Dark Tower (1989)

Film Title: Dark Tower
Also known as: Demons 7 (Japan) & The Curse V (bootleg title)
Released: March 29, 1989 (on video)
Directed by: Ken Wiederhorn & Freddie Francis (as Ken Barnett)
Written by: Robert J. Avrech, Ken Blackwell & Ken Wiederhorn
Starring: Michael Moriarty, Jenny Agutter & Theodore Bikel

Plot: An architect is being haunted in the new building that she has built.

IMDb: 4.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score

My Score: 2/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Filmed in 1987 but not released until two years later, just about everything in Dark Tower is terrible. Terrible editing, terrible photography and terrible acting by everyone. Its as if no one in the entire production cared about this piece. Hell, Michael Moriarty's name is even misspelled in the opening credits! The story itself isn't that bad and could have been developed a lot more successfully in the hands of someone with more talent than writer/director Ken Wiederhorn, who according to IMDb was replaced mid-production by Freddie Francis. Jenny Agutter is an architect who has just opened a new building in Barcelona, Spain. When a window washer plummets to his death while outside her window, Michael Moriarty is called in to investigate. Oh yeah, and Moriarty is kind of psychic. As the movie progresses, more and more events happen around Agutter leading Moriarty to deduce that she is being haunted by the ghost of her dead husband. This realization leads Moriarty to contact professor of parapsychology Theodore Bikel, who in turn contacts his friend the medium, Kevin McCarthy. During the final showdown its revealed that Agutter actually killed her husband and buried him in the concrete foundation of the building. Like I said before, the story, by Robert J. Avrech, isn't half bad, but the script, by Avrech, Wiederhorn and Ken Blackwell, is. Bikel whines about his life to the ghost, Moriarty's partner gets possessed and squeezes off eight shots from his six shot revolver in a failed attempt to kill Agutter (he literally hits everyone around her but leaves her unharmed), and Moriarty keeps having strange "psychic visions," most of which lead to nothing. The ghost also has the opportunity to kill Agutter on two separate occasions but allows her to escape both times without incident. Its just poorly constructed. Moriarty does this creepy voice over thing, too, every time he looks something up on his computer. It's bizarre. And there is this continually repeated shot of the elevator shaft with the car moving either up or down inserted over and over and over again. But at least there were no shots of Shock Waves in this one. Moriarty & Agutter are award winning actors and Bikel and McCarthy have both been nominated for Oscars but none of that acting prowess is on display here. I rated it a two for the story but really should be lower because everything else brings it so far down. I wasn't able to track down a trailer for this one but you can watch Jenny Agutter meet her end below or watch the full movie here.