CAT OF THE DAY 029: THE SENTINEL (1977)
If there’s one thing worse than being disturbed by neighbour noise, it’s being disturbed by neighbour noise and then being told you don’t have any neighbours. Cristina Raines plays a supermodel who rents, for the sort of piffling sum that ought to have made her suspicious, a magnificent apartment in Brooklyn Heights, only to discover there’s more to her fellow tenants than meets the eye.
Which is saying something, since they include John Carradine as a blind priest, Burgess Meredith throwing parties for his cat Jezebel, and Sylvia Miles and Beverly D’Angelo as evil lesbians in leotards who, when asked what they do for a living, say, “We fondle each other.”
Michael Winner’s cheesy horror film is a major cat movie. Jezebel (who appears to be played by at least two different cats) gets four big scenes:
1) A formal introduction by Burgess Meredith. “And this, on the other hand, so to speak… this is Jezebel. Say hello to the nice lady, Jezebel. That’s it darling…. She’s got indigestion.”
2) The birthday party.
3) A delicious parakeet snack, much to the heroine’s horror.
4) Leaping into the arms of the heroine’s boyfriend (Chris Sarandon) just before he gives her some extremely unwelcome information. By now, the heroine is so discombobulated by the cat that she urges him to “Kill it!”, which seems a bit unfair. But never mind, because she will get her come-uppance.
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