Tower of Terror

I was bored yesterday and decided to watch Disney Channel when a movie was starting. The Tower of Terror was on and I had never seen it. Since the first couple of minutes I was hooked to it and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. The beginning reminded me of Seabiscuit with all of the beautiful outfits and the 1930's setting (all before the elevator scene). Tower of Terror is about two people....Anna (Kirsten Dunst!) and Buzzy who get involved in a old...old curse and want to help 5 ghosts out that needed to get to the 12th floor of the Hollywood Tower Hotel for a party on Halloween 1939. When the group of people get on in 1939, they disappear when they get stuck on the 11th floor. Every year it is the same...they will never be able to go to the 12th floor because no one is there to help them. Now Anna and Buzzy have to help the ghosts get to the 12th floor on Halloween night and try to help break the curse on the elevator. It is truly a good movie and is full of suspense, especially during the beginning of the film like when Sally's (i think thats the little girl's name) ghost appears and little green rain falls down. The special effects were good. The acting was great. The plot was nice too. One of Disney's better films. I recommend it for families to watch on Halloween.

Run-of-the-mill cutsie Disney "horror" movie (a contradiction in terms?). You have to be pretty bored to sit through this. If you have nothing better to do, go ahead and watch it. But don't go out of your way to find it. I watched it to see Kirsten Dunst (NOT Kirsten Storms, in spite of what a previous reviewer said!) in an early role. Even here, she shows signs of what she is capable of doing, and does in her later roles. Other than that, there isn't much substance to this.

But then again, this is aimed at a young audience, so for them, this can be entertaining. Unfortunately, the plot is predictable. You can tell what is coming a mile away. A typical Disney TV movie.

"A Thrill Ride!" it says on the front cover. Well, it was not that good! The plot was weak, acting was weak...but I guess as it is a childrens first horror movie it cannot contain much profanity, or as much excitement as we are into. However, Tower of Terror did manage to hold my interests, as I am into those old haunted hotel chillers such as "Nightmare on the 13th Floor (1990) (TV)" and "Shining, The (1980)."

Steven Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst star as two relatives, an uncle and his niece as they uncover a case surrounding the old Hollywood Tower Hotel, where some guests disappeared, including famous childstarlet Sally. An old woman gives a key to the close family members and they must unlock the book that uncovers the entire story.

Steve Guttenberg only delivers some achievement as the poor bogus newspaper journalist, unlike Kirsten Dunst who delivers great strength in her role as Anna, the determined niece of Uncle Buzzy played by Guttenberg. The old woman (I don't know her real name) is alright in her role, but her evil cackles are sometimes over done.

Take it from me, I bought this and it is not something I would want to keep. Maybe rent, once or twice, but...really.

For a Disney movie, I am VERY surprised...some parts were VERY scary, like the part with the ghost of Sally Shine, and the green rain...! OHH! I get chills when I watch that part...the cast was wonderful, Kirsten Dunst was perfect for the role of Anna...and so was Steven Guttenberg as Buzzy...the whole story was not corney as I thought a Disney movie's "scary" movie would be...the characters like Mrs. Partridge...grouchy, and Gilbert, the snobby English actor, and the really beautiful Claire Poulet! I recommend this movie to anyone...even grown-ups...It is also a VERY good mystery...you all have got to watch this!

Among great family "horrors" like Hocus Pocus, The Witches, Monster Squad, and others, Tower of Terror (1997), starring Steve Guttenberg and a young Kirsten Dunst, is often forgotten. This is unfortunate because it's one of the rare family horrors that actually manages to be simultaneously fun, acceptable, and scary for everyone. Basically, like the botched Eddie Murphy film The Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror is a vehicle to show off a Disney World attraction through a 90-minute narrative commercial. Unlike The Haunted Mansion, however, this film is actually good! The story focuses on Buzzy Crocker (Guttenberg), a journalist for a National Enquirer-esquire tabloid. In an attempt to become a serious writer again (and win back the affection of his old flame Jill (Nia Peebles)), Buzzy heads to the old Hollywood Tower Hotel, where he is told five people mysteriously disappeared in an elevator after the hotel was struck by lightning nearly 60 years prior. Said to be haunted, Buzzy wants to find out the truth and his niece Anna (Dunst) wants to join along with him to help make the story.

While the film is certainly nothing Emmy-award winning, it delivers on all it promises. It's very cheesy, fun, & entertaining, and has quite a few creep-out moments (especially for a kids' TV movie). To this day, the little-girl-in-the-rain scene gives me the chills just thinking about it. It does stick around the typical standard of Disney TV movies as far as writing & directing go, but it manages to work in a way that looks and feels better than even a big-screen adaptation like The Haunted Mansion. Obviously, this is not going to be the film for someone looking for a hardcore frightfest, but for a lighthearted time with or without the kids, I'd highly suggest this one.

Final Verdict: 7/10.

NOTE: Disney is apparently in the process of making another feature-length adaptation of the Tower of Terror ride, this one for the big screen.

-AP3-