Heights (Halloween) History: The Gate to Hell

In the 1977 movie The Sentinel, the top rear window of 10 Montague Terrace served as the really spooky Gate to Hell where a blind priest stood on guard for demons and the undead.

The movie does boast some scary moments (Sylvia Miles naked! Arrr!) and any movie featuring Christopher Walken is a-ok in our book.

Share this Story:
  • RatNYC

    The top floor apt was where the “sentinel” lived, guarding the gateway to hell, which was (is?) supposed to be in what is now the lobby by the front door (the current lobby is not the original parlor floor)… the movie is actually hilarious by the way. 10 Montague Terrace is one of the most beautiful and amazing buildings in the Heights, and if you’ve ever been lucky enough to see it’s interior you would know why and agree with me. I understand it is one of the oldest single family masions in the Heights, along with the duplex mansions at the entrance on the Promenade on Montague and Pierrepont pl, the three of them beng circa 1800’s.

  • RatNYC

    Also, some of the current residents were there when the film was shot, which by the way was that studio’s horror movie response to “The Exorcist”. The studio threw a big party for the residents in the ‘Sentinel’s” apartment, but I hear Ava Gardner didn’t attend…