Director Michael Winner (1935-2013) made a number of my favorite films during the 1970s. It started out with LAWMAN (1971) followed by his breakthrough year, 1972, when he made THE NIGHTCOMERS, with Marlon Brando and 2 Charles Bronson flicks CHATO’S LAND, and THE MECHANIC. 1973 saw SCORPIO with Burt Lancaster and then came the reviled yet highly successful DEATH WISH in 1974. I mention all of this because it was THE SENTINEL in 1977 and all the controversy surrounding it that ended his career as a a high profile Hollywood filmmaker. He would make one more noteworthy film, a remake of THE BIG SLEEP in 1978 (Winner updated it and changed the setting to London which angered Raymond Chandler and Bogart/Bacall enthusiasts) and that was essentially that. I continue to watch his 1970s film as they never fail to engage and entertain me.
Back to THE SENTINEL. The controversy arose over a particularly graphic murder (which scared the audience) and the infamous finale in which Winner, taking a tip from Tod Browning’s 1932 film FREAKS, used real life deformed people to play the denizens of Hell (which outraged and disgusted others). THE SENTINEL continues Winner’s practice of getting high profile stars on their way up (Christopher Walken) or near the end of their careers (Ava Gardner) to appear in his movies. The story, based on a book, deals with a NYC fashion model (Christina Raines) who moves into a beautiful, old apartment which seems too good to be true. Of course it is. While there she meets some some rather strange neighbors presided over by Burgess Meredith who gives a spellbinding performance especially at the end. Her boyfriend (Chris Sarandon) investigates the building and comes across a startling revelation. To say any more would ruin it for the people who haven’t seen it.
THE SENTINEL was surprisingly not a box office success and quickly disappeared although some people never forgot it. The next chapter begins with its sale to TV. It was considered so offensive that it was censored beyond recognition with new unrelated footage shot, much footage removed (including a lesbian couple), voiceovers, and the Catholic Church changed to a heretical sect. For years this is the only way the film was seen by many. The next chapter occurs in the early 21st century when the original, uncut version is released on DVD garnering a number of new fans who had never seen it and surprising old fans who only knew the TV version. The final chapter has now been written with the film now available on Blu-Ray and looking better than it ever has. It contains a wealth of extras including commentaries from actress Cristina Raines and director Michael Winner.
The Capsule Critic 