Two faces hard to take seriously in this, because they usually played comedy, are Robin Askwith, who later made his name in the bawdy sex comedy series that started with the infamous Confessions of a Window Cleaner, and Derek Fowlds, already known then as the straight man to TV glove puppet funny fox Basil Brush, and later became Nigel Hawthorne’s sidekick in the long-running political sitcom Yes, Minister.
Director Jim O’ Connolly certainly makes a great effort to lift Tower of Evil above the cliches. It certainly improves on his earlier horror, the circus-bound Beserk! (1967). Connolly may be best known to you as the director of cowboy dinosaur epic Valley of Gwangi – one of Ray Harryhausen’s classic special effects films.
The Elite Entertaintment DVD seemed well-restored, taken from colourful sources that didn’t look their age – it is presented 1.85 widescreen, but non-anamorphic. The letterbox crops off some nudity and feels too severe compared to the 4:3 VHS that I’ve become used to over the years. Even in the cinema, I remember the boat scenes being unconvincing because we could see how far out of the water the boat was, without any waves being seen, so it probably looks more convincing this way.
All in all, a great film for a crowd of friends on a Friday night, or a horror fan whose tastes hover between the old and the new.
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