Tower of Evil

1972 "One way in, no way out"
5.6| 1h29m| R| en| More Info
Released: 19 May 1972 Released
Producted By: Grenadier Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A group of experienced archeologists are searching for an old and mystic Phoenician treasure when they are surprised by a series of mysterious murders...

Genre

Horror

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Director

Jim O'Connolly

Production Companies

Grenadier Films

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Tower of Evil Audience Reviews

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
BA_Harrison An old sailor and his son Hamp (Jack Watson) travel to fog-bound Snape Island where they discover the mutilated bodies of three young Americans, before encountering a deranged naked girl who attacks and kills the father with a dagger. Knocked unconscious by Hamp, the girl, Penny (Candace Glendenning), is taken to a secure hospital in a catatonic state where a doctor uses a large set of disco lights to try and unlock the secrets of her mind.Meanwhile, a team of archaeologists with complicated love lives pay a visit to the island to try and locate the rumoured 3000 year old burial chamber of a Phoenician captain; they are joined by private investigator Brent (Bryant Halliday), who has been hired by Penny's parents to prove their daughter's innocence, and Hamp, who brings along his randy nephew Brom (Gary Hamilton). Once on the island, the group find themselves in mortal danger, hunted by a cackling unseen madman.What Tower of Evil lacks in logic and finesse, it sure makes up for with gore, gratuitous nudity and atmosphere. No more than a few minutes have passed before we are treated to the sight of two naked corpses, one missing a hand and one of which has been decapitated, the severed head rolling down a flight of stone steps. A third body (Robin Askwith of Confessions fame) is pinned to a wall with a golden spear. Penny's flashbacks offer up further nudity, as she remembers frolicking outside in the raw with her boyfriend (despite the clearly inclement weather) while Askwith takes yet another opportunity to show us his bare ass.With a really eerie location at his disposal, director Jim O'Connolly (The Valley of Gwangi) achieves some genuinely suspenseful moments, wisely keeping his killer heard but not seen, and maintains a decent pace throughout, even when the action is limited to characters wandering aimlessly around the rocky island and its network of caves.7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for the delectable Anna Palk as Nora, who has a gratuitous sex scene with Brom, and for the wonderfully icky putrefying corpse of Hamp's dead brother's wife Martha.
Pike The tower sounds can release human's desire, free your soul and mind, then you just can do anything what you wanna to do in here. But I think the Baal idol can explain everything, but have the question. Why still have people worship an evil god? for what? have any purpose? or just start some new slaughter for worship him? I can't find the answer then I try to think deeper dig more, It's possible have a psychological element inside in this movie, maybe all thing in the island was never be happen, what they see, they think all was some weird illusion. This movie's theme was brand new in 70's, but the script just unsightly... If this movie have sequel or reboot with a new things, It can be a new upsurge. But this movie still work to collect, if you are horror film's big fan.IN LAST, JUST NEVER GET IN TO THE EVIL ISLAND!!! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!(but for Halloween, it's excited experience!)
Nigel P As evil towers go, the one featured in this film certainly earns its stripes in the opening scene. Stabbings, spiders, dismemberment, naked corpses and lots of blood ensure our attention is immediately grabbed.So too are the familiar faces for the time – Anthony Valentine, William Lucas, Derek Fowlds and Dennis Price head a superficially impressive cast. Superficial, because the younger characters, the 'kids' are neither so well-known nor as compelling. Wrestling with dialogue that makes the excesses of 'Dracula AD 1972' positively conservative, these kids are a dull, casually randy bunch (the cod American accents don't help). The females are especially tiresome – as part of a group sent to investigate grisly murders on Snape Island, they are only ever concerned with the sexual failure of their partners and the affairs they plan to have. Who thought Free Love could be so spite-fuelled? One reason why the opening sequence is effective is because the island, and the waters surrounding it, are swathed in foggy darkness. Exposed to 'daylight', the cheapness of the sets and back-projection becomes hugely apparent. A cut-price film is no bad thing, but when the characterisations and plot is equally threadbare, attention falls away pretty quickly, despite the cackling killer-on-the-loose.The frank attitude to sex is surprising for a British 1972 film. The feeling I get is that Director Jim O'Connolly over-spiced the dialogue with references to sex and drugs in a bid to compensate for the lacklustre budget and plot. Despite an effectively fiery ending and the reveal of a secondary killer, the 90 minutes running time seems a lot longer.
lathe-of-heaven Hmmm... I don't think I've ever seen such polarized reviews of a such a basic, straight forward film. We either have reviewers who apparently have dropped Acid who say,'WOW, MUST SEE!', etc., or we have reviews saying, 'It's Total Crap!' I've seen many films where the reviews are extremely polarized, but usually there is a clear reason why. Such as a movie that has a peculiar slant, or a Supernatural film where some love and some hate that kind of thing. But, this film here is just a VERY basic, simple British Gothic Horror film, somewhat like Hammer's movies, just not quite as good. So, the reason for the extremes is quite a mystery...Anyway, sorry to get sidetracked by that. Now to the film... I can see why many really liked the look and atmosphere. I also did appreciate that too, since I generally love films with lots of mood and atmosphere, especially ones that are set in a real Gothic area like the moors for example, where 'THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES' takes place. So, there IS that... But, honestly, other than a real nice looking island and a sort-of castle (tower...?) and a pretty good creepy atmosphere, and admittedly some nudity and some semi-graphic violence for the time, still when all is said and done, there really isn't that much to the story, at least in my lowly and wretched opinion.One thing that does help greatly is that the acting is pretty decent throughout; I mean, it could have been a HELL of a lot worse for such a low-budget film. And, everyone at least takes the story seriously and seems like they are trying their best.It's just at the end you are kind of going, 'That's it...?' I pretty much guessed what was going on, and even when you do find out for sure, it really isn't that big of a deal. I think that even with the story as it is, if they could have somehow built up more about the family who had been staying on the island and given us some depth and background, that might have gone a long way toward involving us more in the story, I don't know...Well, going by most of the reviews, I guess what will help you decide whether you want to take the time to see this or not, would be if you REALLY love the old Hammer films or old British Gothic Horror stories in general, then you might have a good chance of liking this movie. However, even with that said... I frigg'n LOVE those kinds of films, and it still kind of left me rather limp after watching it (uh, metaphorically that is...)The atmosphere and look are very good. The acting is decent for this kind of film. It's just the story really isn't that big of a deal and the 'Scares' and S & V really aren't done well enough to keep the audience really engaged. I WILL say though that I was TOTALLY blown away by how absolutely stunning the Blu-ray looks for a minor film like this one that was made over 43 frigg'n years ago! WOW...! Seriously. I have a LOT of Blu-rays, and even compared to many films that are 20 to 30 years newer than this one, this one looks SO damn detailed and sharp and real, that you feel like you can literally just walk right into the screen and onto the island. The detail in the texture of the walls, sets, and scenery is just flat out amazing! The Blacks are SUPER deep and impressive and the sharpness is breath-taking. So, if you are a fan of the film at all, you will be delighted with the quality and presentation of the Blu-ray.This is one of those cases where I rated the film to fit what I think will help MOST people in an objective way. To me personally, the movie MAYBE barely rates a '5' But, I gave it a '6' because many here genuinely seem to like this film. And, IF you can be kind of forgiving for it's flaws, you might end up liking it more than I did. Normally it's the other way around. Usually I really like a film more than I think most others will, so I feel that I should temper the rating and give it 1 less than what I feel personally it merits...So, I hope that that gives you enough to go on and will help you somewhat in deciding whether you want to watch this atmospheric Gothic Horror story or not...