
The Sentinel
1977

Say your prayers.
A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity.

A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity.
Dave DavisYakov Ronen
Lynn CohenMrs. Litvak
Menashe LustigReb Shulem
Malky GoldmanSarah
Fred MelamedDr. Kohlberg
Nati RabinowitzLane
Moshe LobelLazer
Spencer ZenderEric
Hunter MenkenSS Soldier
Logan MacraeCarson
Rob TunstallMazzick
















'The Vigil' explores a dark part of history via some fascinating mythology that is underutilised in modern cinema. It's a shame that an interesting concept for supernatural thriller falls victim to the influence of lazy modern horror filmmaking tropes and clichés. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-vigil-a-rare-excursion-into-yiddish-horror
I will admit to feeling just a little uneasy as I walked back to the car after watching this debut from Keith Thomas at 11pm. Dave Davis is "Yakov" who is a bit down on his luck, on some pretty heavy medication, and struggling to get back on track after a fairly traumatic event from his past. A rabbi asks him if will act as a "Shomer" - a person who sits with the deceased to recite prayers and generally ward off any evil before burial. As he watches over the body, the usual spooky things start to happen - lights flicker; things go bump etc; and on that score it's all a pretty routine horror flick; but as his fears start to build, he begins to confront his own demons as much as he must the predatory "Mazzik" that feeds from his fears. Save for a few short appearances from the widow - Lynn Cohen, it's essentially a single-hander and Davis does an OK job - aided by the drearily-lit room and some suitably tense - if frequently over-the-top musical accompaniment. It's not exactly scary - but it's still a decent effort based on a source of legend rarely exploited by Hollywood. Best seen late at night when it's dark outside, I'd say...
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