Tag: Mystery

Tonight I’m reviewing Michael Winner’s 1977 supernatural horror “The Sentinel” from Universal. The movie stars Cristina Raines as model “Alison Parker”. Support comes from a vast array of movie stars from the past, present and future (For 1977) including Ava Gardner, John Carradine, Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum. Richard C. Kratina provides cinematography and Gil Mellé, the music. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Konvitz. Winner and Konvits adapted the screenplay between them.

Alison Parker is a fashion model with a history of suicide attempts. These date back to an incident where she walked in on her father during an orgie. After moving into an apartment block in Brooklyn she begins to experience strange physical problems. These include fainting spells, insomnia and hearing things. She begins to become agitated by her bizarre neighbours, only to be told that the only other resident there is an elderly reclusive priest. Meanwhile, Alison’s lawyer boyfriend Michael (Chris Sarandon) is being investigated by cops Gatz (Eli Walloch) and Rizzo (Christopher Walken) over the suspicious death of his wife. Alison and Michael attempt to unravel the mystery involving the apartment and the mysterious priest. Ultimately a dark secret will be revealed.

I Am The Way Into The City Of Woe

This is very much a 70’s horror. Edgier and less subtle than the 60’s with more than a little weirdness. It has a pace that starts off slow but builds up more momentum as it goes and then throws everything but the kitchen sink at you for the climax. The movie knows how to unsettle the viewer while keeping them glued to the screen. Michael Winner obviously knows what he is doing, but a lot of this is fairly normal stuff for the era and demonstrates why 70’s horror was so effective. With the Christian/Dante themes I can’t help but compare this to the disappointing “The First Omen” film I reviewed earlier in the month. This demonstrates exactly the kinds of things that film lacked. Specifically, the edginess and the commitment to a religious view point (And associated fears).

That said, this movie clearly takes a lot of influence from Rosemary’s Baby. The way the other “Residence” of her apartment block approach her in a friendly and yet creepy manner and how ultimately they have evil intentions towards her. That is straight out of Polanski’s playbook. Between that and the influences of the various demon/devil related movies of the 1970’s this movie doesn’t feel especially unique or original. But it’s not cliched. Compared to many of the modern takes on this sub-genre, it actually feels relatively fresh. The story itself is straight forward and relies on a slow reveal of information to drag it out. Most of the events in the film don’t really matter that much and several plot threads seem to disappear into the ether.

Abandon All Hope, You Who Enter

Among the many peripheral characters are Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum. Both have very small roles, which is a shame but it’s early in their careers. Goldblum plays a director and Walken plays a cop. Of the two Walken comes closest to having some relevancy to the plot, but both threads drop away before the final act. Effectively the police are just there to imply that Alison’s boyfriend Michael may be a murderer. They drift out of the woodwork for the second act and vanish again by the third. Goldblum’s role has even less impact as it’s tied to Alison’s day job as a model, something that barely factors into the story.

The strength of this movie is entirely in the events that happen in the apartment block itself. The introduction to the neighbours, the revelation that they may not be real and the parade of weirdness in the fact act. These elements are what makes this film interesting. It’s not enough to raise it up to a true classic, but it is memorable and unsettling. The pacing is good, but the plot could have been structured better so that all the threads felt worthwhile. This is a solid 6/10. Recommended, but don’t expect to be blown away,