This took the brooding suspense of Rosemary's Baby (1968) and the mythology of The Exorcist (1973) and mashed together a slow psychological horror. My biggest gripe was that it wasn't scary enough. There was one really scary scene around the middle that was so effective in building tension and then reaching a horrific climax with genuine fear long the way. Other than that and the ending, that was a bit creepy, this was a little disappointing. The pace is slow as most films were back in the seventies. This is well acted and suitably directed. It suffers from blandness when compared to much better films in the same genre from the same era. I didn't like the complete lack of supernatural special effects. I had to think. It would have been a lot scarier if I was a Christian.

Considering the cast -- Chris Sarandon, Martin Balsam, John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Arthur Kennedy, Burgess Meredith, Eli Wallach, and early appearances by Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, and even -- briefly -- Tom Berenger -- this should be a true classic horror film. But, not quite. But why? First, the film gets off to a very slow start. Yes, the "stage" needs to be set, but it sorta drags.Second, Cristina Raines beautiful enough to be a model? Nope...unless the only criteria is being skinny. Christina Raines an actress? Nope again. Terrible.Third, some of dialogue is...well, let's just say not very scintillating...and at times inane.Fourth, it's not supposed to be funny or predictable...but in many places it is one or the other or both. There were times I almost laughed out loud.The question is -- who's to blame. I'd say director Michael Winner. Bet you can't name one of his films off the top of your head. Strictly B material (at best) unless you love Charles Bronson.As far as the acting, Chris Sarandon hadn't quite learned to act yet. He was getting there, but this was only his third film, and it shows.Martin Balsam isn't in the film long enough to critique...nor was John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner (at least we can say she was still quite beautiful), Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum (was that actually his voice, or a voice dubbed in?), or Tom Berenger.Arthur Kennedy as a priest had a somewhat decent role here, and he was certainly a veteran.Probably the best performance is that of Burgess Meredith. There was always something special about Burgess Meredith, and he makes a somewhat minor role into a delicious attraction all its own.There is one thing I will give the film some credit for: it appears to be that some of the "freaks" at the end of the film were really sadly bizarre abnormal people. Kudos for making that real, un-kudos for exploiting people's misfortune.The odd thing is, I actually remember this film from back in the 1970s, and had hoped it would come out on Blu Ray (it's a decent transfer). I just didn't remember how bad it was. I ended up throwing the disc away after one viewing; at least I got a spare Blu Ray container for my purchase.

There were three masters of horror at the time driven by vision, Hooper, Argento, Carpenter, perhaps two films each.Then the bulk of horror, either studio or gonzo. This is studio, pretty awful in its basic gears. Story and acting are wooden, editing is artless. I can feel a workmanlike hand in the story, a hack in control, always some narrative noise going on and cut to someone talking with hardly a moment of quiet. But for whatever reason it's also shrill, crazy, nonsensical. Unusual. I'll take this over polished horror like The Omen. If we make nonsense after all, it hurts no one and may open a few doors of the imagination. This lack of finesse is funneled here into a kind of demented energy, I would describe it overall as a hellish mix between Fulci and Raimi. A young TV model moves into a New York apartment with a creepy blind old man staring out the window in the floor above, soon hell is unleashed. I will keep with me all the scenes that show a snooping around in dark corridors and up the stairs to the old man, they are perhaps no more than 2-3 of them but hacked raw from the walls of nightmare. So a strange thing, silly and yet disturbing as another reviewer said.

Cristina Raines plays fashion model Alison Parker, who rents a Brooklyn Heights apartment from Realtor Miss Logan(Ava Gardner) Soon after moving in, she meets her new neighbors(played by Burgess Meredith, Beverly D' Angelo, Sylvia Miles), who seem friendly enough, but also eccentric, and when she has nightmares and hears footsteps and chains from the upstairs apartment, contacts miss Logan, only to be informed that no one lives upstairs, and she has no such neighbors...Confused and frightened, Alison tries to contact the catholic church, and with the help of her fiancée Michael, uncovers a shocking truth that literally is from hell...Equal parts disturbing and absurd thriller has many shocking scenes I won't describe here, but are really over the line in some ways, though it all is so earnestly(yet poorly) presented by director Michael Winner that you are too stunned to laugh, though it does have an interesting premise and striking final scene.Also a surprisingly and devoutly Catholic film, a rarity in Hollywood, though that alone does not guarantee success...