Tower of Evil

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.

This is a horror-movie with great atmosphere. The film is pretty bloody consider that it have been made in 1972. The effect are cheap, but they have been made with style, and the some of the actors are really great (but not all). The first part of "Tower of Evil" is a bit dull, but the rest of the movie is exciting.

I liked it, but it's not for everybody's taste.

Decent horror movie with chills , thrills , ghastly happenings and naive special effects and nowadays , considered to be an underground classic. The movie opens with a boat cruising throughout heavy fog , at a creepy night . The boat lands on the rocky island Snape and two older seaman go on shore . Soon after , they encounter a severed hand and others gory evidences . After that , they see a male body it was attached too , then they decide to go into the mysterious lighthouse to investigate . Sure enough , they find a female corpse and anything else . They split up and find another killed body . Then they meet a live , young woman , Penny (Candace Glendenning) , hiding in a closet and in state of shock ; she subsequently , stabs her saviours . Next , traumatized to an extreme Penny is being examined by a a team of Doctors who talk about her. Disturbing Penny starts to talk and remember how her and friends arrive in Snape Island , as a night of pleasure became a night of terror. And then she begins screaming as the flashbacks unsettling her . After hearing about this , a group of scientists decide to venture to the Island. They also know that the Island is loaded with gold and Phoenician treasures . Eventually, the team of seven ventures out to sea to investigate the Island, on the Sea Ghost . The group is formed by two women (Jill Haworth , Anna Palk) and four other men (Bryant Haliday , Mark Edwards, Gary Hamilton , Jack Watson) , they are the boat crew . One way in, no way out . They came, they saw, they died!

This chilling terror movie contains heart-pounding horror , suspense, thrills , chills , nudism and lots of blood and gore . Dealing with an old and mystic Phoenician treasure , that's why various characters arrive in a mysterious island , there they attempt to find out what happened , being submitted to extremely brutal attacks and enhanced by means of mind-blowing , terrifying frames . The spooky images are wide-ranging , including as follows : disfigured people , severed heads , slashing , beheading , among others . The picture based on George Baxt's original story takes accent on tension by means of a well-knit script full of twists , turns and an unexpected final . It packs eerie images-shock , slick edition and nail-biting pace . It displays some surprising images , colorful scenarios and foggy atmosphere that seem to be influenced in the successful John Carpenter's hit horror film The Fog (1980). Despite being dismissed critically and really panned by reviewers when it was firstly released , the flick has since gone on to get itself a reputation as a terror cult movie .

Here stands out the gorgeous and brilliant cinematography by Desmond Dickinson . As well as thrilling and suspenseful by Kenneth V. Jones . The motion picture was professionally written and directed Jim O'Connolly and filmed over a 30 day period . Resulting in an acceptable yarn , though originally released in Britain on a double bill with another one . Director Jim O'Connolly was a fine producer , production manager, and filmmaker , known for The Traitors (1962), Mistress Pamela (1973) and Smokescreen (1964) . His greatest successes were Berserk (1967) and Valley of Gwangi (1969) . Rating : 6/10 , worthwhile seeing .

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.

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!