A young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.A young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.A young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.
- Awards
- 4 nominations
- Girl at End
- (as Nana Tucker)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaCristina Raines has said that the film crew actually used the exterior and the interiors of the Brooklyn Heights brownstone for the film. Raines says a lot of strange things happened while they were shooting there, particularly when she was assigned an apartment to use as her dressing room and found out it was being rented by a priest.
- GoofsWhen Allison stabs her father's ghost in the eye, the close-up of the knife cutting through the fake head's eye socket reveals the seams of the replaceable make-up appliance that made re-takes of this effect possible.
- Quotes
Michael Lerman: It's all right. Listen, listen. I know everything now. The Latin you saw in that book was an ancient warning from the angel Gabriel to the angel Uriel.
Alison Parker: Michael, what are you talking about?
Michael Lerman: The angel Uriel was stationed at the entrance to Eden to guard it from the devil. Since that time a long line of guardians... sentinels, have guarded the world against evil. Right now it's Father Halliran upstairs. But tonight YOU become the next sentinel. All the people you saw here, the old man, the lesbians... all of them are reincarnations. Devils. The only way they can stop the new sentinal is to make you commit suicide. That's what they were trying to do.
Alison Parker: [with growing fear and terror] Michael? I don't...
Michael Lerman: You don't understand? I'm dead. I was killed a short while ago by Monsignor Franchino for trying to strangle Father Halliran. I'm damned to enternal Hell for my sins. For having Brenner murder my wife so I can be with you. And for killing Brenner to tie up loose ends. I am one of the legion of the dead!
- Alternate versionsThe 1987 '18' rated UK video on the CIC label was the original cinema version. The later '15' rated release by Universal on the 4-Front label is the heavily edited US TV version. The 2008 Fremantle DVD features the original unedited version.
I have to first call out the cast: Chris Sarandon (so young he is unrecognizable), Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken (in a far too small role), Eli Wallach, Jerry Orbach (also quite young), Burgess Meredith, John Carradine... and more (including a very, very small cameo by Richard Dreyfuss). If you think a film with both Walken and Goldblum is a bad idea, you may as well just walk away now.
The biggest thing for me is how I did not know what this film was or had even heard of it. How has it escaped my attention? With that cast, the great plot and solid storytelling? This is really a must-see for horror fans. It has been ranked in the top 100 of the scariest horror films. I have seen 1000s of horror films, and I would debate putting it in the top 100, but it is not a stretch by any means.
Before Dana Barrett opened her refrigerator and found Zuul, this story was out there of another apartment complex with another kind of doorway...
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Centinela de los malditos
- Filming locations
- 10 Montague Terrace, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA(Alison Parker's brownstone apartment complex)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,700,000 (estimated)