It is “good” to know that much like today Hollywood has always grasped onto ideas and pounded them into the ground. Back in the 1970s a string of horror movies came out which focused on the Church, Satan, possession and devils. A lot of bad horror movies came out around this time that contained very similar themes but in addition to those bad ones there were a few really strong entries into the Horror genre. The most famous of the successes are The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, but in addition to these two there is a lesser but still strong religious horror movie called The Sentinel.

Before diving into the movie itself I thought it would be fun to list off the cast. Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, Jose Ferrer, John Carradine, Eli Wallach, Martin Balsam, Arthur Kennedy, Christopher Walken, Jerry Orbach, Beverly D’Angelo, Tom Berenger, and Jeff Goldblum. I can’t think of another horror movie with this strong of supporting cast.

In The Sentinel Christina Raines stars as Alison Parker a model with a very troubled past. She has attempted suicide in the past after discovering her father having an affair and is now living with a caring boyfriend, Michael Lerman (Chris Sarandon). While Michael is out looking for a larger apartment for both of them to move into after they are married, Alison is looking for a smaller apartment which she can move into. Alison wants tells her friend that she needs to be independent for a year or two before she can settle down and marry Michael. After some searching Alison discovers an beautiful furnished apartment that is affordable and she moves in. She immediate meets her next door neighbor an old friendly eccentric (Burgess Meredith). Later she meets her downstairs neighbors, a pair of women. Her initial visit with them does not go well as one of the women starts to fondle herself right in front of Alison. Eventually she is invited to a birthday party fro the eccentric’s cat where everyone but the lone blind priest who lives in the attic is attending. That night she is haunted by noises coming from the room above her. Alison seeks out the real estate agent to complain about her bizarre neighbors and she is told that other than herself and the blind priest there is no one living in the building. The rest of the movie deals with whether Alison is hallucinating and whether or not the house is haunted.

What makes The Sentinel a success for me is a combination of a few things. First off the wonderful cast can not be ignored. Burgess Meredith as the friendly eccentric, Beverly D’Angelo as one of the lesbians in the basement, to John Carridine as the blind priest in the attic all help to contribute to a wonderfully quirky dark cast. Also when all hell breaks loose director Michael Winner chose to go the controversial route and use actual deformed people to represent demons and devils. This creates a very real dark feeling to a scene which could have been quite silly if they had gone the completely fake route. The final aspect which turns the The Sentinel into something more than just an Exorcist knock off is its potrayal of the Catholic church. Even though there are very few scenes involving the church itself The Sentinel still manages to create a sense of grandeur and presence which many other movies of the same ilk fail to achieve.

I remember when I was a kid I saw just a few scenes from this movie. The main one I remember is the introduction of the lesbian couple in the downstairs. I remembered it as being some major sexy scene. Now when I revisited this movie recently I see just how nasty, creepy and dark the scene is. Overall The Sentinel is just that, dark, nasty and creepy and it really is an overlooked horror gem.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Day 12 of the 31 Days of Horror.