The Sentinel (1977 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Sentinel


image_size =
caption = US movie poster
director = Michael Winner
producer =
writer = Jeffrey Konvitz (novel/scr)
Michael Winner
narrator =
starring = Chris Sarandon
Cristina Raines
music = Gil Melle
cinematography = Richard C. Kratina
editing = Bernard Gribble
Terry Rawlings
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = flagicon|United States January 7, 1977
runtime = 92 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:43728
imdb_id = 0076683

"The Sentinel" is a 1977 horror film starring Chris Sarandon & Cristina Raines. It is based on the same-named novel by Jeffrey Konvitz who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Michael Winner. It is completely unrelated with the 2006 political thriller of the same name.

Plot

Alison Parker, a beautiful but severely neurotic high-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 a reclusive blind priest (Carradine) who spends all of his time sitting at his open window. Alison begins having strange physical problems, and has trouble sleeping at night, and has some nasty flashbacks of her attempted suicide. She complains to the real estate agent of the noise caused by her strange neighbors, only to be told that the house is only occupied by the priest and herself, and ultimately discovers that she has been put in the house for a reason. Things only become more unreal when she discovers that she and the neighbors are not the only inhabitants in the house, and they may not be of this world.

Cast

*Chris Sarandon as Michael Lerman
*Cristina Raines as Alison Parker
*Martin Balsam as Prof. Ruzinsky
*John Carradine as Fr. Francis Matthew Halloran
*José Ferrer as Priest of the Brotherhood
*Ava Gardner as Miss Logan
*Arthur Kennedy as Monsignor Franchino
*Burgess Meredith as Charles Chazen
*Sylvia Miles as Gerde Engstrom
*Deborah Raffin as Jennifer
*Eli Wallach as Det. Gatz
*Christopher Walken as Det. Rizzo
*Jerry Orbach as Michael Dayton
*Beverly D'Angelo as Sandra
*Hank Garrett as James Brenner
*Jeff Goldblum as Jack

Trivia

*The film became controversial when it was revealed the director used actual disfigured people and circus freaks to represent demons during the climax.
*This film was #46 on Bravo's "100 Scariest Movie Moments".
*Kate Jackson was first choice for the role of Alison Parker, but passed on the script.
*Don Siegel was asked to direct, but turned it down.
*Tom Berenger and Nana Visitor appear in cameos at the end as possible tenants looking at the apartment building.
*This film is mentioned in the 1989 Tom Hanks film "The 'Burbs".

External links

*imdb title|id=0076683|title=The Sentinel