Dark Tower (1987) User Reviews

"There are many stranger deaths than this one".

[lost-in-limbo · 5/10 · 13 February 2011]

Like most the time. Cool poster artwork (striking enough to draw you in), but a so-so feature. Oh the disappointment. However it wasn't just the cover that caught my attention, but the cast was another draw-card featuring the likes of Jenny Agutter, Michael Moriarty and Kevin McCarthy. The trio managed to bring some dependable class to something of a predictably mundane and clinical ghost story of a haunted skyscraper. The classy Agutter elegantly glows and a laid-back Moriarty has that magnetic presence that I could be entertained by a film about him painting a fence. Character actor McCarthy is a delight as a washed-up physic, even though his role in quite small.

Architect Carolyn Page heads to office for some quiet time, but instead witness the unusual death of a window cleaner being slammed against her window and then plummeting to his death. Security officer Dennis Randall looks into it thinking that it was an accident, but then the deaths continue within the building. He comes to the conclusion that there's something unnatural going on and it has somewhat to do with Carolyn. So he seeks the help from a professor of paranormal field to uncover the building's dark secret.

It's low-grade handling shows and there's a real lack of imagination in its workman-like execution, despite the presence of director Freddie Francis (who would be replaced half-way through by co-writer/producer Ken Wiederhorn --- who was behind such films as "Shock Waves" and "Return of the Living Dead Part 2"). Nonetheless the Barcelona locations are beautifully projected, the high rise building does bestow some effectively moody moments and Stacy Widelitz's music score is alarmingly eerie. The opening death is quite well done and rather creepy, but the pacing from then onwards is too sluggish concentrating on its constant mystery / investigative elements before breaking loose in its dying stages with some haunting imagery. Nothing wrong with that, but being all build-up it's not all that hard to figure out how it's going to end. There's a lot of talk and too little shocks or atmospheric tension being sustained. It felt more like an extended episode out of "Tales from the Crypt", but it did have that old-fashion, guilt-ridden, slow-burn Gothic feel that could have been better implemented. There's limited FX on show, but commendably used. The rest of the performances; Theodore Bikel hams it up as the Doctor of the physic field and there's able support by Carol Lynley and Anne Lockhart.

"Dark Tower" is a grim, but blotchy little forgotten b-grade horror offering

Great names...lousy film.

[Coventry · 3/10 · 8 June 2005]

It's a bit of a shame that the IMDb hasn't got a cover image of "Dark Tower" published yet. As usual, the VHS cover is much cooler than the movie actually is and it shows a crowd of people gathering around a skyscraper, shaped like an enormous coffin. The movie itself is painfully disappointing, especially if you take a closer look at the people who were involved in making it. The directors-duo Freddie Francis and Ken Wiedernhorn both have much better films on their repertoire. Francis made some great British horror classics in the 70's, like "The Creeping Flesh" and "Tales that Witness Madness", while Wiederhorn single-handedly was responsible for the only recommendable 'underwater-Nazi-zombie' flick ever made: the unique "Shock Waves". Some of the cast-members too have delivered better films. The male lead Michael Moriarty frequently works with Larry Cohen ("Q – the winged Serpent", "The Stuff") and Jenny Agutter will always be remembered for her starring in "American Werewolf in Londen". I avoid talking about the film's plot simply because there isn't much to say... It's pretty much a reworking of "Poltergeist" (which I didn't like, neither) in a skyscraper, with the restless spirit of a murdered person avenging himself on anyone who enters the building. Agutter plays the brilliant architect who seems to be the ghost's main target and Moriarty is the clairvoyant police officer who looks after her. The opening sequence is promising, with a guy falling 17 storeys down and crushing an extra pedestrian along the way! Unfortunately, the screenplay then turns into a boring mess without tension or surprises. Moriarty teams up with a couple of other paranormal investigators and they uncover some dark secrets. There's practically no gore, no humor and no feeling with the characters. Moriarty gives his lousiest performance ever and even Agutter's gorgeous eyes can't save this mediocre movie.

