Wonderfully offbeat film!

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Absolutely brilliant

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A doubtful story of small credibility, if any at all, is all the same expertly made and told and well worth seeing. Some of the effects go over the edge, but it is certainly better than most films in the genre with few parallels. The only even better one I can think of is "Spellbinder" from 1988 (see my review). Here the occult mystery show is saved by some excellent acting, especially Eli Wallach as the incredulous policeman, the only person in the film with some sober distance and even humour, while Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, Arthur Kennedy and even José Ferrer add to the stew. Cristina Raines as Alison stand in the center, though, while Chris Sarandon appears strangely callous for a boyfriend of hers, and his character is the least convincing one and not very well constructed. He loves her and yet betrays her, he has some hidden agenda and still acts as her heroic protector - it doesn't quite add up. In smaller parts you see Christopher Walken as very young and even Tom Berenger for a short moment. John Milton and Dante play an important part in quotations, but the main attraction of the film is the mystery plot and legend - it's definitely an occult classic on the same level as "Rosemary's Baby".

Considering the cast -- Chris Sarandon, Martin Balsam, John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Arthur Kennedy, Burgess Meredith, Eli Wallach, and early appearances by Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, and even -- briefly -- Tom Berenger -- this should be a true classic horror film. But, not quite. But why? First, the film gets off to a very slow start. Yes, the "stage" needs to be set, but it sorta drags.Second, Cristina Raines beautiful enough to be a model? Nope...unless the only criteria is being skinny. Christina Raines an actress? Nope again. Terrible.Third, some of dialogue is...well, let's just say not very scintillating...and at times inane.Fourth, it's not supposed to be funny or predictable...but in many places it is one or the other or both. There were times I almost laughed out loud.The question is -- who's to blame. I'd say director Michael Winner. Bet you can't name one of his films off the top of your head. Strictly B material (at best) unless you love Charles Bronson.As far as the acting, Chris Sarandon hadn't quite learned to act yet. He was getting there, but this was only his third film, and it shows.Martin Balsam isn't in the film long enough to critique...nor was John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner (at least we can say she was still quite beautiful), Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum (was that actually his voice, or a voice dubbed in?), or Tom Berenger.Arthur Kennedy as a priest had a somewhat decent role here, and he was certainly a veteran.Probably the best performance is that of Burgess Meredith. There was always something special about Burgess Meredith, and he makes a somewhat minor role into a delicious attraction all its own.There is one thing I will give the film some credit for: it appears to be that some of the "freaks" at the end of the film were really sadly bizarre abnormal people. Kudos for making that real, un-kudos for exploiting people's misfortune.The odd thing is, I actually remember this film from back in the 1970s, and had hoped it would come out on Blu Ray (it's a decent transfer). I just didn't remember how bad it was. I ended up throwing the disc away after one viewing; at least I got a spare Blu Ray container for my purchase.

Although, The Sentinel has received more popularity and distinction as time has progressed, there still remains to be a really mixed mood on how good of a horror film it actually is. The film, made with obviously an Italian influence in the United States is a horror film that really keeps the viewers guessing throughout. Also, with many 70's horror films there is a typical slow, work into the climax. The Sentinel goes against this perception having a few frightening scenes occur unexpectedly. That doesn't account for scenes showing the excessive amounts of unnecessary nudity by unattractive actresses.With a decent, creepy story, which isn't too confusing, leads to the incredible cast that was pulled together. An all-star cast, included fine leading performances from Chris Sarandon and Cristina Raines. There was also a mixture of older, legendary performers (John Carradine, Eli Wallach, Martin Balsam, Jose Ferrer Ava Gardner) and upcoming household film stars (Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Beverly D'Angelo). With a spooky atmosphere and a popular religious sentiment for the time period, it's still puzzling why the film didn't succeed like it could have. The Sentinel should be given more credit as an entertaining, unsettling film but clearly the masses have spoken, not finding the film with a similar high-esteem.

There seemed to be an entire mini-genre within horror during the late 60s and into the 70s that was obsessed with Satanism and the occult. While many point to the obvious influence of THE EXORCIST, it probably starts with ROSEMARY'S BABY and includes many films such as THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, THE BROTHERHOOD OF Satan, DEVIL'S RAIN and THE OMEN, as well as this Universal movie from 77. It stands out to me because you do not see the same sort of movies much anymore. Sure, we get possessions and demonic spirits, but it's not quite the same religious horror that was so popular during this time.This movie is about a model who's not yet ready for marriage to her lawyer beau, so she moves into a low rent apartment in Brooklyn. She quickly discovers that her neighbors are more than a little bizarre and, in fact, may not exist at all. All of it leads up to a truly disturbing conclusion revealing the true nature of the apartment building and our model heroine's real role in the goings- on.Typical of its' time, the movie starts out fairly slowly and builds the tension from there. At first, we get minor glimpses that things may be a little more than strange in this building, but can equate it to eccentric people living in a low rent building. Things continue to unravel for our heroine, though, and as they do events get more bizarre, ramping up the eerie imagery throughout the movie. It's got that great sort of quality where you're never quite sure if anything you are seeing is really happening, or in the damaged mind of our heroine.There are a few scenes which really seal this as a good movie for me. The first time that she encounters her father in the building is a really unsettling moment that pulls that creeping sense of dread over the viewer. Of course, it's the finale that really seals the deal. I don't want to spoil too much, but I don't think I'm saying anything that's not mentioned all over the internet. The gates of hell spill open and the legions of the damned pour out. They're not your typical red eyes and horns sort of demons either. These beings are real deformed people, which is fairly disturbing and has been decried as being exploitative, but I find it to be effective in bringing us something really monstrous.I, also, don't think that this is the undiscovered classic that some would claim, either. It has its' issues. The main actress is not always that great and really botches a few emotional moments with bad line delivery. It takes awhile to get going, as well, though that is more a product of its' era than a bad rap on the movie.It's fun to see the cast, too, which contains a number of actors who would go on to much bigger success in Hollywood and have minor roles here including Jeff Goldblum with most of his lines dubbed over and Chris Walken who has all of one line of dialog. We even get the dad from DIRTY DANCING as an impatient ad director.