The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Sentinel
Horror · Mystery · Fantasy · 1977
As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.
Movie details
The Sentinel
“She was young. She was beautiful. She was the next.”
1977 Horror · Mystery · Fantasy 1h 32m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Sentinel?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
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Rookie police officer Jessica Loren has been assigned the last shift at a closing police station and must wait for a hazmat crew to collect biomedical evidence. Ordered not to leave the station under any circumstances, Jessica comes to learn that it's more than just an outdated station, it's home to the ultimate embodiment of evil and his devoted bloodthirsty followers. Jessica is left to fend for herself in the Devil's playground.
The Blackcoat's Daughter
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Two young women at a prestigious prep school are assailed by an evil, invisible power when they're stranded over winter break.
Mirrors
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The Vigil
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A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity.
The Legend of Hell House
Horror · 1973
A team consisting of a physicist, his wife, a young female psychic, and the only survivor of the previous visit are sent to the notorious Hell House to prove or disprove survival after death. Previous visitors have either been killed or gone mad, and it is up to the team to survive a full week in isolation, and solve the mystery of the Hell House.
Barbarian
Horror · 2022
In town for a job interview, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that it has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night anyway.
Angel Heart
Horror · 1987
A down-and-out Brooklyn detective is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Michael Winner
Written by
Michael Winner · Jeffrey Konvitz
Cristina Raines
Alison Parker
Chris Sarandon
Michael Lerman
Martin Balsam
Prof. Ruzinsky
John Carradine
Fr. Francis Matthew Halloran
José Ferrer
Priest of the Brotherhood
Ava Gardner
Helen Logan
Arthur Kennedy
Monsignor Franchino
Court is in session
Put The Sentinel on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.