This has disaster written all over it. The leading lady pulls out just before shooting. Then the leading man pulls out. A famous director, Freddie Francis quits halfway through filming. So what do we have left? Jenny Agutter in lingerie, teasing virile men, sweating as she is chased through a building in mortal peril. Good riddance Freddie Francis, Lucy Guttridge, and Roger Daltrey! Hello Jenny Agutter in nice lacy black undies, Michael Moriarty, and Ken Wiederhorn behind the camera. Today we look at the semi-erotic ghost tale, set and shot in Barcelona, 1987's "Dark Tower." Oh yeah, did I mention Carol Lynley as a hot secretary?
Carolyn (Agutter) is an architect overseeing the construction of Unico Tower in Barcelona. After showing some Unico execs around the almost finished building, she returns to her 29th floor office, strips to some nice black lingerie, and teases the poor window washer outside her window. To her horror, a ghost attacks the window washer, crushes his head, and sends him over the side where he falls on a Unico exec, killing him, too. Unico investigator Dennis (Moriarty) arrives and Carolyn wants to strip for him...but professionalism wins out...darn! Carolyn was affected by this gore. She wants Dennis to comfort her and will wear some very sext business suits through the rest of the film to try to bring this on, Also wearing really sexy and tight office attire is Carol Lynley as Carolyn's secretary...sadly, her character has no bearing on the plot.
More gory deaths. The proverbial security guards die horribly. Then it becomes apparent the spirit wants to murder Carolyn. Just by sheer luck, the ghost possesses a friend of Dennis' and makes him try to shoot Carolyn. Many will be slaughtered in the lobby but Carolyn escapes the carnage in the worst workplace massacre in Barcelona history. Dennis does more investigation and calls in parapsychologist Max Gold (Theodore Bikel) and medium, Sergei (Kevin McCarthy). These two will make horrific discoveries...but as you may guess, it won't turn out well. The spirit wants to murder, not converse. Now Carolyn is the thing's only target and it will make her sweat, strip to her undies, and run for her life.
Will Dennis ever get a clue and be able to help Carolyn? Would a better director have given Carol Lynley a gratuitous shower or pre-marital sex scene? Is this film a thinly veiled metaphor chronicling the deterioration of Spain after the Spanish Civil War? A lot of fun and some great cheese as Jenny Agutter and Carol Lynley always look fine for the camera. Gore and ghosts abound, as well. See "Dark Tower" and realize the A-Team isn't always the best choice when filming a movie.
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