Tower of Terror (film)
Encyclopedia
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.
), 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, 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. 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.
Supernatural Thrillers
Supernatural Thrillers was a horror fiction comic book published by Marvel Comics in the 1970s that adapted classic stories of that genre, including works by Robert Louis Stevenson and H.G. Wells, before becoming a vehicle for a supernatural action series starring an original character, The Living...
directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by D. J. MacHale. It is based on the theme park attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, more commonly known as Tower of Terror, is a drop tower thrill ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios , Disney California Adventure Park, Tokyo DisneySea and Walt Disney Studios Park . It is based upon the television show The Twilight Zone...
, at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
at the Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being home to the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of two Florida municipalities controlled by The Walt Disney Company, the other being Bay Lake....
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
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the segment of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds, and manages the company's theme parks and holiday resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises...
theme parks, followed by Mission to Mars
Mission to Mars
Mission to Mars is a 2000 science fiction film directed by Brian De Palma from an original screenplay written by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, and Graham Yost. The film's story details a fictional portrayal of a manned Mars exploration mission gone awry in the year 2020...
(2000), The Country Bears
The Country Bears
The Country Bears is a 2002 American live-action comedy film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the Disney attraction Country Bear Jamboree, and released July 26, 2002...
(2002), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
and The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion (film)
The Haunted Mansion is a 2003 American comedy horror family film which is based on The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney theme parks. The film is directed by Rob Minkoff, and stars Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, Marsha Thomason, and Nathaniel Parker...
(both 2003), and the
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...
last three
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series...
Pirates of the Caribbean films
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy-adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall , written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
(2006, 2007 and 2011).
Unlike the theme park ride, the film has no connection to any incarnation of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
.
Much of the film was shot at the actual attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
. The rest was filmed on a closed stage in Hollywood, California.
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 TempleShirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
), her nanny
Nanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
Emeline Partridge, and bellhop
Bellhop
A bellhop, also bellboy or bellman, is a hotel porter, who helps patrons with their luggage while checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform , like certain other page boys or doormen...
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
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
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, 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. 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
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, 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.
Cast
- Steve GuttenbergSteve GuttenbergSteven Robert "Steve" Guttenberg is an American actor and comedian. He became well known during the 1980s, after a series of starring roles in major Hollywood films, including Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby, Police Academy, and Short Circuit.-Early life:Guttenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, the...
— Buzzy Crocker - Kirsten DunstKirsten DunstKirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
— Anna Petterson - Nia PeeplesNia PeeplesVirenia Gwendolyn "Nia" Peeples is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nicole Chapman on Fame...
— Jill Perry - Michael McShane — Chris 'Q' Todd
- Amzie StricklandAmzie StricklandAmzie Strickland was an American character actor who began in radio, made some 650 television appearances, had roles in two dozen films, appeared in numerous television movies and also worked in TV commercials...
— Abigail "Abby" Gregory - Melora HardinMelora HardinMelora Diane Hardin is an American actress, best known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's The Office and Trudy Monk on USA's Monk.-Early life:...
— Carolyn Crosson / Claire Poulet - Alastair DuncanAlastair DuncanAlastair Neil Duncan is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is sometimes credited as Neil Duncan.-Career:Duncan's breakout role was as side-kick DS Peter Livingstone to Mark McManus's Taggart in Scottish television's eponymous detective series.Leaving the show after the first two...
— Gilbert - Lindsay RidgewayLindsay RidgewayLindsay Elizabeth Ridgeway is a former American child actress in film, television, and theater. She is a voice actor in several animated shows like Totally Spies! and plays the character Britney....
— Sally "Sally Shine" Gregory - John FranklinJohn Franklin (actor)John Franklin is an American actor.-Personal life:John Franklin was born in Blue Island, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago on June 16, 1959. He has three older brothers, an older sister and a younger brother and grew up in a close knit, loving family. In 1977, John graduated from Dwight D...
— Dewey Todd - Wendy WorthingtonWendy WorthingtonWendy Worthington is an American television and film actress. She has had recurring roles in television series such as Ghost Whisperer, Desperate Housewives, Ally McBeal, and So Little Time. In April 2006, She played Helga where Arnaz sneaks off to Breanna in the episode "California Girl" on...
— Emeline Partridge - Lela IveyLela IveyLela Ivey is an American actress of film and television.Ivey is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts . For 25 years she made her living as an actress working in television, film and theatre while living in New York City and Los Angeles...
— Patricia Petterson - Richard Minchenberg — Dr. Daniels
- Marcus Smythe — Surgeon
- Don PerryDon PerryDon Perry , is a former Canadian ice hockey player and coach. Perry was head coach of the Los Angeles Kings from 1981 to 1984...
— Great Grand Dad - Michael WaltmanMichael WaltmanMichael Gordon Waltman was an American film and television actor. His credits included Tower of Terror, Beyond the Law and National Lampoon's Van Wilder....
— Reporter - Ben Kronen — Mr. Galvao
- Bill Elliot — Bandleader
- Shira Roth — Young Abigail
- Lynne Donahoe — Chloe
- Dean Marsico — Photographer