Credit: Disney“This, as you may recognize, is a maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you, if you dare, to step aboard because in tonight’s episode, you are the star. And this elevator travels directly to . . . “
The Twilight Zone! *Cue dramatic music.*
This year, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror celebrated its 30th anniversary as a staple attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. The attraction takes guests on a spooky ride up a haunted elevator, and subsequently sends them plummeting down on the ride of a lifetime. To this day, fans cannot get enough of their heart-pounding trip.
Related: Disney’s Tower of Terror Gets Electrifying New Update, Changes Made to 30-Year-Old Ride
In 1997, three years after Tower of Terror opened, Disney premiered a spooky new movie on its Wonderful World of Disney movie night. That movie was The Tower of Terror, starring Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg.
And it might be one of Disney’s rarest movies, as it is not available to stream on almost every platform, including Disney+, and isn’t the easiest to find online for purchase to add to your DVD collection.
In Disney’s Tower of Terror, Guttenberg plays Buzzy Crocker, a down-on-his-luck reporter who has just been fired from his job after publishing a story that turned out to be fake. Buzzy and his niece Anna (Kirsten Dunst) now both contribute articles to a supermarket tabloid.
Buzzy and Anna don’t think much about who reads the tabloid, so they are shocked when an old woman comes to them and says that she has a story she is sure they will be interested in.
Abigail Gregory, played by Amzie Strickland, said that she was visiting the Hollywood Tower Hotel on Halloween night in 1939. On that night, five people boarded an elevator — singer Carolyn Crosson (Melora Hardin), her boyfriend Gilbert London (Alastair Duncan), child actress Sally Shine (Lindsay Ridgeway), her nanny, Emeline Partridge (Wendy Worthington), and bellhop Dewey Todd (John Franklin).
Related: Till Death Do Us Part: Host Your Dream Wedding at Disney’s Tower of Terror
Something happened on the elevator’s trip to the Tip Top Club, and all five people on the elevator died. Abigail believed that Emmaline cast a spell that led to their deaths, having been annoyed by Sally’s spoiled behavior. However, something went wrong, and now their spirits are trapped in the hotel, being frequently sighted by guests.
Abigail tells Buzzy and Anna that she believes the spirits can be freed from being trapped in the hotel and the curse broken if the elevator is repaired, and items belonging to the passengers are found. The curse will also require them to reenact what happened on that tragic night. Buzzy and Anna then enlist the help of Chris “Q” Todd (Michael McShane), Dewey’s grandson.
Related: Disney’s Tower of Terror Doesn’t Actually Drop
The ghosts fear what will happen to them if Anna and Buzzy interfere, so they do what they can to stop them. However, things take a turn when Anna confronts Emmaline and accuses her of killing everyone on the elevator. Emmaline is shocked—as are Carolyn, Gilbert, Sally, and Dewey—and does everything she can to prove her innocence, which she eventually does.
But that creates a major question — if Emmaline didn’t cast the curse and kill the people on the elevator, then who did?
The answer and the person’s reason behind it will shock you, but we don’t want to give you any spoilers!
The original curse was supposed to make the elevator crash, and if this person gets their way, the curse will finally be enacted properly, and the five souls will be lost forever. Anna becomes determined to save the spirits, nearly losing her own life in the process.
However, this is a Disney movie, which means a happy ending is inevitable.
Now, I know that I told you Tower of Terror is a tough movie to find on most streaming platforms, and it is. But we have good news: an uploaded version is available on YouTube, and you can watch it below!
It’s been almost thirty years since Disney made this Tower of Terror movie, but the story of the Tip Top Club and the people who died on the elevator is not over!
In 2021, Disney announced that it had teamed up with Marvel star Scarlett Johansson on a new Tower of Terror film. The film was nearly canceled when Johansson sued Disney for breach of contract in 2021, but the lawsuit was settled, and the movie was back on.
Unfortunately, we do not have any details about this new movie. We don’t know who will be in it, what it will be about, or when it will be released. But we can look forward to a new Tower of Terror story that will give us some lasting memories.
Did you know Disney made a Tower of Terror movie? Have you ever seen it? Let us know in the comments!