The Sentinel

It has that 70's horror aesthetic that I really enjoy; a tone somewhere between classy, paranoid and sleazy. The acting may be wooden and a lot of cool cameos just kinda stand around, but the movie has this delightfully schlocky, gooey centre that is just a blast to chew on. Some moments (particularly the finale) feel exploitative but as a jaded semi-adult it's hard to deny it added to the experience. Alternate title: Rosemary's Model.

Michael Winner IS the 1980's Michael Bay, and people were smart enough back then to treat him accordingly. He has absolutely no allegiance to story, he pretends that pretty or cameo appearance equals acting, he thinks subtlety means when the protagonist is holding a missile launcher you put him in a grey sweater, and he sexualizes things no one ever asked to be sexualized. Only real difference between the two is I can't get enough of his movies.

A beautiful young model moves into an old apartment building in New York and meets all kinds of odd neighbors...who may or may not actually exist. Mysterious thriller involving a dark secret of the Catholic church, which climaxes with a nightmare cavalcade of people with weird facial deformities. The cast for this movie is so awesome, Christopher Walken is in it and only gets two lines.

The most ridiculously overpowered supporting cast, haunting New York cinematography and some good ol' fashioned scary moments in the dark make this a pretty damn good watch. The music is unfortunately so very overbearing and out of place, and the decision to use circus freaks in the climax was sort of awkward, but there are many moments of the film that are deliciously strange in that 70s horror way, like a demon lesbian masturbation scene or nude dream sequences.

Should have shaken it's "Exorcist" elements and went full-on "The Beyond"....... Is there any movie where Burgess Meredith DOESN'T look like he's having fun? He's the best

This one of those creepy 70s urban upper class horror films, and it's one of the better ones. It doesn't always make sense, but the increasing sense of confusion and dread, contrasted with the moments of mundane reality, are very effective. The climax in particular has some pretty great moments.

Winner probably wanted to do a classy horror film in the vein of The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby or the Omen. He even managed to gather a stellar cast - I mean just look at that list. The end result was nowhere near the level of those films, but it's still worth a watch - if only for all the WTF un-PC moments (tasteless sex scenes, real freaks) that would no doubt be cut nowadays.

Sarandan and Raines are seriously wooden, but this is good fun. Obviously pilfers a lot of thematic material from the Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby, but it's all done with enough excess that you don't really care if its original or not. The story actually comes together really nicely at the end, and the bonkers finalé is just awesome.

Charmingly wretched Rosemary's Baby-derivative. Winner resorts to shooting the film mostly in the unardoned, flat style of his Bronson vehicles, but whereas the approach works in meat n' potatoes action films, it completely clashes with the horror genre. The few times he chooses to invoke some actual pizazz (notably at the ending) work extremely well, however. Apart from the bland leading actress, the cast is extremely impressive. On paper. On screen, however, they're givin nearly nothing to do.

A lot like other examples of paranoid horror from this decade, and it's probably riding some coat tails. This would also account for a palpable void of emotional connection with characters or anything like that, and it feels generic even if the plotting and direction are perhaps better than sub-standard. Decent mood thing going for it.

The best thing about this film is the gore effects, the worst is pretty much everything else. I am not a fan of occult or Satanist films. I know this was a lower-budget '70s film but this really felt like a TV Movie to me.

Wish I liked this more but there’s about as little visual eye as this kind of thing can have. Still very freaky tho

Unnerving, but hard to separate it from something like Rosemary’s Baby. Less of an eye for sure.

This was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a cheap 80s piece of garbage but the story is rather well written and the occasional gore is very well done.

I have questions. Why would hell have a doorway? Why would you pick random fashion models to look after it? Why does this film spring all it's big surprises a half hour in and then tread water for 45 minutes until it's big gory climax? You certainly can't accuse Michael Winner of restraint or good taste, which I'm fine with, but I wish I could accuse him of sensible pacing.

Mediocre horror film with one genuinely terrifying scene.

Em honra de Sylvia Miles (1924 - 2019) filme #1. Chega a ser melhor do que os filmes do Winner geralmente são porque tem a primeira hora um suspense sólido permeado por coisas bizarras, mas a meia hora final é tão bosta que é melhor largar mão. Box Versátil Obras-primas do Terror Volume 10.

Don't let the great cast fool you into watching this tripe.

A late and rather unscary entry in the 70s occult thriller sweepstakes. There's not much to the story and characters, but Michael Winner's blunt directorial style and intrinsic lack of taste result in enough delightfully sordid scenes (such as when the heroine tries to politely ignore her young hostess spontaneously masturbating in front of her, or an orgy involving an old man, fat ladies and cake) to keep things entertaining. Chris Sarandon's performance is hilariously wooden.

Third rate ripoff of Rosemary's Baby with all of the subtlety of the guy who made the Death Wish franchise. Don't watch this if you're excited about the cast, Walken & Goldblum get like a line each and the rest don't have a lot to work with.

Despite the powerhouse cast, this was pretty terrible.

Grossly overrated 70s religious horror featuring a cavalcade of pre-has-been stars, under-utilized Dick Smith makeup effects and a score that could best be described as what it would sound like if an elementary school band were assaulted by a shop vac.

Stupid as hell, but has a couple effective scenes and it was fun to spot some now famous actors in early minor roles.

This film had the potential of being somewhat Devil's Advocate, but wound up somewhere below Lost Souls and End of Days!

Slick, all-star Exorcist-like shocker. One of the goriest big-budget films of the '70s, this has a memorably sick climax mixing in real life freaks with Dick Smith makeup FX to portray the denizens of Hades. Look for Beverly D'Angelo, Jeff Goldblum, William Hickey, and Tom Berenger in small parts.

A pretty creepy movie with a pretty good cast to go with it. At times this is very uneasy to watch, but it has some decent gore and a decent story to go with it. The ending was a bit bizarre and it gave you something to think about. The seventies sure seemed to have some decent atmospheric horror movies.

Religous/Catholic overtones give this movie its creepy feel. Does not come close to the Exorcist from which it obviously obtained its theme/ideas, but has some legs to stand on.