The Sentinal (1977)

The Sentinel is a 1977 American horror film directed by Michael Winner and starring Cristina Raines, Chris Sarandon, Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, Sylvia Miles, and Eli Wallach. Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, John Carradine, and Beverly D'Angelo also appear in the film. It is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Jeffrey Konvitz who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Michael Winner. The plot focuses on a young model who moves into a historic Brooklyn brownstone that has been sectioned into apartments, only to find that its proprietors are excommunicated Catholic priests, and the building is a gateway to hell.


Alison Parker, a beautiful but severely neurotic fashion model (Raines) moves into a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone house that has been divided into apartments. The house is inhabited on the top floor by Father Halloran (John Carradine), a reclusive blind priest who spends all of his time sitting at his open window. Alison begins having strange physical problems, including insomnia, and has some terrifying flashbacks of her attempted suicide. She complains to the real estate agent of the noise caused by her strange neighbors, only to be told that the house is occupied only by the priest and herself. The behavior of her "non-existent" neighbors becomes increasingly surreal and disturbing. It turns out that the building is owned by a secret society of excommunicated Catholic priests, and is a gateway to Hell. The blind priest is the guardian who ensures that the demons do not escape. The priest is nearing the end of his life, and a new guardian is needed. The society has chosen Alison because her two suicide attempts qualify her as the perfect candidate. She is told that she must pay for her sins by becoming the next Sentinel, and only by doing so she will be allowed into Heaven.

In the climax of the film, Alison is confronted by her neighbor Charles Chazen and all of the minions of Hell. Among them is her boyfriend, Michael, who was secretly killed earlier and is damned for killing his wife. Alison is chased through the building by grotesque and deformed creatures. She runs to the top floor and into Father Halloran's room where the demons corner her. Chazen hands her a knife and convinces her to commit suicide to avoid this torment. Father Halloran and another priest, Monsignor Franchino, enter the room. Franchino supports the infirm Halloran as he wields a large crucifix. They work their way through the hordes of demons and reach Alison, where they prevent her suicide. She takes the crucifix from Monsignor Franchino, and sits down in Father Halloran's chair. Shortly after, the brownstone is demolished and replaced with a new, more modern apartment complex. Mrs. Logan, the realtor, attempts to persuade a young couple to move into one of the apartments. The couple asks about the neighbors, and Mrs. Logan explains to them that there are only two: a violin player and an old, blind nun. The nun is Alison, now blinded like Father Halloran, who sits at the open window in the top floor apartment.  From Wikipedia


THE SENTINAL
MICHAEL WINNER  (1977)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
92 MIN
USA

The Wolfman (1941)

The Wolf Man is a 1941 American Werewolf Horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man, featuring Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya. The title character has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood's depictions of the legend of the werewolf.[2] The film is the second Universal Pictures werewolf movie, preceded six years earlier by the less commercially successful Werewolf of London. Chaney. Jr's portrayal of The Wolf Man is considered to be one of the main Universal Monsters and is often listed with the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and Gill Man.



After learning of the death of his brother, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains). While there, Larry becomes romantically interested in a local girl named Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), who runs an antique shop. As a pretext to converse with her, he purchases a silver-headed walking stick decorated with a wolf. Gwen tells him that it represents a werewolf (which she defines as a man who changes into a wolf "at certain times of the year.")


Throughout the film, various villagers recite a poem, whenever the subject of werewolves comes up:
Even a man who is pure in heart
and says his prayers by night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright.

That night, Larry attempts to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from what he believes to be a sudden wolf attack. He kills the beast with his new walking stick, but is bitten on the chest in the process. A gypsy fortuneteller named Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) reveals to Larry that the animal which bit him was actually her son Bela (Béla Lugosi) in the form of a wolf. Bela had been a werewolf for years and now Larry will be transformed into one as well. Talbot transforms into a wolf-like creature and stalks the village, first killing the local gravedigger. Talbot retains vague memories of being a werewolf and wanting to kill, and continually struggles to overcome his condition. He is finally bludgeoned to death by his father with his own silver walking stick after attacking Gwen. Sir John Talbot watches in horror as the werewolf transforms into his son's human form as the local police arrive on the scene.

