Tower of Terror (1997) on Netflix
TV-PG19971h 29mComedyHorrorThriller
Disgraced reporter Buzzy Crocker writes for a supermarket tabloid, helped by his niece Anna. An elderly woman brings them the case of five guests who vanished from a Hollywood hotel in 1939.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.2/104,761 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Buzzy Crocker loses his job at the Los Angeles Banner over a fabricated story and lands at a supermarket tabloid, The National Inquisitor, where his niece Anna helps him. An elderly woman, Abigail Gregory, brings him a case: on Halloween in 1939, five guests disappeared from the Hollywood Tower Hotel when lightning struck the elevator carrying them to a party at the Tip Top Club. They were singer Carolyn Crosson, actor Gilbert London, child star Sally Shine, her nanny Emeline Partridge and bellhop Dewey Todd. Abigail says the nanny cursed Sally and the curse misfired, leaving the five to haunt the shuttered hotel. Buzzy and Anna set out to find belongings of each guest, with help from Chris "Q" Todd, the hotel's caretaker.
Cast
- Shira Rothas Young Abigail
- Lynne Donahoeas Chloe
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Tower of Terror (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- This was Disney's first movie based on one of its own theme-park rides, and remains the only one the studio has ever made specifically for television.
- Despite being named after a ride themed around The Twilight Zone, the film has no actual link to that franchise; executive producer George Zaloom said the writers built an original story just from the attraction's free-fall elevator and its Hollywood setting.
- Disney spokesperson Craig Martinelli said the bulk of production stayed in California for logistical reasons, with only exterior shots filmed at the real Disney-MGM Studios ride in Orlando in the summer of 1997.
- Decades after its broadcast, the film has become essentially unobtainable, having never appeared on any streaming service or aired on television again as of 2025.
