Dark Tower | |
---|---|
Directed by | Freddie Francis (as Ken Barnett)[1][2] |
Written by | Robert J. Avrech Ken Blackwell Ken Wiederhorn |
Produced by | John R. Bowey David Witz Sandy Howard |
Starring | Michael Moriarty Jenny Agutter Carol Lynley Theodore Bikel Anne Lockhart |
Cinematography | Gordon Hayman |
Edited by | Tom Merchant |
Music by | Stacy Widelitz |
Production company | Sandy Howard Productions |
Distributed by | Fries Distribution Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
Countries | United States United Kingdom[3] |
Languages | English Spanish |
Dark Tower is a 1987 horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Michael Moriarty, Jenny Agutter, Theodore Bikel, Carol Lynley, Kevin McCarthy and Anne Lockhart.
It was set and filmed in the Spanish city of Barcelona.
Plot
After a window washer plunges to his death from a Barcelona high rise, several people come to investigate, including security consultant Dennis Randall. He cannot locate a problem, but decides to investigate further when more gruesome deaths take place inside and around the office building. His investigations appear to show a sinister force behind all the deaths, a supernatural entity, that hates humans.
Cast
- Michael Moriarty as Dennis Randall
- Doug Jones as Dennis Randall - corpse
- Jenny Agutter as Carolyn Page
- Carol Lynley as Tilly
- Theodore Bikel as Max Gold
- Kevin McCarthy as Sergie
- Anne Lockhart as Elaine
- Patch Mackenzie as Maria
- Robert Sherman as Williams
- Rick Azulay as Charlie
- Radmiro Oliveros as Joseph
- Jordi Batalla as Mueller
- Juame Ross as Beck
- Monica Fatjo as Rebecca
- Juan Ramon Romani as Philip Page
- Mara Bador as Rebecca's mother
Production
Ken Wiederhorn's script for Dark Tower, from a story by Robert J. Avrech, was made as a film by producer Tom Fox using his production company Greenfox Films in collaboration with Howard International Pictures.[4] Wiederhorn had been intended to direct, but lost the opportunity when financing took longer than expected to come through.[4] However, Fox eventually offered Wiederhorn the opportunity to write and direct Return of the Living Dead Part II.[4] The movie was filmed on location in Barcelona.[5] Due to dissatisfaction with the quality of Dark Tower, specifically the special effects quality, Freddie Francis had his name removed from the film with producers replacing it with the pseudonym Ken Barnett.[6] Francis's dissatisfaction with the experience of making Dark Tower led to him returning to his primary role as a cinematographer and never to direct again.[6]
Release
After being filmed in 1987, Dark Tower had theatrical runs in Europe in 1988.[2] The film was not released theatrically in the United States and instead was released to home video in February 1989.[2]
Reception
TV Guide awarded the film one out of five stars, calling it a "dull, talky, and incoherent haunted-skyscraper suspense thriller."[7]
References
- ↑ '"Dark Tower (1989)". tcm.com. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- 1 2 3 4 '"Dark Tower (1989)". tcm.com. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- ↑ '"Dark Tower (1989)". bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- 1 2 3 Biodrowski, Steve (May 1988). "Many Faces of Ken Myers". Cinemafantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ↑ Buxton, Darrell (2020). Dead or Alive - British Horror Films 1980 - 1989. Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1644301241.
- 1 2 "Rob Hardy BSC / Ex Machina". British Cinematographer. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 24 Oct 2019.
- ↑ "Dark Tower Movie Trailer, Reviews and More". TV Guide. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
External links