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 guardain 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.

In the climax of the film, Alison is confronted by her neiahbor Charles Chazen (Burgess Meredith) and all of the minions of Hell. Among them is her boyfriend, Michael (Sarandon), 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 demons corner her. Chazen hands her a knife and tries to convence her to commit suicide to avoid this torment. Father Halliran and another priest, Monsignor Franchino (Arthur Kennedy), 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 Ailson, where they prevent her suicide. She takes the crucifix from Monsignor Franchino, and sits down in Father Halliran's chair.

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 na old, blind nun. The nun is Alison, now blind like Father Halliran, who sits at the open window in the top floor apartment.

Cast

 * Chris Sarandon - Michael Lerman
 * Cristina Raines - Alison Parker
 * Martin Balsam - Prof. Ruzinsky
 * John Carradine - Fr. Francis Matthew Halliran
 * José Ferrer - Robed Figure
 * Ava Gardner - Miss Logan
 * Arthur Kennedy - Monsignor Franchino
 * Burgess Meredith - Charles Chazen
 * Sylvia Miles - Gerde Engstrom
 * Deborah Raffin - Jennifer
 * Eli Wallach - Det. Gatz
 * Christopher Walken - Det. Rizzo
 * Jerry Orbach - Film Directed
 * Beverly D'Angelo - Sandra
 * Hank Garrett - James Brenner
 * Nana Visitor (billed as Nana Tucker) - Girl at End
 * Tom Berenger - Man at End
 * William Hickey - Perry
 * Jeff Goldblum - Jack

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

Winner was inspired by the depictions of the creatures of Hell as they appear in the works of Christopher Marlowe, Dante's Inferno, and the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Shortly after the film's release, Winner revealed that many of the deformed persons featured in the finale were actually people with physical disabilities and abnormalities, whom he cast from hospitals and sideshows.

Box office
The Sentinel was released theatrically by Universal Pictures on February 11, 1977. It grossed a total of $4 million at the U.S. box office, and was the 57th highest-grossing film of the year.

Critical response
Initial reception

The Sentinel received mostly negative reviews upon its release. 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." Robin Wood described The Sentinel as "the worst—most offensive and repressive—horror film of the 70s". Variety gave the film a negative review, writing "The Sentinel is a grubby, grotesque excursion into religioso psychodrama, notable for uniformly poor performances by a large cast of familiar names and direction that is hysterical and heavy-handed." The New York Times called the film "dull", criticizing the film for its long stretches, but commended Raines' performance. John Simon of the National Review described The Sentinel as 'dreadful'.

Film scholar Richard Bookbinder wrote in his 1982 book The Films of the Seventies the final sequence in which the "armies of Hell" terrorize Alison "is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying interludes in seventies cinema."

Modern assessment

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Sentinel holds an approval rating of 50% based on 20 reviews, with a rating average of 6/10. Anthony Arrigo from Dread Central gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing, "The Sentinel might be devoid of any big, memorable showstopper moments but it maintains enough of a chilling atmosphere to keep fright fans engaged." Brett Gallman from Oh, the Horror! gave the film a positive review, stating that, although it was not the best of the "demonic horror" subgenre, it was just as entertaining. Gallman also commended the film's script, performances and effective imagery.

Ian Jane from DVD Talk awarded the film 3.5 out of 5 stars. In his conclusion Jane wrote, "Michael Winner's The Sentinel is a gleefully perverse slice of seventies horror that makes no qualms about taking things in a few entirely unexpected directions while still sticking to some tried and true genre conventions. It's not a perfect film but it's definitely interesting and always entertaining." The film was ranked #46 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments in 2004.

TV Guide awarded the film 1/5 stars, calling it "a truly repulsive film". Jedd Beaudoin from PopMatters gave the film 1/10 stars, criticizing the film's lack of believability and incoherent plot.

Home media
The first home media release of this film was in 1985, under the MCA Home Video label. Universal Pictures Home Video released The Sentinel on DVD in 2004. In 2015, Scream Factory issued the film on Blu-ray with new bonus materials, including three audio commentaries.