Bizarre, to say the least

[Maciste_Brother · 3/10 · 29 July 2003]

THE DARK TOWER is an obscure movie that had a lot of potential but squandered the whole interesting idea of an evil building due to some really weak acting, a listless script, totally unfocused direction, and a cast that's seemingly above the age of 40! It's always great to see Jenny Agutter in anything but she deserved a better project than this. The direction is truly bizarre. I'm sure the fact that the great Freddie Francis was replaced by another director has contributed to the weirdness of the film but I wonder what they were attempting to do. It's as if they tried to make the building into a character, and at a certain point, they actually succeeded, not because of some great feat of direction but because the human characters are so weak and messed up that the building looked positively sturdy and 3 dimensional compared to them.

And speaking of humans, I've never seen such an old looking cast. Yes, Jenny was in her late 30s when she made the movie but because practically everyone is above a certain age, this gave the movie a sorta poky feel to it, which was the last thing THE DARK TOWER needed.

But the thing that kills this bizarre quasi-mess is the ending, or the resolution of the mystery/story. It was more funny than scary. One has to see it to believe it.

A real curio of a movie worth seeing for fans of bizarre films.

Towering potential unrealized

[Cujo108 · 14 September 2011]

A newly built office building in Spain is plagued by a series of fatal accidents seemingly caused by a murderous presence. British legend Freddie Francis was the original director on this film, but problems led to 'Shock Waves' director, Ken Weiderhorn, taking over. Neither wound up taking credit.

Larry Cohen regular, Michael Moriarty, stars as a company man investigating the deaths and Jenny Agutter is on hand as the building's chief architect. The once ravishing Carol Lynley has a nothing part as Agutter's assistant, and Kevin McCarthy shows up briefly. The most entertaining character is that of a paranormal investigator who Moriarty contacts midway through. Theodore Bikel livens up the dull precedings with a quirky portrayal of a man so desperate to make contact with something supernatural that he winds up talking to an air conditioner at one point.

Indeed, this is a dull effort overall. With directors and a cast like that, I was expecting something much better and far less pedestrian. The story doesn't have a lot of meat to it, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have done something special with what they did have. Alas, I guess the inspiration just wasn't there this time around.

The big reveal behind the haunting is as predictable as they come, and the climax feels like it would be more at home in a 'Tales from the Crypt' episode. 'Dark Tower' isn't an unwatchable mess, but it's something you could easily skip without feeling as if you missed out.

By the end you'll wish you had a tall building to jump off

[andybob-3 · 2/10 · 18 October 2000]

Architect Agutter is haunted by her dead husband in a skyscraper she designed, and when people start getting knocked off mysteriously detective Moriarty comes in to investigate. Incredibly boring attempt to rip off both `Poltergeist' and `The Shining', it was so uninteresting that I couldn't make it through the whole thing in just one sitting. Nothing happens, it just keeps building up and building up to absolutely nothing and leaves you wondering why you just sat there for 91 minutes? Why did an actor like Michael Moriarty waste his time with this? 2 out of 10, completely uninteresting.

Demons 7

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 9 June 2022]

You'd think that Michael Moriarty would have had enough of window washers falling off of high rises, but he's back - well, he's playing a security expert instead of a thief, this time Dennis Randall - and he's trying to figure out why people keep dying inside a possessed high rise.

The mystery that I will solve for you is that director Ken Barnett is really two people.

Original director Ken Wiederhorn (Shock Waves) was replaced by Freddie Francis. Yes, the Amicus director, making his last movie.

He wasn't the only replacement. Moriarty replaced Roger Daltrey and Jenny Agutter (An American Werewolf In London) replaced Lucy Guttridge.

Released in the U. S. as The Curse V and as Demons 7: The Inferno in Japan, this movie starts with some great deaths - and Agutter in some of the most ridiculously unrevealing lingerie ever seen in a movie - and becomes a haunted high rise movie that can't compete with Demons 2 or Poltergeist 3.

It does have Kevin McCarthy playing a psychic trying to investigate what's happening as well as a finale that has Agutter's hair and wardrobe looking different in nearly every scene.

This was a Sandy Howard production, just like Blue Monkey, so it definitely was on the shelf of your video store.

Creepy Building

[neil-douglas2010 · 5/10 · 15 May 2022]

About average movie that looks like a TV film, with some decent semi scary scenes. The acting's ok but seems to be redubbed, which I think was the case for most movies made in Spain at the time. It's Jenny Agutter who carries the film though, getting more and more frightened as the film goes on. As what seems usual with her films she does seem to spend the final scenes running about with her shirt undone (not a bad thing).

