Tower of Terror

Before Pirates of the Caribbean, this 1997 Made for TV Movie was the first film to be based on a ride from the Disney Theme Parks, in this case The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror.

Steve Guttenberg plays the role of a disgraced reporter named Buzzy Crocker who is stuck doing tabloid stories after submitting a story that turned out to be false. He meets an old woman named Abigail who tells him the story of The Hollywood Tower Hotel, which was closed down after lightning struck the elevator and killed its five passengers. She claims that Emeline Partridge, the nanny of child actress Sally Shine, was responsible for the horrible event, which put a curse on the hotel, trapping their spirits there. She begs him to go into the hotel and collect some items she needs to break the curse. Along with his niece Anna, and the inheritor of the hotel, Chris "Q" Todd, Buzzy ventures into the hotel, and is surprised at what he finds.


 * Actor Allusion: Of a sort. Sally Shine, obvious parody of Shirley Temple, is played by Lindsay Ridgeway. This isn't the only time Lindsay played a Shirley Temple Expy - in fact, the same year this movie was made she was the singing voice for Darla Dimple (in which Shirley Temple meets Enfant Terrible) in Cats Don't Dance.
 * California Doubling: Weird, albeit justified, example. Most of the scenes involving the hotel were filmed at the actual attraction in Disney World, which was the only version of the ride in existence at the time. Thus, although the movie is set and mostly filmed in Los Angeles, it switches to Florida whenever anyone gets close to the tower. Fortunately, Florida and southern California have a similar climate and the area around the attraction was made up to look like Hollywood anyway. The Florida scenes were filmed first, in case you were wondering.
 * The Cassandra: No one believed Abigail about what happened.
 * Children Are Innocent: Sally repeatedly shows this quality time and time again. By the end of the movie it becomes something of a plot point, and in the end
 * Dead All Along:
 * Defanged Horrors: Though don't think for a second there isn't any Nightmare Fuel.
 * Divorced Installment: The theme park ride is based on The Twilight Zone, complete with the Fake Shemp being used to feature the late Rod Serling hosting the pre-show introduction. The movie drops the Twilight Zone connection, probably to avoid paying royalties. (The version of the ride at Tokyo Disneyland also drops the connection to The Twilight Zone, though partly because the TV show isn't well-known in Japan, and partly because of the fact that the Japanese had different beliefs and customs in regards to the occult and the supernatural.)
 * Eureka Moment:
 * Everyone Is Related: When it is revealed that.
 * Evil Laugh: Emeline gives one in Abigail's flashback.
 * Littered all over the hotel when Buzzy is getting the book.
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision:.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom
 * Golden Age of Hollywood: When the accident took place.
 * Happily Ever After: Hey, even at its scariest, Disney is Disney.
 * Hell Hotel: Duh.
 * Ironic Nursery Tune
 * Jacob Marley Apparel: Subverted in that Claire was able to appear in different 1930s outfits . Otherwise played straight.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Buzzy and Gilbert.
 * Like a Son to Me:
 * Lightning Can Do Anything: Though it is magic lightning, so...
 * Motive Rant: gives one at the end, about
 * Next Sunday A.D.: The movie was released in 1997, but took place in 1999. Either that or the characters are rounding up when they refer to 1939 as "sixty years ago".
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Sally Shine is quite obviously Shirley Temple.
 * Non Sequitur Thud
 * Oblivious Guilt Slinging:
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Sally's Pink Means Feminine, frilly, puffy-sleeved dress.
 * Recursive Adaptation: This is the best ever TV movie based on a theme park ride based on a TV show.
 * Trunk Full Of Crazy:
 * The Unfavorite:.
 * Unfinished Business: The ghosts can't leave until.
 * Trunk Full Of Crazy:
 * The Unfavorite:.
 * Unfinished Business: The ghosts can't leave until.