Tower of Terror

  • Review Date: September 27, 2006
  • NR
  • Genre: Horror
  • 1997
 Review

Common Sense Media says

A tame, cliched spooker for tweens and up.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that there are mild scary moments in this film and that the ghosts turn out to be more than just the characters' run-away imaginations. A headless ghost threatens the main characters with a knife. A scary nanny ghost pokes her head through a mirror. Five people are "trapped between this world and the next" after being struck by lightning, and a woman speaks of them being banished to hell "for an eternity of pain." Eerie green rain falls down on the ghost of a little tap-dancing girl.

  • Not applicable.
  • Tame for a ghost story, but a headless ghost does threaten the main characters with a knife and ghosts frighten the living throughout. One of the ghosts is a little girl.
  • Not applicable.

What's the story?

On Halloween night in 1939, five people at the Hollywood Tower Hotel, including child actor Sally Shine, disappear after a mysterious green light strikes the hotel. Spooked by the incident, the hotel owner closes and locks the hotel. And so it stays for 60 years, until an old woman named Abigail (Amzie Strickland) tells tabloid writer Buzzy Crocker (Steve Guttenberg) that she alone knows what really happened to the five people who mysteriously disappeared at the Hollywood Tower Hotel. She lived at the hotel in 1939 (as did Sally Shine) and witnessed Sally's nanny casting a spell meant to kill the young actress. According to Abigail, the spell was too strong -- instead of taking just Sally's life, it took the souls of all five people and left them in limbo. Buzzy, who wants to be taken seriously as a journalist, heads to the hotel to check things out. After running into some real ghosts, he believes he's found the big break he's been looking for and begs Jill Perry (Nia Peeples), his ex and a newspaper exec for the L.A. Banner, to let him write the story for her paper. Though she initially refuses, she eventually gets caught up in the unfolding mystery.


Is it any good?

 

Based on Disney-MGM Studios' Tower of Terror attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort, TOWER OF TERROR is clearly a made-for-TV movie -- and sticks to a very predictable horror movie formula. Even young kids will probably figure out who the real villain is, but just the same, they may enjoy watching the truth come to light. Most of the acting is flat, with the main exception of Dunst, who does a commendable job with her cheesy lines.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about Halloween stories and memories. What are your favorite scary stories? Do you like to be scared? What are your favorite Halloween costumes? Are they scary or fun or both?


This review was written by Maria Llull
Kid, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 15 years old
February 25, 2011
 
Haven't seen it but it's Disney so can't be too bad..the ride based on it was really scary though!

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Kid, 12 years old
February 19, 2012
 
This movie is more of a mystery rather than horror, but this movie might frighten very young kids
This movieis very mild scare, and little to medium violence. A ghost drinks some wine, but other then that, no drug use. One h word and no other language. This movie is good for anyone 8 and older. 7 year olds can see this movie as long as they have adult supervision. However due to the mild scarieness, no one 6 and under should watch this movie. Also watch this movie before you go on the ride.

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This review was written by Maria Llull
Studio:Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Director:D.J. MacHale
Cast:Kirsten Dunst, Nia Peeples, Steve Guttenberg
Genre:Horror
Run time:89 minutes
Theatrical release date:October 26, 1997
DVD release date:August 5, 2003
MPAA rating:NR
MPAA explanation:Scary moments

This review was written by Maria Llull
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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