Line #3 Film/TheSentinel1977


1	[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_sentinel_1977.jpeg]]
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3	A 1977 horror film directed by Creator/MichaelWinner, adapted from the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Konvitz (who also produced the film and wrote its screenplay adaptation with Winner). It stars Christina Raines and Creator/ChrisSarandon, with a supporting cast including Creator/MartinBalsam, Creator/JohnCarradine, Creator/JoseFerrer, Creator/AvaGardner, Arthur Kennedy, Creator/BurgessMeredith, Sylvia Miles, and Creator/EliWallach.
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5	Supermodel Alison Parker (Raines) moves into a nice Brooklyn Heights apartment, and finds out the tenant on the top floor of her building is a blind priest, Father Hallerin (Carradine). Pretty soon, she starts having strange physical problems, trouble sleeping, and flashbacks to her attempted suicide.
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7	Not to be confused with the [[Series/TheSentinel 1990s TV show]], or ''Film/TheSentinel2006'' starring Creator/MichaelDouglas and Creator/KieferSutherland.
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10	!!This movie contains examples of:
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12	* ApartmentComplexOfHorrors: The protagonist, who moved to a new apartment, is introduced to a host of quirky neighbours, including two lesbian women, an eccentric old man with a parrot and a cat, and a blind priest. [[spoiler:It later turns out that there are no tenants in the apartment except her and the priest; all the other neighbours are actually damned souls guilty of homicide, and the apartment itself is a [[{{Hellgate}} portal to Hell.]]]]
13	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Charles Chazen, heavily implied to be {{Satan}} himself.]]
14	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Strongly on the "bitter" side. Alison, much to her own dismay, becomes the next sentinel and now watches over the gate, as the brownstone is torn down and made into a modern apartment complex, which she ''still'' guards. However, by becoming the sentinel, she prevented the demons from invading our world and saved her own soul from Hell, so it may be inferred that she would ascend to Heaven once she dies]].
15	* BrokenBird: Alison has issues due to her father being abusive, which caused her to lose her faith and attempt suicide.
16	%%* CatScare
17	* ChristianityIsCatholic: The Catholic Church is responsible for [[spoiler:preventing the door to Hell from being opened.]] Alison is also a non-practicing Catholic at the beginning.
18	* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:The other residents of Alison's apartment building. Used to great effect when Alison talks with Michael at the end.]]
19	* DramaPanes: opens with Alison Parker being shown an apartment building by a realtor. The top floor has a large window, where a lone man is staring out at the cityscape. "That's just Father Halloran," the realtor says. "He's part of some reclusive order, kind of a hermit." As it turns out, Father Halloran guards the entrance to Hell, making sure no one alive ventures in, nor any of the damned wander out. By the end of the film, Alison Parker has assumed this duty, staring resolutely out the window, unmoving. Counts as BookEnds in this case.
20	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Michael, who had his wife murdered so that he could be with Alison.]]
21	* EyeScream: While fighting off the corpse of [[spoiler:her father]], Alison cuts his eye with a knife.
22	* FanDisservice: A flashback shows a young Alison walking in on a threesome her elderly father is having with two obese women.
23	* {{Hellgate}}: The apartment is a ''gateway'' to Hell.
24	* LegionsOfHell: "I am one of the Legion of the Dead."
25	* PeekABooCorpse: [[spoiler: Alison's undead father.]]
26	* ReligionIsMagic / ReligiousHorror: The film plays with this, enforcing the usage of ChristianityIsCatholic along with the fact Catholic priests keep the gate closed.
27	* SameLanguageDub: A fashion photographer played by Creator/JeffGoldblum (who made his film debut in Winner's ''Film/DeathWish'' three years prior) gets this for most of his scenes, save for the one set indoors. It's a minor role and Goldblum was still far from a "name" in 1977, but now that his voice and syntax are among the most recognizable in Hollywood, modern viewers are sometimes taken aback.
28	* SuicideByPills: [[spoiler:A flashback shows Alison as a teenager, miserable under an abusive father and an "I can't cope" mother, attempt suicide by ingesting barbiturates. She survives, but as a Catholic, has committed a mortal sin in trying to kill herself. This act qualifies her to be the next Sentinel.]]
29	* ThoseTwoGuys: Detectives Gatz and Rizzo.
30	* YouCantFightFate: [[spoiler:Alison ends up becoming the next sentinel, despite trying to escape this fate.]]

Context Film / TheSentinel1977