Chad

DaveyJoe

The Blu-Ray is on sale for $11.99 from Kino this month.

Tower of Evil Scorpion

Trevor

Free to stream on Fandor
edit to add: but missing the final minute or two and not as good quality as at least one YouTube version

Toddarino

I bought this as soon as the Kino sale started. It just arrived yesterday. I love Kino and their efficiency.

Undeadcow

ToE's fog covered wtf gorey introduction is quite a hook and the back and forth narrative structure keeps things fast paced even when its some blowhards gabbing in a lab. Epileptic warning on that stobe light hypnotism; talk about a grating effect (and later some of the choppy editing seems to emulate the flashes). This was clearly a time of different sexual attitudes; I feel like ToE has such a poorly defined plot it was all an excuse to be phallic while slapping some boobs and blood on the screen and the shamelessly sleaze of it is wonderful. Seems like one of those films that has an alternate x rated porno cut but this is the one with alternate safe footage for general release... or at least thats what might make the boring walking around the tower segments seem less obnoxious (theres a good film hidden in the padding). The island tower is scenic enough and setting goes a long way here even as the film fails to be consistent with its teasing introduction. Poor acting alert. I lost track, which one is Gillian and which is The Professor? This was a time when movies were awash in spotlights without a hint of shadow even in the depth of evil, you can see each splotch of faux stone paint in the backdrop. I like ToE a lot more than Im suggesting but some of the sound effects and set design is awfully cartoonish, I expect Scooby and Shaggy any minute nearing the end - which is a whiplash inducing difference in tone from the lurid glourious intro.

Whatever happened to Penny from the cool intro? They just used her to establish thing then ditched her - maybe theres a sequel in there afterall but she at least deserved an epilogue.

exharrison

Heads up to anyone who is watching this stream. It appears to be missing the final two minutes which results in a much different feeling at the end. On the upside, I think I only had two commercial breaks in the stream.

numbercrunch

An interesting proto-slasher, but i think it drags in the second act. The story doesn't really have anywhere to go once the kids get on the island until the final reveal.
6/10

Gobear

It's available on Youtube under the title Horror on Snape Island.

Trevor

I was wondering if it was just me. Rather than try again on Fandor, I just found an even better quality youtube stream and re-watched the end.

exharrison

I did the same. It was a jarring cut off.

jholmes

This wasn't bad for a low budget 70's horror. And I do like anything 70's. It a bit silly though with the grunting, hairy maniacs. An early Hills Have Eyes? I can't say it's one of the better movies I've seen this challenge, but not a bad watch. I have had this blu ray for a while and glad I finally watched it.

rbrown498

I pretty much loved everything about this one. Isolated setting? Check. Awful early '70s fashions? Check. Lotsa nudity? Check. Bad American accents from the younger cast? Check.

I'm a sucker for early '70s British horror films, and I've also enjoyed Bryant Haliday in every film that I've seen him in (three so far). Speaking of Haliday, I just found out that he's one of the co-founders of Janus Films...so he's indirectly responsible for the existence of the Criterion Collection.

My subset film rankings for the Challenge thus far:

1. Battle Royale
2. Carrie (1976)
3. Curse of the Demon
4. Slither
5. Tower of Evil
6. Witchfinder General
7. A Bay of Blood / The Spiral Staircase (averaged together)
8. Silent Madness
9. Slumber Party Massacre II (based purely on its out-of-left-field aesthetic)
10. In Search of Darkness
11. Road Games
12. Cure
13. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
14. Grave Robbers (Ladrones de Tumbas)
15. The Severed Arm
16. The Mortuary Collection
17. Cutting Class

Spiderbite

I enjoyed this one as well. Jumps straight into the story and really doesn't stop until the end.

Undeadcow was correct when calling it a sexed up Scooby-Doo mystery. All the women are topless and horny. Hell, people seem to just walk around naked for no reason around there. And all the men want to find out what is going on. And there's a confused, spooky old man in the tower murdering people. And he would have gotten away with it if not for the meddling, aroused archeologists!

So I got a little distracted while watching this at the end. Was there any signs of supernatural occurrences or was it all about the crazy man?

This flick is definitely worth watching. Question...so was everyone this horny in the early 70's or were they just glad they could finally show and talk about it on film and just ramped it up?

My rating: *** out of *****

wishbone

Other than the consequence-free environment Austin Powers pretty much called it, love.

I enjoyed it -- fog and crabs crawling about a washed up corpse make for good seaborne horror.

Trevor

Yep, a soft-core Scooby-Doo film. Kinda all downhill after the decent beginning kills and set-up. Didn’t regret watching it, but probably won’t go out of my way to do so again.

Stealing rbrown’s subset ranking idea:

Curse of the Demon, 8/10
The Phantom Carriage, 8/10
Carrie, 8/10
Cure, 8/10
Battle Royale, 8/10
The Spiral Staircase, 8/10
Slumber Party Massacre 2, 7/10
A Bay of Blood, 7/10
The Frighteners, 7/10
Road Games, 7/10
Slither, 7/10
Witchfinder General 7/10
The Mortuary Collection, 6/10
Cutting Class, 6/10
Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou, 6/10
In Search of Darkness, 6/10
Tower of Evil, 5/10
Grave Robbers, 5/10
Silent Madness, 5/10
The Severed Arm, 4/10