The deeply attractive Jenny Agutter (WALKABOUT) and the not-so deeply attractive Michael Moriarty (THE STUFF) team up with director Freddie Francis (LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF) for this POLTERGEIST-inspired supernatural horror flick set in a tower block. It's derivative stuff at best, a rerun of other films that are far better and more effective, but DARK TOWER ain't so bad.
Sure, it has a few pacing problems, but Agutter is always a watchable actress and any film with Kevin McCarthy in it has to be good. Plus, the film does manage to summon up a halfway-decent atmosphere of chilly shocks and lurking evil, moments of unease that are punctuated by some brutal "accident"-style deaths a la THE OMEN. The opening scene of a Peeping Tom window cleaner falling to his doom is a goodie, and then later there are some scenes ripped off from THE LIFT as a mystery elevator bumps off a few other lower-cast-list actors. The ending of the film goes into POLTERGEIST territory (and even THE EXORCIST) as a medium and a parapsychologist are called in to investigate the evil, and come face to face with a bunch of flying killer tools (cool scene) and a rubbery blue zombie that bursts out of the concrete, seeking revenge. The zombie is actually pretty weird looking and effective and the ending, while obvious, a keeper.
It's clear that there were some production difficulties with this film because the director's name is a pseudonym on the credits. In actual fact, two directors teamed up to make this one, although I'm not clear if one left and another completed the film, or whether it really was a joint effort (although I doubt the latter). Freddie Francis made loads of effective British horror films in the 1970s but nothing in the film reveals his presence. Similarly, Ken Wiederhorn was responsible for the decent Nazi zombie shocker SHOCK WAVES but direction here is pedestrian throughout. The good news is that, having been filmed in Barcelona, the film has some decent, authentic locations and, in Agutter, a highly attractive female lead.
Unfortunately, Michael Moriarty – something of a horror regular in the 1980s – gives his worst-ever performance and one of the worst ever acting performances I've ever witnessed. Wooden just doesn't describe his blandness here. Thankfully, the Austrian Theodore Bikel turns up late with a fine turn as the investigating parapsychologist, and even later on, Kevin McCarthy (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) steals his scenes as a drunken medium on his final case. So it's not all bad, just run-of-the-mill with some decent bits. And one more thing – the scene in which Agutter is chased through the corridors by the camera is yet another homage, this time to THE EVIL DEAD. I'm not complaining.
Sure, it has a few pacing problems, but Agutter is always a watchable actress and any film with Kevin McCarthy in it has to be good. Plus, the film does manage to summon up a halfway-decent atmosphere of chilly shocks and lurking evil, moments of unease that are punctuated by some brutal "accident"-style deaths a la THE OMEN. The opening scene of a Peeping Tom window cleaner falling to his doom is a goodie, and then later there are some scenes ripped off from THE LIFT as a mystery elevator bumps off a few other lower-cast-list actors. The ending of the film goes into POLTERGEIST territory (and even THE EXORCIST) as a medium and a parapsychologist are called in to investigate the evil, and come face to face with a bunch of flying killer tools (cool scene) and a rubbery blue zombie that bursts out of the concrete, seeking revenge. The zombie is actually pretty weird looking and effective and the ending, while obvious, a keeper.
It's clear that there were some production difficulties with this film because the director's name is a pseudonym on the credits. In actual fact, two directors teamed up to make this one, although I'm not clear if one left and another completed the film, or whether it really was a joint effort (although I doubt the latter). Freddie Francis made loads of effective British horror films in the 1970s but nothing in the film reveals his presence. Similarly, Ken Wiederhorn was responsible for the decent Nazi zombie shocker SHOCK WAVES but direction here is pedestrian throughout. The good news is that, having been filmed in Barcelona, the film has some decent, authentic locations and, in Agutter, a highly attractive female lead.
Unfortunately, Michael Moriarty – something of a horror regular in the 1980s – gives his worst-ever performance and one of the worst ever acting performances I've ever witnessed. Wooden just doesn't describe his blandness here. Thankfully, the Austrian Theodore Bikel turns up late with a fine turn as the investigating parapsychologist, and even later on, Kevin McCarthy (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) steals his scenes as a drunken medium on his final case. So it's not all bad, just run-of-the-mill with some decent bits. And one more thing – the scene in which Agutter is chased through the corridors by the camera is yet another homage, this time to THE EVIL DEAD. I'm not complaining.