The Sentinal (1977)

[Scott]

THE SENTINAL (1977) - An above average horror film with a big cast John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, and even Beverly D'Angelo in a strange scene. The movie opens with a group of high ranking church officials meeting and praying in an Italy church then the story follows a female model as she looks for a New York apartment where a blind priest stares out a top floor window. The movie plays much like THE BEYOND (1981) with the building being the gateway to hell or something. You might think your watching a Tod Browning movie. There are some creepy scenes in this film as mentioned on Bravo Channels 100 Scariest Movie Moments last Halloween. The film falls into the catagory of other good horror films from the 70's like LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE CHANGLING, and even the EXORCIST. It's worth a look if you haven't seen it.

[Menard]

Hey Scott

Have you seen that strange post about you? (heh..heh)

[Scott]

I saw it during the weekend Menard, but didn't have a chance to comment. I got a kick out of it..............Thanks. Never had a tribute thread before.

I might get to it tonight.

[Menard]

That's cool. I think we still have some more ammo...uhh..I mean...nice things to say. (:

[BeyondTheGrave]

I saw this and enjoyed it very much. It felt like a TV movie but its still good. pretty good ending too.


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You can’t give it, you can't buy it, and you just don't get it!-Aeon Flux

[Archivist]

I wasn't that keen on that movie, as it didn't have a 'happy ending'.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy 'kids eaten by monster' endings all the time, but the ending of The Sentinel left a bad taste in my mouth.  It had a distinctly fatalistic bent that I found annoying.

But you are correct, it's a good movie in its own right.

~Archivist~

[Brother Ragnarok]

I never really cared for the spate of Catholic horror flicks from the 70's.  Amityville was crap.  The Exorcist was...eh.  And I only liked the parts from The Omen that had Pat Troughton in them.  But this...for some reason I really dug this one.  I scored a VHS copy for $1 when a local video store closed a couple of weeks ago.  My girlfriend Malorie really enjoyed it as well.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I've said it before on this board and I'll say it again - The Sentinel is one of the best 'forgotten' horror flicks.  I nabbed a DVD copy a few years ago, around Halloween for about 5 bucks.  I was completely surprised by the film.  The acting isn't too bad, the direction is good and the ending......WOW.  

I must mention Archivist's post though.  Kids eaten by monster?  I think you might be thinking of another flick.

[Archivist]

'Kids eaten by monster' is my way of referring to the generic 'unhappy ending' in many horror movies.  'Kids' refers to protagonist, 'monster' refers to the 'bad thing'.  Sorry!  :-)

[Mr_Vindictive]

Archivist,

I kinda figured that after posting.  Still though, the ending isn't that downbeat.  It still has a bit of a happy ending.

[The Burgomaster]

Great, scary book.  Lousy movie from hack director Michael Winner.

[Yaddo 42]

This is one of those movies that I liked that I'd actually like to see someone try to remake it. I'm not attached enough to it to worry about messing it up, and don't feel that it's enough of a classic that you couldn't come up with something worth seeing.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I'm going to have to disagree Yaddo.  Sure there are some great scenes in the original that could be even better if handled by a truly skilled director today (i.e. the latin reading scene).

My main problem is that it would probably turn into a CGI fest.  I'm sure there would be some type of CGI creature in the film.

What made The Sentinel scary was the fact that it relied on the simple things.  The light swinging back and forth in her bedroom, the naked corpse, the creepy characters.  It relied so much more on atmosphere and characterization than it did on fancy special effects.

I have a feeling all that would change with a remake.