Tower of Terror (1999)

First Please Let Me Say I Am A Zero Fan Of (What I Call) Modern Comedies. The Last Thing I Laughed At Was Most Likely The "Not Ready For Prime Time Players". This Movie Though Was Wonderful, Steady In Pace, No Dead Time, Had Its Laughs Without Being Silly And A Story That Kept Me Interested From Beginning To End.The Actors Did A Great Job Of Making The Story Viable And Kept Their Characters Believable. Without Giving The Ending Away I Was Teary Eyed To No End. I Can Not Believe I Waited This Long To See It, But Thank God I Didn't Miss Out On It.Don't Miss This One, If You Haven't Yet, It's Rare For New Movies Today To Be Seen And Enjoyed By Everyone. This Is A Movie You And The Kids Will Love .....

I mostly enjoyed this movie, as it added some fun details to the back story of the attraction. However, I was pretty sure before I ever started watching, that it wasn't going to be especially well made. By not expecting much, I was able to get through it and even see some potential for what could have been a better movie.The story centers on a reporter investigating the tower to finally figure out how five people disappeared 60 years ago. He's acting on a tip from an elderly woman who claims she was there and saw a witch cast the spell that caused the elevator to malfunction. We actually get a few creepy scenes that reveal that the elderly woman was the witch, and she was the sister of the child star who disappeared that night. We also get some scenes that came close to being poignant when the two sisters--one preserved as a child, one elderly--reconcile. It's too bad that much of the movie is silly and cheap looking, because the story is almost well thought out enough that it could be remade into something special. As it is, it is a light TV movie that doesn't get seen or talked about much, nor is it very memorable. Maybe someday.

Among great family "horrors" like Hocus Pocus, The Witches, Monster Squad, and others, Tower of Terror (1997), starring Steve Guttenberg and a young Kirsten Dunst, is often forgotten. This is unfortunate because it's one of the rare family horrors that actually manages to be simultaneously fun, acceptable, and scary for everyone. Basically, like the botched Eddie Murphy film The Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror is a vehicle to show off a Disney World attraction through a 90-minute narrative commercial. Unlike The Haunted Mansion, however, this film is actually good! The story focuses on Buzzy Crocker (Guttenberg), a journalist for a National Enquirer-esquire tabloid. In an attempt to become a serious writer again (and win back the affection of his old flame Jill (Nia Peebles)), Buzzy heads to the old Hollywood Tower Hotel, where he is told five people mysteriously disappeared in an elevator after the hotel was struck by lightning nearly 60 years prior. Said to be haunted, Buzzy wants to find out the truth and his niece Anna (Dunst) wants to join along with him to help make the story.While the film is certainly nothing Emmy-award winning, it delivers on all it promises. It's very cheesy, fun, & entertaining, and has quite a few creep-out moments (especially for a kids' TV movie). To this day, the little-girl-in-the-rain scene gives me the chills just thinking about it. It does stick around the typical standard of Disney TV movies as far as writing & directing go, but it manages to work in a way that looks and feels better than even a big-screen adaptation like The Haunted Mansion. Obviously, this is not going to be the film for someone looking for a hardcore frightfest, but for a lighthearted time with or without the kids, I'd highly suggest this one.Final Verdict: 7/10.NOTE: Disney is apparently in the process of making another feature-length adaptation of the Tower of Terror ride, this one for the big screen.-AP3-

For a Disney movie, I am VERY surprised...some parts were VERY scary, like the part with the ghost of Sally Shine, and the green rain...! OHH! I get chills when I watch that part...the cast was wonderful, Kirsten Dunst was perfect for the role of Anna...and so was Steven Guttenberg as Buzzy...the whole story was not corney as I thought a Disney movie's "scary" movie would be...the characters like Mrs. Partridge...grouchy, and Gilbert, the snobby English actor, and the really beautiful Claire Poulet! I recommend this movie to anyone...even grown-ups...It is also a VERY good mystery...you all have got to watch this!