11 December 2024
The Sentinel (1977)
92 min.
Directed by Michael Winner.
With Christina Raines, Chris Sarandon, Martin Balsam, John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Arthur Kennedy, Burgess Meredith, Sylvia Miles, Deborah Raffin, Eli Wallach, Jerry Orbach, Beverly D'Angelo, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken.
Blind priests! Ava Gardner! Lesbians! Mutants! Sylvia Miles!

This bizarre '70s horror is supremely enjoyable.

After she decides she's not ready for a long term commitment to her boyfriend Michael (Sarandon), successful fashion model Alison Parker (Raines) is delighted when she finds a charming Brooklyn brownstone apartment of her own.

But once settled in, Alison begins to question her new digs.

There's the ultraweird neighbors...the strange nightmares...the inexplicable banging sounds in the building...the blind priest who sits in the top floor apartment and stares out the window all day long...

When bodies begin to turn up, police investigators Gatz (Wallach) and Rizzo (Walken) try to get to the bottom of the mystery.

But could there be something supernatural at play here? Could her new home somehow be an integral part of Alison's personal destiny?

Totally offbeat. But the wacky premise is nicely executed by a veteran cast of performers (Meredith and Raines in particular).

And there's a number of memorable highlights including Alison's savage stabbing of her father...and of course the excellent ending which we won't divulge.

A must see.

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