Could have been good.....

[TomFarrell63 · 4/10 · 1 March 2023]

.. But isn't!

What a confused and boring mess! Firstly, there seems no reason whatsoever for it to be set in Barcelona given the actors are all American or English!

The standard of acting on offer is quite dreadful, even Jenny Agutter sucks, big time!

Hard to believe that Freddie Francis directed this, what was he thinking?

The whole thing has a made for TV feel about it, feels really cheap.

The actual premise is good, and had it been dealt with more professionally, perhaps this would have been a decent film, but as it stands, it's not one I'd recommend at all. Doesn't even fall into the so bad it's good category.

Would have been better in more capable hands

[udar55 · 5/10 · 4 September 2009]

Dennis Randall (Michael Moriarty), a security agent with slight psychic ability, is assigned to cover a strange series of accidents in a high rise in Barcelona. All of the mishaps seem to happen around Carolyn Page (Jenny Agutter), the building's architect. Sensing he needs to bring in the big guns, Randall recruits paranormal investigator Max Gold (Theodore Bikel) and psychic Sergie (Kevin McCarthy) to battle the vengeful spirit with the building.

Skyscrapers provide great settings and were all the rage for horror films in the 80s (THE LIFT, DEMONS 2, POLTERGEIST III), but this one is the lesser of the bunch. The film had a troubled production history as it was started by Freddie Francis but he left and it was finished by Ken Wiederhorn. The final directing credit goes to one Ken Barnett. The biggest problem with the film is that it drags you from point A to B at a snail's pace, long after you have figured out the mystery. If the film is worth seeing for anything, it is the performance by Moriarty (whose name is misspelled as "Moriarity" in the opening credits). He is clearly plastered in this and often looks like he is about to crack a smile with his loud delivery. In addition to this, Moriarty also starred in A RETURN TO SALEM'S LOT, IT'S ALIVE III and THE HANOI HILTON all in the same year. Now that is impressive.

Heavily derivative haunted tower block horror, but not without merit

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 4 June 2016]

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.

Stop the elevator, I want to get off.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 29 October 2011]

Oscar winning cinematographer Freddie Francis and writer Ken Wiederhorn share the blame for this dull supernatural high-rise horror; given that the film displays very little in the way of Francis's visual acumen, but everything one might expect from Wiederhorn—the man who gave us the shoddy Return of the Living Dead II—one has to wonder just how much Francis had contributed before being replaced as director. I'm willing to give Francis the benefit of the doubt and say 'not much'.

Weiderhorn's script revolves around the construction of a Barcelona high-rise, designed by renowned architect Carolyn Page (Jenny Agutter), which has been plagued by mysterious deaths. Detective Dennis Randall (Michael Moriarty) investigates and, after coming to the conclusion that the building is haunted, calls in help from para-psychologist Dr. Max Gold (Theodore Bikel) and his pal Sergie (Kevin McCarthy) to cleanse the building of the restless spirit.

With its solid cast, and the many possibilities for gory spectacle offered by a haunted semi-built office building, one might reasonably expect Dark Tower to be a cheesy piece of late 80s nonsense, packed with outrageously daft death sequences—indeed, the first scene, in which a window cleaner falls from his cradle onto a passing company exec, shows much promise. Unfortunately, nearly everything that follows proves to be extremely disappointing: long periods pass with nothing of note happening; too much of the film is focused in and around the building's elevator, resulting in extremely repetitive shots from inside the shaft; and there is very little in the way of satisfying splatter. The film's silly finale provides unintentional laughs in the form of a manky looking corpse that looks like a reject from Wiederhorn's earlier zombie movies.

At 37, star Agutter has obviously decided that she is no longer young enough to do nude scenes (although we do get some cheeky shots of her in a camisole)—such a shame, 'cos I reckon she still looks great and some naked Agutter action would have certainly helped alleviate some of the pain (as would my Dark Tower drinking game: have a drink every time someone gets in an elevator or when there is a shot from the bottom of the elevator shaft. Hic!).

intelligent parapsychology?? huh?

