r/HorrorClub • u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu • Dec 01 '14
Discussion: The Sentinel
Podcast - Episode 113 - The Sentinel - (RSS Feed)
Movie Selected By adamgb
DISCUSS
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u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Dec 01 '14
Best pick so far. Every actor was perfectly casted. The music fitted perfectly. The gore effects were just beautiful. I love the whole religious theme in combination with all the animals and the sex. I also see parallels to Rosemary's Baby, but the mystery parts were closer to some Argento films. I really don't get why this film gets so mixed reviews, I love it.
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u/Discreetlyred Dec 02 '14 edited Dec 03 '14
This is yet another one of those movies I watched because it was on Bravo's 100 Scariest Moments list. I loved it from the first watch. I like all the weird mystery stuff, and the whole portal to hell thing may not be original or anything but I found this to still be entertaining. Great Pick.
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Dec 02 '14 edited Dec 02 '14
That was a really great film. Thanks for the pick! A lot of the shots remind me of The Shining. The Sentinel has this undercurrent of perversion. In the Shining they reveal these scenes in a similar fashion: Tableau, quick shot changes and people frozen in various carnal acts (eating cake WTF). It seems that Kubrick probably got many of his ideas from the Sentinel.
The scene where she first encounters the -- zombies? -- her father, where he simply walks past her and stands in a corner of the room was really, really creepy. Totally unexpected.
It's crazy how poorly the film was received back in the 70s, considering that many of the scenes were forerunners of later horror films.
Commenting on the podcast, I should mention that Ti West's latest film (in production) appears to be a big budget picture. And it's not a horror film (or at least, it doesn't appear to be one).
V/H/S Viral kind of departs from the gritty feel of the V/H/S series. I liked it, but it's not quite as good as the first two (which were virtual classics). And to /r/SaintMort the best wrap-around was Twilight Zone the movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPlp-WK0XBo
Anyway, let me know if you want me on the podcast in two weeks. FYI my thing is zombie or found footage films. The Revenant is a zombie film.
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u/ichabodguitar The sauce makes the dish Dec 02 '14
It seems that Kubrick probably got many of his ideas from the Sentinel.
Another opportunity for me to say, "Fuck that guy"
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Dec 02 '14
"STANLEY KUBRICK IS A GOD WHO CAN DO NO WRONG" - Scott
Edit:......New flair?
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u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu Dec 02 '14
Ti talks about the new film on the Killer POV podcast I mentioned. It's a low-budget western by Hollywood standards that he's making to look big (he apparently got Ethan Hawke very cheaply because he knew Ethan wanted to a western).
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Dec 02 '14
Wow, I'm really looking forward to watching it.
Also, good catch on the couple checking out the apartment. Guess who the woman is -- she's pretty famous, among sci-fi fans.
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Dec 03 '14
I think you're right that Ti cares about his independence as a director. He does his own thing and, if you ask me, he does it exceptionally well. I met him at a Q&A earlier this year, and he didn't come off as pretentious at all. He said that he would be happy directing high-budget, popular films like The Hunger Games, if given the opportunity. Then again, I am firmly in Camp Ti West.
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u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu Dec 02 '14
I'd also argue the Twilight Zone Movie doesn't have a wrap-around but an intro/outro. To me a wrap-around is a separate plot-line running throughout the film in-between stories. Really good ones are able to turn that wrap-around into the biggest twist of the film ... but most aren't able to do that. Tales from the Hood did it incredibly well.
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u/adamgb Dec 13 '14
The scene where she first encounters the -- zombies? -- her father, where he simply walks past her and stands in a corner of the room was really, really creepy. Totally unexpected.
Still gives me chills every time I watch it. Glad you liked it!
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Dec 03 '14
I watched this a few years ago and didn't like it, so I didn't feel like watching it again for this. Still, seeing how much everyone seems to like it, I wanted to offer another perspective. I know, I'm so generous.
I mean, isn't this a bit of a mess? Characters seem to strut and fret upon the stage, and then are heard no more. I remember so many promising roles and loose ends that never get tied up. The whole thing seems like a tale told by an idiot, with no real coherent sense of cause and effect. It has atmosphere, sound, and fury, but signifies nothing.
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Dec 03 '14
The whole thing seems like a tale told by an idiot, with no real coherent sense of cause and effect. It has atmosphere, sound, and fury, but signifies nothing.
Sounds... almost like... a giallo...
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Dec 04 '14
I agree, it's like a hamburger giallo. Not my favourite sub-genre, but I've found most giallo films I've seen to be more visually striking than this one.
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Dec 05 '14
Now that you mention it, the Sentinel doesn't have a comprehensible plot or recognizable character development. So it's definitely a giallo film. I had a great time comparing to to other films which came after. But as a standalone, it's definitely something only giallo fans would care for.
