The Sentinel

(1977) ***½

Alison Parker (Cristina Raines) is a young model who has just gotten out of the hospital recently. She feels it's too soon to be moving in with her fiance Michael (Chris Sarandon) so she moves into her own apartment in an old brownstone building in Brooklyn Heights. A beautiful apartment that she scored for an unusually low price. Soon after moving in she starts meeting her unconventional neighbors. First to introduce himself is Mr. Chazen (Burgess Meredeth) a pleasant but eccentric old fellow who lives with his bird and his cat Jezebel. Then there are the lesbians Gerde & Sandra, Alison ran out of their apartment after a disturbing visit. She meets the rest of the neighbors when Mr. Chazen throws a birthday party for Jezebel. After hearing walking around late at night in the apartment above her Alison meets with the realtor to complain. She tells the realtor about the noises and also about all her neighbors. The realtor then informs her that the only to inhabitants of the building are Alison and Father Halloran the blind priest who lives on the top floor and never leaves his room. She has another night of disturbing noises and decides to investigate. She finds her dead father roaming about in the apartment above.


The story continues to unfold as the nonexistent neighbors are identified as previously executed murderers. Alison's health begins to deteriorate and Michael is desperate to get to the bottom of things before it's too late.

This is a classic, I remember reading the book back when I was in high school. Then the movie came out and disturbed the hell out of me in 1977 when I saw it at the theater and watching it now I still understand why it did. The film gives us rare glimpses of Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Walken in their early years. I think Walken has like one line in the film. The rest of the time he just spends standing around and looking pensive. We also get to sit through a disturbing scene where Beverly D'angelo decides to masturbate in the most inappropriate of times. I think this film has the most impressive collection of deformed freaks in one movie with the exception of the movie "Freaks" that is. Well, not all of the deformities are real, some are make up effects, but not all. One guy's bottom lip looks kinda like testicles, bulls testicles. Burgess Meredith is always a joy, he just had a natural ability to appear a little off. Overall it's a good watch and if you havent seen it you might want to just for the sheer weirdness of it, cast and all.