‘The Sentinel’
Universal Pictures, 1977

starring: Christina Raines, Chris Sarandon, John Carradine and Ava Gardner
directed by: Michael Winner

the plot: Alison Parker (Raines) has it all: a career as a high-profile fashion model, a powerful attorney for a boyfriend (Sarandon), and a new apartment with a killer view of the Manhattan skyline. But all is not well in Alison’s world. Her father dies unexpectedly and her apartment building is filled with eccentric, creepy neighbors—especially the blind priest on the fifth floor who stares out his window all day. After a series of strange accidents, Alison begins to suspect her apartment is haunted, but the truth turns out to be much worse. Soon, she’s caught in a web of murder and madness and it’s impossible for her to tell what’s real and what’s not. A lapsed Catholic, Alison returns to the church for help. However, her boyfriend does a little digging on his own and discovers that there’s more to the blind priest, and the apartment building, than it seems.

why it’s good: “The Sentinel” is a mess of a movie, but what a glorious mess it is! An atmospheric and, at times, creepy riff on “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Sentinel” appeared in theaters just before John Carpenter rewrote the rules for horror movies with “Halloween.” Because it seems like “The Sentinel” is the farewell bash for old-school supernatural movies, director Winner pulls out all the stops. There’s a huge, sprawling cast (watch for cameos by Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Eli Wallach and Burgess Meredith); a near-epic plot involving the Catholic church, the gates of hell and a secret cabal of priests; and, to top it off, it’s rumored that Winner used actors with real physical deformities for the climactic sequence. It also doesn’t hurt that the stunningly gorgeous Raines is a fine actress as well. But “The Sentinel” is packed a bit too full. The first 45-minutes are sluggish and plodding, and just when things start to get creepy, Wallach and Walken show up as a pair of generic New York cops and introduce a silly subplot that nearly derails the film.

why you should own it: “The Sentinel” isn’t worth owning, but you should at least rent it. It makes an excellent companion to “The Exorcist” and other 1970s demonic horror films.