Tower of Evil (Widescreen) | 
| Director: Jim O'connolly
Actors: Bryant Haliday, Jill Haworth, Mark Edwards, Jack Watson, Anna Palk
Studio: Elite
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 44.98
Buy New: CDN$ 19.95
You Save: CDN$ 25.03 (56%)
New (1) Used (3) Collectible (1) from CDN$ 14.95
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 26017
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 790594869328
EAN: 0790594869328
ASIN: B00000JYX8
Theatrical Release Date: 1972
Release Date: October 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ~BRAND NEW~ FACTORY SEALED! Ships Airmail from New York. Please do allow 5-15 business days for delivery. Amazing Customer Service. Order confirmation email sent ###
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 The bridge between H.G. Lewis and Friday the 13th. January 8, 2004
Nancy E. Parish (Woodland Park, Colorado United States)
Right off the bat I'd like to BLOW A VERY LARGE RASPBERRY at a couple of High Brows here for POTENTIALLY *BLOWING* the MOVIE'S ENDING for folks interested in purchasing this video! Clear enough? DUHHHHHHHH...pSomewhere between the laughable special effects of the 60's H.G.Lewis comedy gore fests and the in your face splatter of Jason Vorhees and the Friday the 13th franchise - this little overlooked GEM (Originally titled The Horror of Snape Island) was born.pYes, after 30 years or so, it IS dated in look and feel. But then again, so is PSYCHO. However, when you dissect (no pun intended) the plot, actors, effects, budget and action there is still a surprising - and pleasing - amount of gore and mayhem for your viewing dollars!pWhereas the Lewis extravaganzas were PURE GEEK/bite the head off a chicken style viewing fare/farce (and a nifty excuse for you and your date to retire to the back seat and make out)- Tower of Evil still actually manages to generate some legitimate shivers and realism. The REAL comparison to Hell Night is the ATMOSPHERE! Those of you who remember seeing the camera open that initial expansive view of the haunted house will undoubtedly remember thinking THAT is somewhere I would NOT want to BE! PERIOD!pAnd so it is with Snape Island. This place *is* fog shrouded, desolate CREEP CITY! I don't know about you, but I've always felt that crabs feeding on dismembered body parts is probably Nature's way of trying to tell me something...pThe plot has already been reviewed elsewhere, and frankly there ARE some slow spots and not so clever attempts at beating you over the head with clues to the psychopath's identity. But wait! Getting THERE is HALF the FUN! The shots of the sole survivor's medically induced flashbacks are reminiscent of many Avengers episodes with the banks of randomly flashing colored lights serving to remind us of the HIPNESS of the times... Yeah. Right. (Not to mention trying to make us forget that the budget was $37...) But, be of good cheer horror fans, what they saved on the minimalist sets and miscellaneous effects - like the aforementioned boat ride - the producers DID wisely invest in gore and nudity! pFor what it's worth, this is one of the most amazing restorations I have ever seen! The CLARITY is beyond any movie I've seen on DVD, bar none. It's an amazing feat for a grade B studio offering and even on a 60 inch screen it is pure dynamite!pRecognize this offering for what is is: It's a very good and very effective slasher film that was well ahead of it's time and still remains head and shoulders above the vast majority of GARBAGE available over the past three decades.pTake a chance! This one's a KEEPER that you'll be proud to spring on your friends...pENJOY!
Trash classic from UK's exploitation heyday April 23, 2003
Libretio
TOWER OF EVIL (UK 1972): A group of archaeologists travel to a lighthouse-island off the coast of England where evidence of ancient treasure has recently been unearthed, alongside the corpses of several American teenagers, all of whom were slaughtered by person or persons unknown. Once on the island, the team becomes isolated from the mainland and is stalked by an elusive 'presence' which picks them off one by one.pA trash classic from the heyday of British exploitation, TOWER OF EVIL was helmed by Jim O'Connolly, a talented journeyman whose career had peaked several years earlier with THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1968), one of Ray Harryhausen's best films. Thrown together on a microscopic budget, and fashioned by O'Connolly from an early script by novelist George Baxt (responsible for such memorable British thrillers as CIRCUS OF HORRORS, THE CITY OF THE DEAD and NIGHT OF THE EAGLE), 'Tower' hedges its commercial bets by emphasizing a couple of high profile cameos (Dennis Price and Anthony Valentine), and foregrounding liberal doses of self-conscious nudity and gore. The opening scenes - in which crusty sea dogs Jack Watson and George Coulouris visit the titular lighthouse and stumble on a series of mutilated corpses - sets the tone for much of what follows, and while the main cast are pretty colorless, their mutual antagonism (borne from a convoluted history of infidelity, too complicated to explain here) demonstrates a rudimentary attempt at characterisation. Mounted with economical grace on sparse but effective studio sets (designed by Disley Jones [THE ITALIAN JOB]), and photographed by veteran cinematographer Desmond Dickinson (a major player in the glory days of British cinema, whose resumA includes everything from Olivier's HAMLET [1948] to THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST [1952], HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM [1959] and A