BLOOD WORK: HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 9: THE SENTINEL (1977)

The Afterlife, Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Elysium, Irkalla, whatever you want to call it, what's happens after we die and the places we end up are the subjects that have fascinated and terrified humanity since the dawn of time. To find one's self in the Netherworld, a place of ultimate evil, to some is the greatest of nightmares and maybe the source of humanity's greatest fears. Sounds like subject matter rife with potential for horror cinema! But in my experience films that explore the depths of Hell usually don't live up to the imagery or scope of story in my opinion.

Director Michael Winner's THE SENTINEL explores such subject matter but does it in a different way than you would think. Winner isn't exactly known for a career with horror films but his films like DEATH WISH (I-III), SCREAM FOR HELP, and THE BIG SLEEP probe some of the darker aspects of humanity and display some truly brutal gut wrenching violence. Given he was working in the 1980's during the last great horror cinema boom, it's surprising that he didn't work more within the horror genre.

The Sentinel marks Michael Winner's greatest contribution to horror. Based off Jeffrey Konvitz's novel, The Sentinel is one of the more fascinating ideas surrounding the concept of Hell.

THE PLOT

Fashion model Alison Parker moves into a new apartment in one of New York City's oldest buildings. Her life had fallen off the rails not too long ago and she is still recovering emotionally and spiritually from her attempted suicide. She meets some strange and eccentric people living in the other apartments in the building along with an eerie blind priest occupying the top apartment. At night she hears frightening noises through the walls and experiences lucid nightmares involving her less than saintly father. Reaching out for help, Alison is told that she has no neighbors living in the other apartments save the priest upstairs. The house, she learns, is more than what it seems and the connection between her and the priest is one of infernal significance.

WHAT I LIKED

(spoiler alert)

The Concept. Okay, I tiptoed around it in the plot synopsis but here I'm going to spoil it. Ready? The priest is acting as the sentinel guarding one of the gates of Hell. I'm spoiling it because that is the concept that propelled me to watch this movie. I find the idea incredibly fascinating and cool and full of potential. The idea that Hell is a real place and a lot closer to home than we would like to admit is terrifying. The horror great John Carradine plays the priest and he himself is about as creepy as his task. And if something should happen to the sentinel it would mean dire consequences for Earth.

Haunted House/Psychological Thriller/Religious Horror. The story approaches the subject matter in an interesting way, one that keeps you guessing throughout the length of the film. Alison is a fairly complex character going through a very difficult period in her life. The bizarre events occurring in the film could be the result of her experiencing a mental breakdown or it could be that the house really is haunted. The film takes a similar approach as the film ROSEMARY'S BABY, by that I mean a subtle and serious approach.

Then there's the sheer number of notable actors in the film like Chris Sarandon, Burgess Meredith, John Carradine, Ava Gardner, Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, Beverly D'Angelo and more. The violence is fairly visceral too along with some graphic imagery. Overall though it is a rather subdued psychological horror film.

NITPICKS

Slow Burn. This isn't a fault of the film by any means but more of a word of caution. Like Rosemary's Baby or The Shining, this film is a slower one but by no means does this make it a bad film. Just sometimes you have to be in the mood for slow burners like this. If I had to pick one beef with this film it would be the lack of an inhuman entity. A demon or satanic figure or what have you. We do see some terrifying entities and truly black hearted individuals but nothing demonic. This is likely a conscious choice by the filmmakers and not really a problem, it's just my personal preference.

THE VERDICT

There is a lone force for good standing between our world and the netherworld keeping the monstrous spirits from creating Hell on Earth. That force is The Sentinel. A carefully crafted tale deftly mixing psychological thrillers, hauntings, and religious horror. A slow burner in the vein of modern classic horror cinema, The Sentinel keeps you guessing as to what's really happening in this compelling mystery. Michael Winner's penchant for showing the darkside of humanity in his films is present here as well.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10

Nude-O-Meter: 3 out of 10