The Black Tower John Smith 1985-7 24mins Colour 16mm

In The Black Tower we enter the world of a man haunted by a tower which, he believes, is following him around London.

While the character of the central protagonist is indicated only by a narrative voice-over which takes us from unease to breakdown to mysterious death, the images, meticulously controlled and articulated, deliver a series of colour coded puzzles, games, jokes and puns which pull the viewer into a mind-teasing engagement. Smith's assurance and skill as a filmmaker undercuts the notion of the avant-garde as dry, unprofessional and dull and in Tower we have an example of a film which plays with the emotions as well as the language of film.' - Nik Houghton, Independent Media.

'The Black Tower expands the core of Smith's interests: chiefly, the image as a filmic fact which is constantly questioned and often undermined by language and soundtrack. Like his earlier films, The Black Tower is concerned with description, but this time framed by a story whose undertow of melancholy balances its wit and wry humour, and which is a remarkable fiction in its own right.' - A.L. Rees.

'The hilarious and slightly menacing The Black Tower is one of the most accomplished films to come from the British avant-garde for years.' - Michael O'Pray, Independent Media.