[zimbo_the_donkey_boy · 8/10 · 7 March 2010]

What is the main reason to see a film with Jenny Agutter in it? That Agutter's in it. What's the best thing about that film? That Agutter's in it. And this one also has Carol Lynley and Anne Lockhart in it (though practically as extras). How many ghost stories make sense? ZERO. Others review this flick as if a parapsychologist COULD make sense but that is impossible. The two male leads did a fine job with their OF COURSE stupid characters but I will admit that Kevin McCarthy sure was wasted. SPOILER ALERT: If you're wishing to point out dopey things about the film (though of course EVERYTHING is stupid), the ghostly decomposed body of the murder victim couldn't have decomposed, as it was sealed in concrete. Why didn't you others point THAT out? THAT was the main error in this flick. If other people's problem with this film is that it doesn't scare you, I've NEVER been scared by ANY movie so I cannot relate to that factor in reviewing.

Dark Tower (1987)

[jonahstewartvaughan · 7/10 · 28 December 2022]

Dark Tower (1987)

(7/10):No relation to the novel by Stephen King,Dark Tower is instead a low budget ripoff of Poltergeist and not a good one in that department,yet in it's ineptitude I found myself for the most part enjoying it.

It's sometimes atmospheric,sometimes not and the biggest complaint I hear from people about it is it's boring,well I consider it an unofficial slow burn and it's not bad with that frame of mind.

It's conclusion is more eventful than the rest of the movie and it's even got cult actor Michael Moriarty in a somewhat less than stellar role,but I still kinda liked his performance.

The effects range from okay to kinda bad but they are still interesting enough to hold my attention.

The creature at the end looks like a rotted corpse with a skin tight face that emphasizes its skull,by skin tight I mean its just that dried out.

It's got a good enough score,nothing special but it works.

There is some nice locations when the movie decides to meander around a bit so that's at least nice.

I can't really recommend it but I do have to say that it's decent enough.

"A Woman Alone in a Deserted Building at Night - That Can Be Very Scary"

[richardchatten · 3/10 · 13 May 2022]

The last gasp of Freddie Francis's directorial career is a typical eighties thriller - all tinny sound and synthesised music - but a refreshingly glamorous lead for Jenny Agutter as a power-suited career girl in big hair, high heels and a short skirt.

*1/2 out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 2 June 2002]

Weak film that the director disowned doesn't work despite a good cast. A skyscraper is plagued by a series of gruesome accidents and a cop is sent in to investigate. He eventually comes to conclude that the building is haunted and the ghost is responsible for all the accidents. No scares, sloppy editing, and poor effects are some of its other problems.

Rated R; Violence and Profanity.

Decent 80s horror thriller but ending is total let down

[VanillaLimeCoke · 5/10 · 16 February 2012]

So I saw this on NetFlix and was looking for a nice scary horror thriller. Hopefully one that wasn't gory and laced with strong profanity, just one that was scary.

Watching this seemed like a very under rated film and was somewhat enjoyable. It was no 1408 or the Shining but it seemed to be only a few steps behind that.

The main premise is that this lady has designed this tall office building. She's the architect. But strange deaths start occurring. The place is obviously haunted. But by what? One detective eventually sees the supposed ghost and tries doing some research. He soon realizes that he has psychic powers better than some shrink (or her patient through a psychic exercise of guessing colors and numbers) he hires to investigate the building.

The film moves a bit slow but the suspense is quite interesting as the psychiatrist tries to communicate to the unrest-ed spirit to try and set things right.

One main interesting thing is how they keep showing the inside of the elevator shaft as the elevator is going up/down.

But the ending is disappointing and not pretty as more people die and not even clear to why the lady killed her ex-husband nor even why his spirit kills all those other people instead of just getting back at the wife. It's not the ending I wanted nor even expected.

This film sort of reminded a bit of that 'Tower' movie I reviewed back in the summer, only this time instead of the security system going berserk its a ghost.

