The Dark Tower: Movie Easter Eggs & Book References

The Dark Tower

admonition : This article contains SPOILERS forThe Dark Tower .

Fans may be plunged into a world of magic and phantasy withThe Dark Towermovie , but the wealthiness of Stephen King Easter Eggs , movie references , and moment of fan serving should help it all feel a scrap more familiar . peculiarly if viewers were hoping to see theDark Towerfilms confirm the same shared universe that Stephen King has bring out many of his most iconic stories to exist within . Those connection will have to wait foraDark Towersequelto ever be explored , but fan can enjoy them immediately .

uncalled-for to say , there will beSPOILERSfor the movie as we break down the references only known to those who ’ve show the full book serial , the insidious nod and impossible - to - miss references to other King films , and everything else we spotted in our viewings .

12. The Overlook Hotel

Fans had best shoulder strap in for a number of reference book and nods to not onlyThe Dark Tower ’s books , but a TON of other novels and unforesightful stories by Stephen King . The adaptations of said books to other films are just as fair game , which means an unforgettable image dropped into the movie when an temblor strikes New York City .

When Jake is chaffer his psychiatrist and discussing his dreaming , a seism fetch on by the Dark Tower being attacked punctuates the doc ’s charge about the nature of Jake ’s " dreaming . " As the room begins to excite , the camera cuts to a fold - up of a framed photograph on the doctor ’s side table . It ’s a pretty unblushing moment of rooter service , since the framed exposure is n’t even a person - just the Timberline Lodge , used as the Overlook Hotel in the big screen version of King’sThe Shining(198o ) .

11. Christine

Of Stephen King ’s strictlyhorrornovels adapt to motion photograph , the infamousChristine(1983 ) may be his secondmost famous behindThe shine . At least in terms of mark a tendency for revulsion fans : of vehicle brought to living to commit evil human action . In the book , the railway car was a bright red , 1958 Plymouth Fury antecedently owned by a man mention Roland D. LeBay ( a lead that King ’s affection for the name would proceed forward toThe Dark Tower ) .

The movie ( and car ) get a shout out when Jake is talking to his neighbor and friend in his chamber about his visions . The boy , named ' Timmy , ' opens the scene by idly push a model elevator car back and forward along the level of the room : a car looking anawfullot like a 1958 Plymouth .

10. Rose Drawings

Most of Jake ’s drawings are straightforward to anyone who has envision the real thing - the Man in Black , the Dark Tower , and even Roland the Gunslinger . But amidst these refreshment of Jake ’s vision , one can be see disperse throughout that is n’t actually explained in the course of the film . We ’re referring to the blood red rose seeable in only a few shots , which in reality refer to more than one primal patch component in the novels .

First , there ’s the Can'-Ka No Rey , or " The Red Fields of None " that surround the Tower itself . These roses are possessed of the deception needed to softly tattle a siren strain , hollo souls to the Dark Tower . But more importantly , asinglesuch rose exist in a vacant mint in New York City , at the corner of Second Avenue and Forty - Sixth Street . The flower is finally protected by Roland in the Christian Bible , since its end would play about the Dark Tower ’s fall all on its own . give thanks good the Man in Black never take in it in the picture .

9. Cujo?

Not all of Stephen King ’s ' horror ' story are based in the supernatural , with no better illustration thanCujo . The story of a proficient firedog driven frantic by madness , terrorize a little townspeople - specifically , a female parent and Logos - is named for the dog in question : a St. Bernard bitten by a fanatic bat . As it turns out , the wienerwurst was in reality list by King as a reference to Willie Wolfe , a extremity of the 1970s ultra political mathematical group live as the Symbionese Liberation Army . The book even conclude with a pup named Willie … which is n’t the only time the group will be mentioned in this leaning .

It ’s the dog itself who gets a nod inThe Dark Tower , when a fair sex can be witness walking a large St. Bernard down the street , entirely oblivious to the trials of Jake Chambers or Roland . He still seems to be a " good " hot dog , mean the hydrophobia is still a long agency off .

8. All Hail the Crimson King

When Jake finds his way to the family in Dutch Hill , Brooklyn , his account point into another gear - doing battle with a demonic house and being transport to Mid - World will do that . Before he leaves , he notes graffiti in the mansion reading"All Hail the Crimson King"and later , The Man in Black runs his script along the very content . It ’s shown elsewhere in the flick , without ever being excuse . But for those who have take the playscript , it ’s nod to therealrivalry going on .

On the Earth’s surface , The Dark Toweris a tale of vengeance between Roland and The Man in Black . In realism , The Man in Black a.k.a . Walter is a retainer of the Crimson King , a timeless , evil being engage within the Dark Tower and for the most part comparable to Satan . The graffiti show that moral force is clear still at work , although the actual nature ofThe Dark Tower ’s place in the book series does raise some questions about the state of matter of the Crimson King ’s following .

7. The IT Connection

Most Stephen King fans will voice their shock absorber in the theater upon Jake ’s discovery of a dilapidated and buried musical theme ballpark bearing the name " PENNYWISE . " Not only is it the unforgettable name of the murderous clown in King’sIT , but the buffoon itself can almost be see pop out from the ground . His hand , still holding a bunch of balloons is visible , and what may be a red lid beside it show Pennywise ’s face is just below the surface ( count yourselves golden for that one ) .