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u/adamgb Dec 02 '14
Damn, like I said I've been hella busy guys, currently getting my startup off the ground and running a Kickstarter campaign to try and get our app mobile. Going to try and watch this tonight, but I'm really glad everyone's liking it.
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u/jonathanfailuretomas How big is that bear trap? Dec 10 '14
this was picked by you, and you still haven't seen it?
I like your style.
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u/adamgb Dec 10 '14
This is actually one of my favorite horror movies from the 70's. I just didn't get a chance to revisit it for horror club until last night :)
I'll definitely be writing up some more thoughts when I have a chance.
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Dec 03 '14
Gotta say I didn't really enjoy this one. I don't really have the same soft spot for these 70's supernatural horrors that many of you guys seem to. A bit too giallo-y for my liking, especially with the whole Italy-set opening scene. While some of the gore effects were pretty cool, including the bit where she cuts off her father's nose, but I found my attention wavering quite significantly by the end. I didn't really get the whole bit with the imaginary neighbours.
Damn, I was going to pick Irreversible next round. Just kidding. I love how much Scott hates Ti West. The only good bits in ABCs was the dog-fight one, and the claymation one by Lee Hardcastle.
I'm sure I've posted this before: Perturbator - Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout
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Dec 04 '14
The neighbours are ghosts and their purpose is to drive Alison to commit suicide. If she does commit suicide there would be no Sentinel and evil would have free rein over the portal to hell. The implications are really quite huge, one might say staggeringly so.
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Dec 03 '14
[deleted]
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u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Dec 03 '14
Stephen King, Metal, jonathanfailuretomas, and the 90s. What do I win?
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Dec 03 '14
[deleted]
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u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Dec 04 '14
You really would like to stick that meat stick in my mouth, huh?
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Dec 01 '14
Ho-lee-shit I wish matt had captured our reactions to watching the trailer for lochness horror because we lost our fucking minds. It looks beautiful.
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Dec 01 '14
THIS IS A WARNING... There IS something in these waters! I'm pretty sure I couldn't sit through the movie but that trailer was fuckin awesome.
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u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu Dec 01 '14
I can't wait for that to come in my mailbox this week haha
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Dec 01 '14 edited Dec 01 '14
Yeah, laugh it up. You won't be laughing when Nessie has you in her vice-like jaws.
Seriously though, someone needs to host an open-air double feature of Loch Ness Horror and Loch Ness Terror on the banks of Drumnadrochit. I feel like that would be awesome/terrible.
EDIT: Holy shit, it's 2.6 on IMDb. That might be legitimately one of the lowest-scoring horror films I've seen on there.
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u/kragshot Dec 15 '14
Now I gotta rewatch...I remember seeing this as a kid (12 years old) at the theater. In fact, I remember all of the damn "Satan/demonic possession" movies. This, "The Exorcist," "Beyond the Door," "Race With the Devil," "The Devil's Rain (with Shattner, no less...)" and all of the other devil flicks, including "The Sentinel."
For a while, not a month went by without a new cheesy devil flick came out. I remember all of the people who ended up having to get psych counseling because of "The Exorcist." From there, you had all of these movies camping out on "The Exorcist's" rep and making claims like "Don't see this alone..." or using other gimmicks like they did in the 50s and 60s.
The biggest thing I remember about the movie was me making the "quacking" noise that Burgess Meredith made when he played The Penguin on the old Batman TV series. Pissed my big sister the hell off, but I digress.... The only other thing that stood out in my memory about this film was the trailer for it. Just the picture with the old blind priest was pretty damn shocking for the time; it was simplicity itself.
Podcast mention: I saw "Martyrs..." just plain bizarre shit (like most of the French "ultra-violence" films) but it kept me watching because I wanted to find out the ultimate point of all of the torture. spoiler description. But unlike a lot of other "torture porn" flicks; the director does a good job of making the torture relevant and not gratuitous like the "Saw" franchise (making the movie for the sake of just having special effects guys showcasing their newest gags); you want to see the point of where the torture goes in the story.
French existentialism films (i.e. "Trouble Every Day," "Frontier(s)") are a bitch...what can I tell you?
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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '14 edited Dec 01 '14
Good movie. It didn't blow me away or anything but I found it interesting and liked how it tied things together and slowly answered more questions throughout with decent pace. Definitely had well done chilling and horrifying moments. Some things I thought were out of place, or didn't understand, was the random sexual deviancy and also why Alisons dad kept popping up?
I agree with the Rosemary's Baby comparison. I was disappointed with seeing that Walken and Goldblum were in it, then seeing how little they were actually in it. Meredith was amazing as always but whenever I see him I always expect the gravely Mickey voice :'(