Could have been a good movie

[mrnunleygo · 2/10 · 1 December 2021]

It's hard to say who is most responsible for the failure of this movie: the writers, the directors, or the producer. The premise was a reasonable enough variation of a familiar concept; the location was well chosen; the music wasn't bad; and I thought the pacing of the rising tension was O. K. On the other hand, it seemed that Jenny Agutter was the only actor who made an effort to create a believable character--Michael Moriaty is practically comatose--and from halfway through, the movie pretty much tanked. Horror movies always require a suspension of disbelief, but they still have to have some kind of internal logic. I had no idea why the disembodied spirit was harming the people it did, nor why it didn't simply visit the same kind of harm on the person it was supposedly after. I mean, hey, if you can possess one person and make him act contrary to his usual nature, why wouldn't you do that to other people? The decision to make the spirit visible near the end of the film was a particularly awful choice: the spirit that had before seemed at least somewhat scary immediately became completely laughable. My two stars are mainly for Agutter's game effort in a losing cause.

Hammy and hamfisted

[d20464174 · 5/10 · 25 October 2020]

Watched this back in the early 90s when I would watch ANYTHING with Jenny Agutter in. This film, I remember, never made much sense to me, so I thought I'd check it out again to see if it made sense to me now I'm older. The plot is very basic (as others have pointed out on here) and I knew who was doing the killings and what was going on within the first third of the movie. But still parts of the film didn't make sense. We see the husbands reflection in a tabletop when Michael Moriarty is seemingly about to Jenny Agutter on it. Michael has premonitions, but this scene never happens in the film in real time. There's also the worst bit of continuity where a guy it talking and pointing, followed by a shot behind him where he suddenly has a glass in his hand. It's rubbish basically, but I found humour in it. Jenny Agutter is doing her American voice and is very bad in this, I've never liked any film with Michael Moriarty in and he seems like he is on quaaludes, or has some form of mental retardation. Theodore Bickle was okay though, constantly talking to himself - and they all had some funny, nonsensical lines of dialogue. The zombie looks ridiculous, but the bit where he suddenly snaps into life and grabs Agutter is the best bit! All in all, I'm glad I watched it again for all it's dreadfulness.

Badly directed horror

[Maverick1962 · 4/10 · 3 August 2022]

When the directors act under a pseudonym then you know the movie had problems. I don't know what the problems were but they are obvious as you view the production. Wooden acting, wooden props and wooden script don't help. What's good is the always splendid Jenny Agutter as an architect who has stolen her late husband's architectural ideas and plans and thus caused their project of high rise flats to give birth to some paranormal incidents. People start to die under mysterious circumstances at the flats. Michael Moriarty comes in to try to unravel the mystery and pulls in Theodore Bikel and Kevin Mccarthy to help. The direction and special effects are so weak though that the actors must have had a sense of dread at getting involved with such a turkey. It's not the actor's fault as they struggle to give worthwhile performances in a very cheap looking movie. Carole Lynley, an actress I always liked, is completely wasted in a non-part, an assistant to Agutter in her office. The two best performances are down to Jenny and Theodore Bikel who at least try their best. The horror effects are schoolboy standard and completely amateur so tension is absent throughout. A non horrific horror film best consigned to the video basket at the charity shop.

The window cleaner had the right idea, an early exit.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 3/10 · 27 February 2023]

Architect Carolyn Page faces untold terrors at the building she helped design, when an unknown presence begins a murderous rampage.

Well, some films are on incredibly late at night for a reason, in a hope that nobody watches it, and ultimately slates it, let's be honest, this film is terrible.

If you're a fan of either Jenny Agutter or Angry Office blocks, than there may just be something here for you, but if you value story, pacing, tension, horror, direction or just decent films in general, then do yourself a favour, and avoid Dark Tower.

I've seen films from the 1930's which are better produced, with superior camera work, this looks horrible. The one plus point, some of the exterior shots are quite nice, and Agutter has always been glorious, but overall it's a painful watch.

A waste of some true acting talent, Jenny Agutter (wasted,) Carolyn Lynley (underused,) and Michael Moriarty (made to look average by a vacant character and horrible script.)

Save your time. 3/10.

It's pretty good for the 80's and not laden with CGI.

[knightcrawler-1 · 7/10 · 13 January 2013]

It is a pretty good ghost story for the 80's, it's not filled up with bad CGI either. The dialog could have been better, some scene's make you cringe a little because they feel awkward. Michael Moriarty is not a great actor. He always seems like he's has difficulty communicating. The phone scene in the beginning of the film is painful. Bad Directing maybe? Jenny Agutter looks lovely and her performance is fine most of the time. The quality of the film seems low budget at times and acceptable at others. I watched it on TV late at night so it was edited. I'd like to see the unedited version.

