To say The Deadly Tower was a change of direction for Kurt Russell back when it was made would be a massive understatement.
It even looks like one now, so rarely has he played anything approaching a villainous role in his career. And while I wouldn't change much about his career, as he remains about my favourite star of all time, I wonder what we missed out on by not seeing him play more roles like this.
This isn't quite your usual movie antagonist, of course - this is Charles Whitman, the mass murderer who killed 16 people from the tower of the University of Texas in 1966. Russell plays him with no histrionics at all - just a clear-eyed,…