CLASSIC HORROR -- The Sentinel

First let me just say, this film rocked my life! This film was directed by Michael Winner and released sometime in 1977. It's about a young model named Alison Parker who wants to live on her own before she can marry her boyfriend Michael Lerman (Chris Sarandon aka Jerry from the ORIGINAL awesome Fright Night!), whose a lawyer. So! She looks at apartments she finally settles on one that SHOULD be way out of her price range but of course it isn't! Duh...the movie would have been short. The apartment is spacey, fully furnished and seems to have great neighbors, at first at least.

 


Soon her neighbors begin to show their true colors and gets ridiculous! From blind priests, nuns, lesbians, freaks, murderers, a masturbating ballerina, a cake orgy involving someone's Dad and even a cat with a party hat on because it's her birthday! So yeah...it's ridiculous but it also has something to offer everyone--I suppose. Anyhow, poor Alison just seems to grow more weak and distressed. Michael, her lawyer boyfriend being the concerned about the apartment building that Alison is staying in hires an private investigator to check out the apartments since Alison was complaining about different sounds she hears. After the private investigator ends up murdered somewhere, things really start to come to light towards Michael and he learns the church’s involvement in this creepy old building as well as their plans for Alison.

 



This film begins as a slow thriller a bit at first but it's so worth. Some people may say this film was sloppy but I adored it! The photographic shots were very eerie. I especially love this film because they didn't use any CGI effects that use these days. Instead, they used real circus freaks from an actually carnival. This film to me just oozes pure creepiness and of course, "If something is too true to be..." I definitely recommend this film, especially for fans of 1970’s horror or of carnival freaks in films! I give this film 4 out of 5 queen skulls!