Dark Tower/1989/91 minutes

 

In this haunted skyscraper movie, a series of bizarre deaths occur at an under-construction high rise building belonging to a company called Unico. The first victim is a window washer who is propelled to his death by a mysterious force from the 29th floor, and in the process a Unico executive is also killed. Private investigator Dennis Randall (Michael Moriarty) is brought in to investigate the freak ‘accident’, and becomes aware of the presence of by a vengeful spectre, who resembles the building architect Carolyn Page’s deceased husband Philip (whose picture Randall observes in Carolyn’s office during her questioning). The local police of course do not subscribe to the supernatural, and dismiss the death as either due to strong wind (it’s the hurricane season in the movie) or due to strokes/convulsions experienced by the worker. However, Carolyn (acted by  British actress Jenny Agutter) has witnessed the death and tells Randall that the poor worker was pushed out of the workbox, though he was quite alone. A series of disturbing visions lead Randall to a parapsychologist and a medium, who tell Randall that he is experiencing premonitions of an impending doom. The visions of Randall relate to Page, where she is seen running around the whitewashed corridors of the building in a disarrayed and dishevelled state. When a security guard is mysteriously killed in the lift and Randall’s friend Charlie goes berserk and tries to kill Page (in the process killing two other people), Randall’s sense of belief in the supernatural and indeed the visions themselves intensify.

 

Page is portrayed as a hard drinking workaholic who seems to be harbouring a secret about her past. It turns out that though Page's husband had designed the building, his plans were turned down, and instead Carolyn got her own designs approved in order to retain the project. A council worker keeping tabs on American citizens informs Randall that Carolyn apparently loved her husband but outsmarted him professionally, which led to a lot of ugly fights between the couple and jealousy by the husband. Randall is also told that Philip supposedly died by falling off a pier into the river, with his body never being found.

 

Meanwhile, the medium and parapsychologist warn Randall that the ghost wants to communicate something through him. At the climax of the film, the three head to the unfinished basement of the building and encounter the spirit who is revealed to be targeting Page at all times for very personal reasons which tie to a secret she has been hiding for two years.

 

Aided by dark cinematography; jarring shots of the haunted building interiors where Carolyn and Randall seem to be lost, dazed and frantic; and accompanied by an effectively ominous synth score, Dark Tower is an atmospheric film even if not entirely logical. The film takes time to build to a suspenseful finish by establishing character’s motives and actions, by presenting repeated shots of the imposing building exterior and bare interiors, and through shots of the lift mechanism as it traps and kills/possesses victims; however, the ending comes in a rush and is sort of abrupt.

 

Dark Tower was a joint co-production between American and British companies that was shot in Barcelona and features stalwarts such as Agutter (who carries the weight of the movie with her grave and mysterious performance), Moriarty and Carol Lynley (playing Page’s secretary). It is surprising to note that the movie is quite obscure, given the steady availability of the movie in videocassettes from its release date till early 1990’s, and given the fact that it features famous stars and is helmed by a well known producer (Sandy Howard). However, cult label Vinegar Syndrome freed the movie from years of obscurity through a Blu-Ray release in January 2021. The film has been restored in 2k resolution from the 35mm interpositive, and the disc features an interview with special effects artist Steve Neill, a short promotional still gallery and a limited slipcover for the first 4000 editions. The print certainly looks pristine and is a huge step-up from the dark VHS releases of the late 1980s and early 1990’s. The reds, greens, facial textures and object compositions are strongly delineated and sharp. The audio is decent and seems to have been restored from the only available source elements.

Neill in his interview recounts how his love for rockets and sci-fi movies like Star Trek, and the impressive work of Planet of the Apes makeup artist John Chambers inspired his career. Neill also recalls that he was invited to show his super 8mm and 16mm movies to George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola and then went for an internship in their office, American Zeotrope. Moving onto Dark Tower and his relationship with the producer Sandy Howard, Neill talks about his earlier collaboration with Howard on Blue Monkey (1987) involving creation of giant mantis creatures, fondly recalls Howard as charming and a smooth talker, and he describes how he got the role of special effects artist on the film. Neill states that he was invited by Howard during the post-production stage to create corpse make up with a tight budget, and he that he used left over mould from another film. Last, Neill admires his finished corpse on the project as a 'cool looking zombie' and recounts how he had to dirty up the corpse and his clothes, as it was buried under concrete and literally 'burst out' years later for revenge.