A film adaptation of Stephen King's series, The Dark Tower, is finally here after years in the works, and not without some serious fanfare. After Ron Howard's plan for the film fell through, King fans were excited to hear that a new director, Nikolaj Arcel, has taken on the ambitious project. I say "ambitious" because the series is comprised of eight books in total, and that is a lot to translate to the big screen, especially in just a 95-minute runtime. But despite its short length, the movie still has a serious fear factor. While it's not ranked one of King's scariest books on Goodreads, those who are wondering if The Dark Tower movie is scary should be forewarned that it's definitely sinister.
The Dark Tower, out Aug 4 and starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, does not go completely "by the book," but rather it serves as an analogous sequel, according to the director. Elba plays gunslinger Roland Deschain, who is sought to save the titular Dark Tower, which controls the universe's balance. One of the worlds it balances is present-day Earth, which is where Roland travels to for much of the movie, along with Jake Chambers, a young New Yorker who has dark, distressing visions of the world containing the Dark Tower.
What would a fight against evil be without a villain though, right? McConaughey's Walter O'Dim fulfills that vital role, and the result is an awesome looking multiverse good versus bad action movie full of plenty of thrills and shockers. And while Elba's gunslinging skills are pretty hot, they're also genuinely frightening at times.
While King's The Dark Tower isn't one of his scariest novels, the trailer references two of those list-toppers. If you watch closely, you'll see that the trailer pays homage to IT and The Shining, two of the scariest books King's written, and possibly even two of the scariest books ever written. It's even been deduced that those creepy-AF clowns come from one of the Dark Tower's universes. That should give you a good idea of how creepy and dark this story gets, and while there might not be horrifying clowns jumping out of sewers, you may still find yourself holding onto your seat.