Production:
The poem, contrary to popular belief, was not an ancient legend, but was in fact an invention of screenwriter Siodmak. The poem is repeated in every subsequent film in which Talbot/The Wolf Man appears, with the exception of House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and is also quoted in the later film Van Helsing, although many later films change the last line of the poem to "And the moon is full and bright".


The original Wolf Man film does not make use of the idea that a werewolf is transformed under a full moon. Gwen's description and the poem imply that it happens when the wolfbane blooms in autumn. The first sequel, though, made explicit use of the full moon both visually and in the dialog, and also changed the poem to specify when the moon is full and bright. Presumably this is what popularized the full-moon connection in the 20th century. The sequel visually implies that the transformation occurs as a result of direct exposure to light from the full moon. Other fiction has assumed the transformation is an inescapable monthly occurrence and does not examine whether it is caused by light, tidal effects, or some cycle that happens to coincide with the moon's phases.

From Wikipedia



THE WOLF MAN
GEORGE WAGNER  (1941)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
71 MIN
USA

Silent Running (1971)

Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on science fiction films including 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.


Silent Running depicts a future in which all plant life on Earth has been made extinct. Only a few specimens have been preserved in enormous, greenhouse-like geodesic domes attached to a fleet of American Airlines space freighters, just outside the orbit of Saturn. Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), one of four crewmen aboard the Valley Forge, is the resident botanist and ecologist who preserves the forests for their eventual return to Earth and the reforestation of the planet. Lowell spends most of his time in the forests, cultivating the plant and animal life. When orders come from Earth to jettison and destroy the domes (with nuclear charges) and return the freighters to commercial service, Lowell rebels and opts instead to save the forests and animals on his ship. After four of the six domes on the Valley Forge are jettisoned and destroyed, Lowell kills one of his crewmates in a struggle, and his right leg is seriously injured in the process. Nevertheless, he prevents the destruction of one of the remaining domes by trapping the other two crewmen in the other dome, which he jettisons and destroys. Enlisting the aid of the ship's three service robots, which he later nicknames Huey, Dewey, and Louie (for the cartoon characters), Lowell stages a fake premature explosion as a ruse and sends the Valley Forge careening away from the space freighter fleet towards Saturn in an attempt to hijack the ship and flee with the last forest dome.

Now alone, Lowell reprograms the drones to perform surgery on his leg and sets the Valley Forge on a risky course through Saturn's rings. As the ship endures a rough passage, Drone 3 (Louie) is ripped away from the ship. The ship and its remaining dome emerge relatively undamaged on the other side of the rings. Lowell and the other drones set out into deep space to maintain the forest. Lowell teaches Huey and Dewey to plant trees and play poker. Drone 2 (Huey) is damaged when Lowell accidentally collides with him while driving a buggy recklessly. During a scene where Drone 2 (Huey) is being repaired, Drone 1 (Dewey) sentimentally refuses to leave the side of Drone 2. As time passes Lowell is horrified when he learns that his forest is dying, but is unable to come up with a solution to the problem. When the Berkshire eventually reestablishes contact with Lowell, he knows that his acts will soon be discovered. It is then that he realizes a lack of light has restricted plant growth, and he races to install lamps to correct this situation. In an effort to save the last forest before the Berkshire catches up to him, Lowell jettisons the dome to safety. He then detonates nuclear charges, destroying himself, drone 2 (Huey) and the Valley Forge. The final scene is of the well-lit forest greenhouse drifting into deep space, with Drone 1 (Dewey) tenderly caring for it, holding a battered old water can.   - From Wikipedia


SILENT RUNNING
DOUGLAS TRUMBULL (1972)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
89 MIN
USA