This is the holy grail of all Emmeritus Productions, who cranked out unbelievably cheap, silly "action" flicks for Hamilton's CHCH-TV through the 80s. It bears all the hallmarks: shot on video with soap-opera production values, silly dribs of implied sex-and-violence interspersed with lots and lots of talking. And this one comes with an attitude: the computerized office tower that sucks people's life energy through the light sockets is clearly supposed to be some kind of commentary on the tyranny of the energy-conservation movement, of all things! But now that I've voluntarily watched it three times, I have to admit that it's kind of endearing in a very stupid way: the bickering crew of mismatched fugitives-from-death are quite amusing, and the sub-HAL computer with its 80s digital-animation readout is a nice way to break things up. While I can't really award any points for being SO 80s, I am kind of obsessed with that one woman's bird-nest-forward perm. And if you're going to be bad, you might as well repeat the same walking shot three times within one five-minute stretch, for maximum entertainment value.
Review of The Tower