For moviegoers , it ’s yet another obvious , impossible to escape court to King . But for book readers , it ’s actually faithful to portion out universe Stephen King create using hisDark Towerseries , working several of his previous stories into its fable . In fact , The Man in Black ’s ability to shapeshift has result some to suspect that Pennywise is a similar form of demon … but we ’re not sure that mystery will in reality be support or deniedwhen the newIThits theaters .

6. “The Shine”

As evidence of just how much the world ofThe Dark Towerand King ’s other stories really is , fans should pay confining aid to the ability of the film ’s protagonist , Jake . In the world of the book , the ability is referred to by the residents of Mid - World as " The Touch , " making Jake able to feel and see realism far beyond his other sens . Even more powerful than the Seers of Mid - World , The Touch is what Jake and The Man in Black have in usual - as well as another small fry in a famous King story .

We ’re referring to ' Danny Torrance , ' the little son terrorize by the ghostly inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel inThe sputter . In that story , the titulary " shining " is a reference to Danny ’s ability to not only see the Overlook ’s spirits , but bring them to life-time . In King ’s novelThe Stand , prophetical vision are order to be"the shining lamp of God … sometimes just the shine . “In the flick , the parallels between Danny and Jake are made even clear , swapping out " The Touch " and referring to psychic abilities as " The Shine . "

5. Misery’s Child

The Man in Black does n’t work alone in the picture show , but relies on a team of techs to monitor and launch attack from psychic children against the Tower . During one scene pose in his base of operations , a copy of the novel ( intelligibly titled)Misery ’s Childcan be seen sitting on a console . That ’s the name of the book that launches the issue of Stephen King ’s bookMisery , as well as the 1990 picture show .

In the book , Misery ’s Childis the last story by romance novelist Paul Sheldon . When he ’s caught in a car accident and nursed back to wellness by an look up to fan , the revelation thatMisery ’s Childwill kill his longtime heroine , Misery Chastain , Paul ’s nightmare really begins . Since the book , like the film , realise acclamation , we have to put on that taste in psychological thriller novel extends well beyond the realm of our Earth .

4. Portal 14-08

The trend of Easter Eggs that are impossiblenotto patch for fan of Stephen King ’s composition career continues to the motion picture ’s portals . The first goal input by Jake is 19 - 19 , a number appearing to him in several of his visions both abstract and as an address in the small townspeople of Breakers ( psychical children being used by the Man in Black ) . The number 19 is a pop one for King on his own , but theothergate shown prominently is an even more expressed reference .

When Jake is preparing to head to Keystone Earth , he ’s say by and sr. Mid - World resident that he should note their own gate for when he needs to render . The act 14 - 08 over the doorway also happens to be the title of yet another Stephen King employment ( 1408 ) following a piece pin in a hotel room of horrors . The tale was adapted into a movie star John Cusack in 2007 .

3. The Black Thirteen

The flick may not plunge into some of the rule book serial ' magic as much as rooter may care , but several magical enchantments or engineering are record and alluded to without account . When The Man in Black ’s goons arrive to snatch Jake from Roland , the hearing get to see the attack from the villain ’s point of view . The Man in Black selects a magical stone ball from a aggregation , and use it to see over the distance that separates his base of operations and Roland . And these are no ordinary ball .

They ’re the compendium of ascertain Stone sleep together as Maerlyn ’s Rainbow , named for the ancient , demonic being that lift from the Prim alongside The Dark Tower ( the primordial , unformed globe that existed before realities were constructed ) . The most sinister of the baker ’s dozen was known as Black Thirteen , which allowed the Crimson King to keep a weather eye on Mid - World . Here , the audience is leave to marvel ( like the reader ) about the abilities and uses of the other dozen .

2. The Smiley Face

To emphasize just how cruel and rick The Man in Black truly is , Roland and Jake find that he has done more than kill the son ’s female parent and step - Father of the Church . There will be no making love lost for Lon , leave lie down on the kitchen floor , but Jake ’s mother is a different story . As if the charred precis of her body on the floor was n’t high-risk enough , The Man in Black psychically encodes memory of her actual destruction into a promissory note on the wall . A simple"Hello There"and a smiley face , presumptively draw and quarter with the ash tree of Jake ’s mother .

While some attribute the smiling face to Stephen King ’s novelMr . Mercedes , the extension is , more logically , a nod to The Man in Black ’s parentage . As those who go digging into the character ’s history will know , The Man in Black is in reality Walter Padick … who has claimed a act of names throughout King ’s Koran - include the nefarious role of Randall Flagg inThe stand up . The villain was shaped by the 1970s , specifically influence by the leader of the Symbionese Liberation Army , Donald DeFreeze . That include the Smiley Face release he wore on his jacket .

1. The Shawshank Connection

It was n’t just the horror genre that Stephen King changed forever , but the world of tragic , unforgettable tales of prisoner engage their freedom . The Shawshank Redemption(1994 ) is really a shortened adaptation of the novelette ’s title , release in a 1982 ingathering of King stories . The original claim isRita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption , referring to the large poster of the actress that protagonist Andy Dufresne hang in his mobile phone .

In the book , it ’s actually a poster of vocaliser Linda Ronstadt , not Raquel Welch left concealing Andy ’s tunnel . But it was Rita Hayworth who first gave him the idea and mean value of conceal his escape . It ’s an unforgettable image for fans of the moving picture , and the exact poster reappears inThe Dark Toweras Roland rummage through a gun and ammo store - even place his handwriting on the image as he , too , looks for his room out .