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The Sentinel

Play trailer 2:31 Poster for The Sentinel R 1977 1h 32m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
43% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A New York City model with a troubled past, Alison Parker decides to make some changes in her life. Breaking up with her boyfriend, Michael, Alison relocates to an apartment in a brownstone building where the only other tenant is a withdrawn blind priest. After experiencing strange occurrences, Alison begins to realize why the holy man is present -- the building has an evil presence that must be kept in check at all costs.
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The Sentinel

Critics Reviews

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David Pirie Time Out The only frightening thing about The Sentinel is its director's mind. Sep 28, 2018 Full Review Variety Staff Variety The Sentinel is a grubby, grotesque excursion into religioso psychodrama, notable for uniformly poor performances by a large cast of familiar names and direction that is hysterical and heavy-handed. Sep 28, 2018 Full Review Kristen Lopez AwardsCircuit.com The scene stealer, though, is Burgess Meredith as Alison's neighbor, Charles Chazen. Sep 28, 2018 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com …if you want to know why, a decade after his death, Michael Winner is still remembered as one of the worst directors in cinema history, The Sentinel is waiting for you… Rated: 1/5 Apr 8, 2025 Full Review Tony Crawley Starburst A mess, it is a s-l-o-w mess. Slow-witted, at that. Jul 27, 2022 Full Review Chris Alexander Alexander On Film A disturbing, sick, often campy and occasionally unspeakably horrifying theological mystery ripe with cheap, visceral thrills. Apr 20, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jason W Starts a little slow, but once it gets going it is a decent movie, filled with a litany of well know actors. It's not without its flaws, but a lot of fantastic special fx in the blood and gore department. The climax was great. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/19/25 Full Review Daniel C A scary and mysterious plot that keeps you guessing. Beverly D'Angelo, Christopher Walken, and a beautiful Cristina Raines make for a compelling ensemble cast. A great 70's horror thriller! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/05/25 Full Review Luis Otavio F The plot is really innovative, but the development is weak and lacking in charisma, unfortunately a complete waste of time, both for them (actors) and for us (viewers). Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/05/25 Full Review D. Hunter P This movie did have some creepy moments and both some alarming social horror and sexual elements. The finale fell a little bit flat, but the last scene as a new couple is being moved in by the real estate agent was a nice touch. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/25/24 Full Review Audience Member One of the weirdest horror films from 79’s. Though film was off-the rails nuts, It was fun watching the amazing cast in such a campy horror film. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review Alone G i think movie was good but it was to fast for me and story was bit rush for my liked lol Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/07/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The Sentinel

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Cast & Crew

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Michael Winner

Director

Chris Sarandon

Michael Lerman

Cristina Raines

Alison Parker

Martin Balsam

Prof. Ruzinsky

John Carradine

Fr. Francis Matthew Halloran

José Ferrer

Priest of the Brotherhood

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The Sentinel

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The Sentinel

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Movie Info

Synopsis A New York City model with a troubled past, Alison Parker decides to make some changes in her life. Breaking up with her boyfriend, Michael, Alison relocates to an apartment in a brownstone building where the only other tenant is a withdrawn blind priest. After experiencing strange occurrences, Alison begins to realize why the holy man is present -- the building has an evil presence that must be kept in check at all costs.
Director
Michael Winner
Producer
Jeffrey Konvitz, Michael Winner
Screenwriter
Michael Winner, Jeffrey Konvitz
Distributor
GoodTimes Home Video [us], Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
Production Co
Universal Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 7, 1977, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 18, 2016
Runtime
1h 32m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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