STUDY IN TERROR [1965]), the film is cheapened at every turn by amateurish dialogue and threadbare visual effects (get a load of the hilarious back-projection during the archaeologists' boat trip to the island!), but it's these very same elements which contribute most to the film's enduring appeal, and the fogbound settings conceal a multitude of budgetary sins. Besides, this unassuming potboiler makes few pretensions to 'Art', and O'Connolly stages the major set-pieces with real technical savvy, culminating in a 'twist' ending which seems to have inspired a similar plot development in Tom De Simone's superior HELL NIGHT (1981). pAn ultra-professional cast is toplined by Bryant Haliday (a favorite of producer Richard Gordon), former Broadway actress Jill Haworth (THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR), Mark Edwards (BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB) and Derek Fowlds (TV's "Yes Minister"), while the younger players include Robin Askwith (several years before he found fame in the 'Confessions' films), former physique model John Hamill (a familiar face in UK exploitation movies of the 1970's, and later a co-writer on Bob Clark's TURK 182!), Candace Glendenning (SATAN'S SLAVE) and the late Anna Palk (in her last screen appearance), all of whom are featured in various stages of undress. The film was originally screened in the US as HORROR ON SNAPE ISLAND, and later reissued as BEYOND THE FOG. Interested viewers should check out Simon Hunter's LIGHTHOUSE (1999), an outstanding British shocker which employs a similar lighthouse setting to much greater effect (it's available in the US in a less-than-optimum DVD presentation under the title DEAD OF NIGHT).pImage's all-region disc - which runs exactly 90m - is letterboxed at 1.85:1, and while picture quality is excellent for a non-anamorphic presentation, voyeurs may be disappointed to discover that the lower matte now conceals some of the nudity evident in previous full-screen versions, but this is how it appeared in theaters, so we can't complain! Sound format is 2.0 mono, and there are no captions or subtitles. The only extra is a UK trailer, which contains a number of spoilers.
 Schlocky at best September 20, 2001
cookieman108 (Inside the jar...)
Oh boy, what a schlockfest. This movie seemed more like an R rated Scooby Doo mystery than a horror picture. There were some horror bits, but it was more comical than scary. The plot is that these early to mid-twenty somethings get stuck on this island which has an old lighthouse. After awhile, they find out that the island has a gruesome history, and a terrible secret in the caves under the tower(lighthouse). Soon, they start getting themselves killed off, and it's really no big loss, as they're a bunch of knuckleheads who you don't care about anyway. The shock ending, where you discover the truth about what's going on, was pretty lame. And the sets seemed like something out of Gilligan's Island. Interesting thing is, almost all the women who appear in this movie, get naked at some point. If you're into schlock horror movies, then you may enjoy this one, but if you like your horror movies to be more substantial, then you should probably pass this one up.
Passible at best - But it does offer a few scares.... May 31, 2001
T. Avallone (St Charles IL)
This film starts off with a BANG by giving us a good premise, excellent atmosphere, good suspense, and a couple of good bloody scenes. But then about half way into the film, it starts to become sluggish, and struggles to keep our interest.pThe problem ???? Two fishermen land on a deserted island and find 3 freshly killed bodies amist the grounds of the 'ghostly' lighthouse...They then stumble upon a naked woman, splattered in blood and running through the landscape screaming hysterically with a dagger in her hand. We are then shown a scene in which she is under some heavy psychological testing to try and 'revive' her memory of what happened that night. Flashbacks are used VERY effectivly for these sequences - but she is then left out - half way into the picture ! pSo all we are left with is a group of about 7 people who travel to the island to investigate the crime scene look for LOST TREASURE ! WHOOOO-WEEEEE, I just LOVE the 'lost treasure' scriping in films !!! (not to mention the smattering of simulated sex and nudity that is BADLY misplaced in this film).pThis movie could have REALLY been something - but it just falls into the same old cleshe about an insane killer on the loose plot....Passible - Not really a TERRIBLE movie, but it could have been SO much more.
 Scooby Doo for adults February 7, 2001
Samuel V. Stevens IV (Durham, N.C. United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Okay: (1) The acting *is* wank (except for Dennis Price); (2) the script is hilarious (One classic exchange: If Penny didn't kill those kids, then who did? Someone else, obviously.); and (3) the twist ending is absurd (although it predates by one year the strangely similar finale in _Don't Look Now_).pBut: This movie is lots of fun. AND it can still generate a couple of screams!! Imagine a live-action, British version of Scooby Doo for adults. This movie is the product of the same time and mindset as the cartoon. It has everything the horror movie fanatic could want: gory murders (even the old severed head rolling down the stairs), secret tunnels, buried treasure, a hint of evil spirits, madness, a monster, sexual intrigue, gratuitous nudity, and lots of creepy atmosphere. That island is the most foreboding piece of land I've ever seen.pCheck it out.
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