TOWER OF EVIL (1972)
Starring Bryant Haliday and Jack Watson
I remember this film from the late 1970s-early 1980s, when it would actually be shown uncut on KTVU Channel 2, late on Friday or Saturday nights, as part of their Creature Features series. It's actually a pretty gory, sex-filled movie from Great Britain, way more explicit than the stuff they produce today or even back in the slasher 1980s. It has nice kitsch 1970s atmosphere, but not much of a story.
The body of a decapitated, nude girl is discovered upon deserted Snape Island, where there's apparently little more than rocks and an empty lighthouse. Not long after, another nude girl goes berserk with a butcher knife and kills one of the sailors who found the first body. Flashforward a few months: A group of scientific experts, interested in a gold spear discovered at the murder scene on the island, and reports that the island was once a worship-place for the followers of the pagan god Baal, decide to head out to investigate. They are joined by a private eye hired by the parents of the lone survivor of the massacre that happened earlier. The girl has since been convicted of the crime of killing all her friends, and her parents want to clear her name.
There are a lot of graphic killings in this film. It's opening, in fact, goes
way beyond what would be permitted in a mainstream movie today.
But this is the kind of stuff being put out by big companies like
MGM (which distributed it) at the time. Aside from the politically
incorrect death scenes and the fact that it was noticeably
produced in the 1970s, "Tower" doesn't have much going for it on the quality-movie meter. It is, at least, a professionally done piece of schlock loaded with sex and violence, and it does have some spooky atmosphere (the foggy island has a lighthouse, hence the title "Tower of Evil"). It was released on DVD in a gloriously remastered edition that plays up all these pluses.
But, in the end, it doesn't have much of a story, which is surprising given it was written by the man who penned "Vampire Circus." It also winds up being too talky. So, to make a long story short, if you're a fan of Euro-horror from the 1970s, particularly sleazy British horror, this movie might float your boat (no pun intended), but it probably won't make your Top 10 – or even Top 100 – list either. Most people will hate it. Granted, most people would hate most of the movies on this site, but even most horror fans aren't going to be too thrilled by "Tower of Evil." British horror fans should recognize Dennis Price, who was in "Theater of Blood" and "Horror Hospital." Director O'Connolly also directed "Berserk."