First off, I hope you are all having a Happy Easter. If you don't celebrate Easter, then I hope you are at least having a happy Sunday! Anyways, I want you to think of me as a special horror loving bunny that brings you horror hotness, today, as I'm giving you a new addition to my
Horror Crushes! It might have been a while, since I last gave you one, but I promised there would be more to come! This time it's stunning brunette Cristina Raines!
The beautiful Cristina Raines was born in Manila, Philippines on Feb. 28, 1952. Her parents were American, her father of Colombian and Swedish/ German descent, while her mom was of Scottish/ Irish decent. While, she might be best known for her role the soap
Flamingo Road, where she played Lane Ballou, horror fans best know her from Michael (
Death Wish 1-3) Winner's Satanic horror flick
The Sentinel (1977).
The Sentinel tells the tale of a beautiful model (Raines) who moves to a Brooklyn apartment. She sees that she has some very eccentric neighbors, including a crazy, but seemingly nice old man (Burgess Meredith), a horny and predatory lesbian couple (Sylvia Miles and Beverly D'Angelo), perhaps most creepy of all- a blind priest (horror legend John Carradine) who just sits in front of his window, and others. She is soon haunted by horrific images and apparitions. And, we eventually learn that the building stands on a doorway to hell.
The movie features an amazing cast. Aside from the aforementioned it also has Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, Chris Sarandon, Jeff Goldbulm, and more. It's deliberately paced, and very creepy. The climax is really exciting. While, the gore effects by Dick Smith are excellent and quite bloody. Raines is excellent in her role, and she is perfectly cast as a supermodel. You care for her, and admit ably she looks great in her negligee. I think this is a solid movie, that does get some praise but is, at times, underrated. It's also kind of politically incorrect, in it's use of real life freaks and in its portrayal of lesbians, but if you can look over that, you will love this movie. Regardless, of how that makes you feel, I know you will love Raines!
Scream Factory put out a blu-ray sometime back that looks and sounds great and has lots of cool extra-features, including running commentary by Raines.
The only other horror flick she did was anthology flick
Nightmares. Her story has her driving around with a killer in backseat. I never seen this one, have any of you? If so please share your thoughts with me!
She was also on
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but that's where her horror work ends. With dark hair, gorgeous eyes, a stunning face, and a beautiful body Raines is an awe-inspiring vision of beauty. Her acting talent makes her more than just pretty face, though. Having starred in such a great 70s horror film like
The Sentinel will keep horror fans talking about her and falling in love with her!
Smith was born Larchmont, NY in 1948. He began his makeup work on TV, and would go to pioneer the world of FX work with the use of small latex pieces on the actor's face, as opposed to one large mask. It gave the actor the ability to show more emotional range in their roles, under the makeup. His work would go on to be be influential. He became a hero to any and all interested in the world of makeup. While, he worked on many films, I'm gonna mention just some of my favorite work of his.
The movie he is most connected to, due to his exemplary work on it, is the film classic, The Exorcist. The fact that his work on this masterpiece still holds up all these years later, is proof that this man was a true master of his craft. The mechanical and makeup work are just extraordinary. This films is one of the reasons why I savagely worshiped what he did. 
Having cut his teeth on both Godfather films for Francis Ford Coppola, Smith would work with another master of the crime film, Martin Scorsese in his finest masterpiece the dark and shocking, Taxi Driver. He did the bald cap, as well as the film's ultra-violent climax. His work was so graphic and realistic, that Scorsese had to darken the look of the film to avoid the X-rating.
.webp)
.jpg)
