MovieChat Forums > The Sentinel (1977) Discussion > Which would you choose?

Which would you choose?

posted 15 years ago by euro4569
13 replies | jump to latest

If given the option by the priest in the film?

Suppose you lived a wicked life. If the stalking priest came to you privately, and told you that you had two choices, to completely change your identify, name, your mind and body reprogrammed, etc and sit and silently to guard the gates of hell for the space of 15-20 years to save yourself from hell and keep people (your family, parents, friends, EVERYONE) from living in a Satanic overran world, or, carry on with your life and allow the priest to ask someone else and you continue to do the things you enjoy the most every day and then when you die, go to hell and spend eternity suffering, what would you choose. I would choose the first option. Yes, I would lose my worldy life but I would gain so much more when I left this earth.

Lets hear your thoughts.

[–] moonspinner55 15 years ago

I've always wondered, how wicked is an attempt at suicide? Does it really mean you have given up on God or doesn't God have any sympathy for those in despair? I hope Alison didn't have to sit for too long, robbing her of her youth was just plain cruel! Those vindictive Catholics!

[–] euro4569 15 years ago

I know what you mean. This movie is really disturbing and just makes you want to ask questions about it. The most disturbing thing is that there is no happy ending. No matter what you choose, you are robbed of your life and youth, reprogrammed, and must sit and guard the gates of hell.

I believe that in the book The Guardian (The Sentinel II), it takes place in 1988, long after the original building was demolished. The film takes place in 1973 (The Sentinel) so I'm guessing around 15 years. She didn't have to sit as long as Father Halloran. I'm wondering what he did to have to sit for so long. Maybe he was really corrupt as a Priest and I've also wondered if the house was once where a church was. Do they change the building after each sentinel takes over?

[–] moonspinner55 15 years ago

Fascinating questions! That building looked about as old as Halloran, so perhaps they did change the structure with each new Sentinel.
Strictly as trivia, the building we see at the ending of the film was a real apartment building with actual tenants living there!! The "old" appearance with Father Halloran was just a shell that Universal put up around the actual building. Critic Rex Reed wrote a whole story about it in 1977, telling how the tenants got free paint jobs in exchange for all the noise and inconvenience. I'm assuming the interiors were filmed on sound stages, but wouldn't you love to take a trip to Brooklyn Heights and see what it looks like today? I'm told that "Moonstruck" and several other films were shot in that same area.

[–] euro4569 15 years ago

So, I'm thinking that maybe, since Halloran was a priest to begin with, even before the tranformation, maybe before the apartment building, there was a church and the "congregation" was actually the damned.

[–] moonspinner55 15 years ago

WAS Halloran a priest to begin with?? I got the impression, when they looked at his file, that he was a private citizen like Alison...? Curious. Did any of the sentinels commit any major sins other than attempt suicide? The way it is presented, that's the link that joins them together. Would a priest even attempt suicide?

[–] euro4569 15 years ago

No, he was a priest if I remember correctly and yes all people had to committ suicide and do other things against God's will.

[–] edithisaok580 15 years ago

He taught English.

[–] BigSlick101 15 years ago

He wasn't a priest...he was a "normal" citizen, but attempted suicide as all the sentinels did.

[–] TheSolarSailor 8 years ago

there was a church and the "congregation" was actually the damned.

No, the church was torn down and the congregation was disbanded, or sent elsewhere to other churches to worship. It doesn't imply that anything was wrong there. We are given no more details regarding that, but there is NOTHING to hint that they are the evil spirits in the apartment building.

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I am not a fan. I just happen to enjoy movies. Fans are embarrassing.

[–] nvasapper 14 years ago

You're wrong about the building's actual physical appearance. You got it backwards. The old brownstone IS the real apartment building. The updated, modernized version we see at the end is the facade. How do I know this? Very simple. I have seen this building up close and personal many times since the filming in 1976. And what you see, what is there, is the old brownstone. The address is 10 Montague Terrace at the very end of Remsen Street. If you're close enough to visit, check it out. Or pull it up on Google Maps.

[–] TheSolarSailor 8 years ago

I hope Alison didn't have to sit for too long, robbing her of her youth was just plain cruel! Those vindictive Catholics!

Any more cruel than allowing a vacancy in the Sentinel position that would leave the gate to hell open? The Catholics didn't choose her. I got the impression that she was destined for the position and it is the priests job to find the person who will take over as the death of the previous Sentinel looms. If there is a hell, then there is a heaven. There is a larger picture here.

I've always wondered, how wicked is an attempt at suicide? Does it really mean you have given up on God or doesn't God have any sympathy for those in despair?

I wondered this as well. I am no expert on Catholicism, but that may have been what they believed back then. The church changes with the times, though, so it may be an outdated line of thought.

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I am not a fan. I just happen to enjoy movies. Fans are embarrassing.

[–] ciprianl 9 years ago

I'd ask the competing party what's their counter-offer.

[–] mawsis 8 years ago

I would happily become a Sentinel. There would be no question about it.