Tower of Terror (film)
| Tower of Terror | |
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 Tower of terror video cover |
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| Directed by | D. J. MacHale |
| Produced by | Iain Paterson |
| Written by | D. J. MacHale |
| Based on | Disney's Tower of Terror |
| Starring | Steve Guttenberg Kirsten Dunst Alastair Duncan Melora Hardin John Franklin Wendy Worthington Amzie Strickland Lindsay Ridgeway Nia Peeples Michael McShane |
| Music by | Louis Febre |
| Cinematography | Stephen McNutt |
| Editing by | Barry Zetlin |
| Studio | Zaloom / Mayfield Productions Walt Disney Television |
| Distributed by | ABC |
| Release date(s) | October 26, 1997 |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Tower of Terror is a 1997 made-for-TV supernatural thriller directed by D. J. MacHale. It is based on the theme park attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and was originally a presentation of The Wonderful World of Disney. It is also Disney's first film based on an attraction at one of its theme parks, followed by Mission to Mars (2000), The Country Bears (2002), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and The Haunted Mansion (both 2003), and the last three Pirates of the Caribbean films (2006, 2007 and 2011).
Unlike the theme park ride, the film has no connection to any incarnation of The Twilight Zone.
Much of the film was shot at the actual attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The rest was filmed on a closed stage in Hollywood, California.
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[edit] Plot
The film revolves around the fate of five people - singer Carolyn Crosson, her boyfriend Gilbert London, child actress Sally Shine (who is modeled after child actress Shirley Temple),[1] her nanny Emeline Partridge, and bellhop Dewey Todd, who were about to attend a party at the Hollywood Tower Hotel in 1939 when a bolt of lightning struck the elevator they were in, causing them to vanish. Since then, the Tower is believed to be cursed and haunted by their spirits.
When newspaper reporter Buzzy Crocker and his niece Anna meet up with an old woman named Abigail Gregory, Abigail says that Emeline Partridge, nanny of child actress Sally Shine, orchestrated the incident through an evil spell because she was annoyed over the girl's spoiled attitude. However, the spell backfired, trapping the guests as spirits in the earthly realm. Abigail says she can reverse the spell if the elevator is repaired and the team finds something that belonged to each of the hotel guests, then repeat the guests' actions in the elevator on Halloween. This will free their spirits from the hotel. They then enlist the help of Chris "Q" Todd, a car mechanic and Dewey's grandson, who, despite being initially reluctant, volunteers to help his deceased grandfather and the other guests.
It is then revealed that Abigail was the one responsible for the disappearance of the hotel guests on the elevator, including her younger sister Sally, born Sally Gregory,[2] out of personal vendetta and jealousy against her sister's booming career. Buzzy then realizes that what they did actually gave Abigail the means to complete her spell. The team then rushes back to the hotel, but they are too late.
Meanwhile, the ghosts board the elevator. Anna rushes in as well, trying to keep them from boarding. Sally then runs off, joining the living as the elevator moves up. They then confront Abigail, who then tearfully admits her wrongdoing.[3] Sally says that the whole party was a surprise birthday for her older sister. Abby, Buzzy, Jill, Q and Sally then board the service elevator, catching up with the others. Anna manages to escape from an emergency escape hatch, rejoining Buzzy and the others in their elevator. The lightning strikes again, and both groups plunge downward. Sally forgives her sister, and they both turn into a shower of gold dust, slowing both elevators to a stop.
The groups are saved, and they all go to the Tip-Top Club on the top floor, restored to its former glory. One by one, the ghosts then ascend to Heaven, along with the other partygoers. Abigail, young once more, appears, meeting up once more with her sister, who gives her a surprise birthday present, a bracelet. The Gregory sisters then join hands and vanish into the night, breaking the curse on the hotel. With the spell broken, the Tower is re-opened, with Q taking charge.
[edit] Cast
- Steve Guttenberg — Buzzy Crocker
- Kirsten Dunst — Anna Petterson
- Nia Peeples — Jill Perry
- Michael McShane — Chris 'Q' Todd
- Amzie Strickland — Abigail "Abby" Gregory
- Melora Hardin — Carolyn Crosson / Claire Poulet
- Alastair Duncan — Gilbert
- Lindsay Ridgeway — Sally "Sally Shine" Gregory
- John Franklin — Dewey Todd
- Wendy Worthington — Emeline Partridge
- Lela Ivey — Patricia Petterson
- Richard Minchenberg — Dr. Daniels
- Marcus Smythe — Surgeon
- Don Perry — Great Grand Dad
- Michael Waltman — Reporter
- Ben Kronen — Mr. Galvao
- Bill Elliot — Bandleader
- Shira Roth — Young Abigail
- Lynne Donahoe — Chloe
- Dean Marsico — Photographer
[edit] Notes
- Dewey Todd appears in D.J. MacHale's 2003 novel, The Never War, book 3 of his series The Pendragon Adventure. The Manhattan Tower Hotel is also a major setting, the sister to the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Additionally, in The Pilgrims of Rayne, Dewey Todd is reported missing as he was in an elevator in the Hollywood Tower Hotel the moment it was struck by lightning.
[edit] References
- ^ The way Sally dresses in the film and in the ride, as well as her hair style, suggests of an allusion to Shirley Temple. Also it is implied in one scene that Sally also had a line of dolls based on her likeness, a parallel to the real life Shirley having a doll line of her own.
- ^ Since Abigail had been in the sanitarium one year after her sister's disappearance, she has never been married to anyone, so it is indirectly revealed that the child star's real name is Sally Gregory.
- ^ Abigail Gregory: "I.... I couldn't sing. And I couldn't dance."
