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Tower of Evil (1972)

Dir: Jim O'Connelly

A fishing boat carefully picks its way through the treacherous rocks that surround the night and fog shrouded 'Snape Island'. On board are John Gourney and his Son Hamp (Jack Watson).
Landing the boat they come across the body of a naked man brutally hacked up.
Searching the Island's lighthouse, they discover two further mutilated bodies when suddenly a naked, screaming girl stabs and kills John. Fleeing madly into the night she is knocked out by Hamp.

The girl, Penny (Candace Glendenning), now the prime suspect in the multiple killings, is put under hypnosis by a Dr Simpson (Anthony Valentine) to find out what happened on the Island, and a twisted tale unfolds

Meanwhile, a team of Archeologists with a very mixed up set of relationships, Adam (Mark Edwards, "Blood From the Mummy's Tomb"), his ex girlfriend Rose (Jill Haworth), Nora (Anna Palk) and her Husband Dan (Derek Folds, along way away from respectable British TV that he would become famous for), head to the Island in search of ancient Phoenician artifacts. An investigator named Brent (Bryant Haliday) hired by Penny's Parents, who believe her to be innocent, tags along.

They are taken to the Island by Hamp and his Nephew Brom (Gary Hamilton) and, as Penny's hypnosis shockingly reveals the gory truth, the party themselves discover that a deranged killer is stalking the Island, and a grim Family secret is about to be revealed….

 

Producer Richard Gordon, a man almost forgotten outside of Horror circles, Produced such gems as "The Haunted Strangler" with Boris Karloff, the iconic sci-fi/horror "Fiend Without a Face", the wonderful "Island of Terror" with Peter Cushing and "The Devil Doll" and "Curse of Simba" that also starring Haliday.
And with "Tower of Evil" he has helped create another gem of British Horror and made sure, along with Director O'Connelly, that it is packed with as much nudity, gore and far out 70's visuals as possible.

The opening sequence simply drips atmosphere, with the excellent lighthouse and fog drenched Island sets revealing their gory treasures to the viewer with macabre joy. A severed hand, a blood covered body with a crab crawling over it, a body skewered to the wall, and a marvelous surprise on the staircase. Add to this the brief nudity and few openings are as effective.

Another highlight is a truly warped, head fuck of a flashback as Penny remembers her friends being slaughtered (which include a dubbed over Robin Askwith, famous for playing loveable Cockney rouges in a series of "Confessions" soft core porn flicks and would appear in Gordon's bizarre "Horror Hospital").
It starts normally enough, with them wandering naked around the Island and getting down to some groovy 70's sex, where we learn Penny is a virgin and want's to stay that way (though she does not mind a bit of oral fun), prompting her boyfriend to utter "You drive me crazy like that, you know I'm a man".

But as they are killed off, with suitably violent glee, the screen explodes in a furious montage of flashing multi-coloured lights, screaming faces, spilt blood, body parts, naked bodies and a Pagan god statue. All ending in Penny's ear splitting shrieks.

The film does (due to the startling aforementioned sequences) get stuck in a rut sometimes when it concentrates on the personal, bed hopping history of the Archeologists, but overall it moves briskly with some good scare sequences, some sleazy sex and a truly memorable psycho.
A psycho that moves "Tower" into the classic 'killer geek' sub-genre and as such delivers all those essential talon like nails, grime encrusted skin, wild filthy hair, insane cackling, mumbled dialogue and a touch of pathos. Anyone who has seen the delightful "Death Line"/"Raw Meat" will see similarities with that films antagonist.

The low budget is used well, with the frequent fog not only helping the claustrophobic atmosphere but also hiding the small sets. But the less said about a truly dreadful back projected, studio bound boat trip the better.

Performances are at least acceptable, with stalwarts like Watson and Dennis Price (in a thankfully lucid cameo) adding a touch of class. Special mention to Palk as the hot-blooded Nora who shows genuine lust in her rough sex scene, "Zip me baby..Zip me" and is wonderfully laid back when discussing her affairs "What's a girl to do when her Husbands away? Masturbation is so boring". And Haliday is also suitably earnest and should have made more films.

The 70's atmosphere is always on show for added entertainment. The wacky disco lights used during the hypnosis, swirling images, strobe lighting, funky jazz tunes, big sideburns, swinging teens, carefree male and female nudity and abundant 'pot' smoking all add to the historic charm. And lines like "do you want to turn on" and the great "bravery ain't my bag man", are the hippie icing on the cake.

So what we have is a sleazy, violent, psychedelic horror ride that mixes the more explicit contents of 70's Exploitation, with that wonderful 30's style 'classic' Horror atmosphere.
It's a wild trip man.