The ending is fun and also predictable. It does bring up questions about whether there is justice in the afterlife.

Skyscraper of Doom

[Vomitron_G · 4/10 · 4 July 2011]

During the first 10 minutes or so, I thought this was going to be a movie about Jenny Agutter stroking her hair. Boy, does she stroke her hair a lot during those first ten minutes. But no, Ms. Agutter plays a successful architect who designed a skyscraper. Unfortunately, the building is haunted. So we have a supernatural horror-thriller that's far from horrific or thrilling. The only death scene worth mentioning, happens at the beginning of the movie: a window cleaner falls down 29 floors and crushes a pedestrian to death. What we get afterwards, is a messy script turned into a clumsily put together movie. The inimitable Michael Moriarty plays a clairvoyant detective who's trying to unravel the mystery. There's really not much going on in this movie. Some people die in freak accidents and Ms. Agutter seems to be the centre of things. In the end we find out why - pretty easy to guess - during a ridiculous ghostly climax. "Dark Tower" had some potential, but the film is just too uneventful and the plot too lazy. I imagine if you're a fan of Moriarty or Agutter, you might give this one a watch. And even then you might be disappointed, as both their performances are quite underwhelming. I also expected more from people like Freddie Francis (director, "The Creeping Flesh", 1973 & "The Doctor And The Devils", 1985) and Kevin Wiederhorn (writer/director, "Shock Waves", 1977 & "Return Of The Living Dead Part 2", 1988). Bizar that their combined efforts didn't turn "Dark Tower" into a better movie.

It Could Have Been Better

[ladymidath · 6/10 · 31 March 2023]

With Jenny Agutter and Michael Moriarty, it should have been better. Maybe it was because the story was filled with 80/90s cliches or the direction was lackluster. With two great leads like this, it should have been a lot better, but they could only do so much with the script. The special effects are good and there were some interesting kills but ultimately it just puttered along until the end. There is nothing memorable in Dark Tower except for the very end. It is another late 80s horror that seems to meld in with all the others. It's a shame because both Agutter and Moriarty are capable of really great performances. The directors were change half way through the production so that didn't help. It's okay, but don't expect anything great.

Typical 1980s Horror, Long Forgotten

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 10 December 2012]

The construction of a skyscraper is being haunted by a ghost.

There are two reasons to watch this movie: Michael Moriarty and Kevin McCarthy. If there is a third reason, I must not have noticed it. And sadly, McCarthy's role is relatively minor... he should be carrying the picture, but he just was not given the honor.

Moriarty is a gifted actor, whether or not that is evident here. He can play very goofy, oddball roles (as he has done repeatedly for Larry Cohen) or he can win awards and star alongside some of the greatest names in Hollywood (as he did in "Pale Rider"). This is somewhere in the middle -- not an amazing performance, but not goofy, either (despite the supernatural and horror elements that could easily have asked for horror).

Interesting Supernatural Thriller

[WritnGuy-2 · 12 March 2000]

I'd been meaning to rent this for a while, and finally last night, I did, and I must say, I liked it.

Jenny Agutter ("American Werewolf in London") plays Carolyn Page, the head architect of a new skyskraper, towering over metropolitan Spain. Things are going well until a window-washer drops twenty-eight stories off the pulley, and lands on the top executive of the building. Michael Moriarity plays Dennis Randall, who is brought onto the case of the murders. Incidentally, he is also having an affair with Carolyn, who is haunted by her dead husband. In fact, so is the building, and as more people die, and Dr. Max Gold (Theodore Bikel) an exorcist, is brought in, the real secrets of the dark tower are slowly revealed, leading up to an exciting climax with a few unexpected twists.

Entertaining movie, with extremely effective music. If anything, see the movie for the music. It really envokes a feeling of dread, especially in the end chase scene. The movie plays well, and is well-acted. The ending has some surprising twists, and the only flaw was the somewhat silly looking demon. Other than that, a good movie, which gets quite tense towards the end, and has great music. Check it out.