A Torre do Crime

.. But isn't!

What a confused and boring mess! Firstly, there seems no reason whatsoever for it to be set in Barcelona given the actors are all American or English!

The standard of acting on offer is quite dreadful, even Jenny Agutter sucks, big time!

Hard to believe that Freddie Francis directed this, what was he thinking?

The whole thing has a made for TV feel about it, feels really cheap.

The actual premise is good, and had it been dealt with more professionally, perhaps this would have been a decent film, but as it stands, it's not one I'd recommend at all. Doesn't even fall into the so bad it's good category.

Weak film that the director disowned doesn't work despite a good cast. A skyscraper is plagued by a series of gruesome accidents and a cop is sent in to investigate. He eventually comes to conclude that the building is haunted and the ghost is responsible for all the accidents. No scares, sloppy editing, and poor effects are some of its other problems.

Rated R; Violence and Profanity.

It's a bit of a shame that the IMDb hasn't got a cover image of "Dark Tower" published yet. As usual, the VHS cover is much cooler than the movie actually is and it shows a crowd of people gathering around a skyscraper, shaped like an enormous coffin. The movie itself is painfully disappointing, especially if you take a closer look at the people who were involved in making it. The directors-duo Freddie Francis and Ken Wiedernhorn both have much better films on their repertoire. Francis made some great British horror classics in the 70's, like "The Creeping Flesh" and "Tales that Witness Madness", while Wiederhorn single-handedly was responsible for the only recommendable 'underwater-Nazi-zombie' flick ever made: the unique "Shock Waves". Some of the cast-members too have delivered better films. The male lead Michael Moriarty frequently works with Larry Cohen ("Q – the winged Serpent", "The Stuff") and Jenny Agutter will always be remembered for her starring in "American Werewolf in Londen". I avoid talking about the film's plot simply because there isn't much to say... It's pretty much a reworking of "Poltergeist" (which I didn't like, neither) in a skyscraper, with the restless spirit of a murdered person avenging himself on anyone who enters the building. Agutter plays the brilliant architect who seems to be the ghost's main target and Moriarty is the clairvoyant police officer who looks after her. The opening sequence is promising, with a guy falling 17 storeys down and crushing an extra pedestrian along the way! Unfortunately, the screenplay then turns into a boring mess without tension or surprises. Moriarty teams up with a couple of other paranormal investigators and they uncover some dark secrets. There's practically no gore, no humor and no feeling with the characters. Moriarty gives his lousiest performance ever and even Agutter's gorgeous eyes can't save this mediocre movie.

A newly built office building in Spain is plagued by a series of fatal accidents seemingly caused by a murderous presence. British legend Freddie Francis was the original director on this film, but problems led to 'Shock Waves' director, Ken Weiderhorn, taking over. Neither wound up taking credit.

Larry Cohen regular, Michael Moriarty, stars as a company man investigating the deaths and Jenny Agutter is on hand as the building's chief architect. The once ravishing Carol Lynley has a nothing part as Agutter's assistant, and Kevin McCarthy shows up briefly. The most entertaining character is that of a paranormal investigator who Moriarty contacts midway through. Theodore Bikel livens up the dull precedings with a quirky portrayal of a man so desperate to make contact with something supernatural that he winds up talking to an air conditioner at one point.

Indeed, this is a dull effort overall. With directors and a cast like that, I was expecting something much better and far less pedestrian. The story doesn't have a lot of meat to it, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have done something special with what they did have. Alas, I guess the inspiration just wasn't there this time around.

The big reveal behind the haunting is as predictable as they come, and the climax feels like it would be more at home in a 'Tales from the Crypt' episode. 'Dark Tower' isn't an unwatchable mess, but it's something you could easily skip without feeling as if you missed out.

"Dark Tower" is a "Poltergeist" rip-off about a dark spirit, ghost, or whatever you want to call it taking over a skyscraper. The "ghost" starts off by killing people in the building such as the window washer and that is when cop Micheal Moriarty is called to the case. Michael Moriarty is a good actor, too bad he has to act in garbage like this! Even worse than Moriary's other bad horror films such as "A Return to Salem's Lot" and "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive". Just a word of advice, AVOID IT!