Tower of Evil (1972) Reviews

• Maniacal slaughter...and hunting for treasure!

  Coventry2004-07-28

  Take my word on this…Tower of Evil is a MUST SEE if you're an admirer of raw, vicious and undiscovered horror. This film is so much fun I can't believe I just found out about it now! It's cheap and nasty, but very imaginative and spirited! Tower of Evil is appropriately set on a deserted island, carrying many secrets. After discovering the mutilated corpses of 3 teenagers and one severely traumatized survivor, an expedition team is sent to the island. An older sailor and a young handsome stud, both obviously keeping a few secrets hidden, guide the team. But the members of the expedition are more dealing with sexual intrigues and relational problems anyway. They encounter a savage caveman, severely decomposed human leftovers and authentic hidden treasures! Yay!! Horror with a twitch of adventure! The plot of `Tower of Evil' isn't exactly solid or logical, but director O'Connolly manages to create suspense nonetheless. Due to the isolated and raw location of the Snape Island, you feel trapped there along with the main characters. For the fans of typical 70's horror, there are several gruesome moments to enjoy as well as some ultra-sexy sleaziness. For example, one of the main actresses constantly wears a bikini-top, which ranks as one of the hottest ones since Raquel Welsh's in `One Billion Years B.C.'. `Tower of Evil' is a true gem of the ignored horror vaults and real fans can't afford to miss it!

• Plot has potential, and opening sequence is very promising, but film fails to capitalise on it.

  barnabyrudge2004-12-19

  As early 70s horror flicks go, Tower of Evil (a.k.a Horror of Snape Island) has a greater-than-expected amount of sex and gore. Unfortunately, the script is pretty stupid and the performances are generally bad, ruining what might've been a decent little chiller. Some of the lines the actors have to work with are hopelessly silly, and the number of times characters go wandering off alone (even AFTER they've established there's a madman on the loose) beggars belief. What's particularly disappointing is that the plot is just outlandish enough to have made for an unusual and effective horror yarn. The opening sequence is actually promising. Two sailors, John Gurney (George Coulouris) and his son Hamp (Jack Watson), search around a fog-shrouded island and stumble upon several dismembered naked bodies. Then, John happens across a living naked woman, but she is so startled by his arrival that she mistakenly stabs him. The story moves forward and we learn that the surviving woman from the opening scene has been charged with the murders of her friends, but a private detective named Brent (Bryant Halliday) has been hired by her parents to find out if someone else could've done it. Brent joins an archaeological party who are about to set off to the island in search of a Phoenecian treasure. Once there, the archaeologists soon learn that their lives are in grave danger, as they are picked off one by one by an unknown killer. Tower of Evil has become a cult film, probably because it's so bad that in some ways it's perversely good. Ther are some attempts at atmosphere and suspense, though most opportunities for a jolt are clumsily edited, lessening the shock factor. In Halliwell's Film Guide, the film was dismissed as "an unoriginal little shocker", but unoriginal is probably the wrong word (how many times have you heard of archaeologists hunting for a Phoenecian hoarde off the English coast and and being victimised by a psycho? Absurd, yes. Unoriginal, no). I can't imagine this film being of particular interest to most viewers, but if you like 70s British horror, or are interested in how sex and gore have evolved over the years in horror cinema, then it may be worth catching.

• In the middle between 60s Hammer and 80s splatter

  unbrokenmetal2002-09-29

  One of the better low budget horror movies I've watched recently. Although the German alternative title "Turm der lebenden Leichen" ("Tower of the Living Dead") promises zombies, there is no-one returning from the dead here. Well, maybe that's better anyway ;-) The film tells the story of a bunch of hippies (remember, this was made in the early 70s) who spend a night on a lonely island. All of them are killed except for one girl. Logical thinking leads the police to conclude she must be the murderer then, and they lock her up at the lunatic asylum. Relatives and local fishermen, however, believe there must be someone else - or something else - lurking on the island. They are courageous or stupid enough to start exploring the dark caves in the rocks... The whole set looks really cheap, but apart from that I liked the movie. It is exactly in the middle between old-fashioned 60s Hammer horror and 80s splatter movies, which means there are still traces of gothic atmosphere like the lighthouse in the fog, but already a few effective, vicious shock effects, too.

• Trash classic from exploitation's heyday

  Libretio2005-02-01

  TOWER OF EVIL Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Sound format: Mono Whilst searching for ancient treasure on a lighthouse-island off the British coastline, an archaeological expedition becomes isolated from the mainland and is stalked by a monstrous assassin. A trash classic from the heyday of British exploitation, TOWER OF EVIL was helmed and written by Jim O'Connolly, a journeyman director whose career peaked several years earlier with THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1968), one of Ray Harryhausen's best films. Thrown together on a microscopic budget, and based on a 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 eponymous 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) adds much-needed shading to the basic narrative outline. Mounted on sparse but effective studio sets (designed by THE Italian JOB's Disley Jones), and photographed by veteran cinematographer Desmond Dickinson - a major player in the glory days of British cinema, whose resumé 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 (no attempt is made to disguise back-projected elements during scenes on the 'open sea', for instance), but these cut-price elements have simply contributed to the film's enduring appeal. Besides, the movie 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). The 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 (already a movie veteran, long before his appearance in the "Confessions..." films), physique model John Hamill (a familiar face in UK exploitation movies of the 1970's, and later the co-writer of 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 states of undress. The film was originally screened in the US as HORROR ON SNAPE ISLAND, and later reissued as BEYOND THE FOG. NB. Interested viewers should check out Simon Hunter's LIGHTHOUSE (1999) - originally released in the US as DEAD OF NIGHT - an outstanding British shocker which covers the same territory, but to much greater effect.

• First rate, B-grade sexy Chiller slash Thriller. A Must See for 70's horror fans

  ApolloBoy1092006-04-28

  Sexy vintage British horror tale packed with traditional atmospheric fog, shades of Gothic and hot young flesh. From the firm buttocks of the hunky men to the smooth perky breasts of the women, this film exploits the 70's free love era. Three interconnected tales revolve around an old lighthouse island purported to be closed but hiding deep secrets. They are . . . First: A man, his wife and their child escape the near by village to live in isolation. Something happens. Second: Free spirited young Americans who are for the most part naked during their flashback sequences, and we're all happy about that, visit the island for a little hot sex and weed. Surely this movie was made by content bisexuals because both sexes bare enough flesh to make your engine hum. Someone murders three of the hot and horny kids (while they're all naked). Third: A research team is sent to the island because one of the boys was murdered with an antique sword only found in southern Europe. The sword it appears belongs to a cult that worships the God of Orgies, lust and firm male butts. The team is comprised of four young hot archaeologists, and two locals, one in particular is a hungry stud (Gary Hamilton) who is by far the best looking 70's hunk I've ever seen naked on screen. There's a lot of "whose been sleeping in my bed" antics before the truth about the island is uncovered. The underground worship chamber is by far the funniest horror set I have ever seen. All in all for film history's sake and a nice slice of 70's nudity mixed with chills and thrills, this is the best of it's kind. Did I mention hot men and sweet women are starked naked most of the time? Catch it!