The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

Put Bette Davis in a Disney scare-fare. Add Lynn-Holly Johnson, with a plot to scream over, and you have "The Watcher In the Woods". The rest of the cast is exceptional as well, and the directing by John Hough is terrific! We follow the Curtis family on the search for a new house, and when they come across the Aylwood estate, they feel that they found the perfect house, and as they say, the price is right. Once moved in, Jan Curtis(Johnson) realizes that something awful happened years ago, and now, she must find out what it is, and how to solve the mysteries involved. A watcher, is in the woods, which surrounds the house, and it watches, waiting, surrounding the family with some of the most creepiest scenes in film history! Yes, "The Watcher In the Woods" is a classic beyond what words can say. Every little technique used in the film brings out the most detailed chills needed. Stanly Meyers' chilling music-box theme opens the film with the most haunting forest setting ever seen. Bette Davis doesn't get any better than this, talking to the woods, knowing "it" is there. Lynn-Holly Johnson is a gem! She knew how to play a teen-age heroic role the right way! The rest of the film shines in all the glory it provides. One tag-line says "A masterpiece Of Suspense", and they weren't kidding. This film spills an entire river of suspense with waters as chilling as ice! Why Disney shames this one, is anyones guess, but I know I love it, and many others do too! Disney can get the heck outta the kitchen, cause this film is stayin!

Fmovies: "The Watcher in the Woods" was made at a time when Disney was getting ambitious, making PG rated films and dipping its toes into different genres; other efforts, of course, include "The Black Hole", "Tron", and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Co-written by Brian Clemens ('The Avengers', "Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter") based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall, it tells a story with a very atmospheric feel. As others have said, it has the appeal of a fairy tale. An American family comes to live in an isolated English country estate owned by a lonely recluse, Mrs. Aylwood (screen legend Bette Davis). In no time at all, the two daughters, teen aged Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) and younger Ellie (Kyle Richards) are besieged by other worldly forces, and Jan realizes something must be done to resolve the case of Mrs. Aylwood's daughter Karen, who'd disappeared many years ago when she was Jan's age. Director John Hough and crew make this something worth watching with their moody and stylish presentation. Sometimes some cheesy effects get utilized, and they do tend to stick out a little too much. The reasonably compelling, and never too complicated, story does a good enough job of pulling the viewer in, along with especially strong lighting by Alan Hume and camera-work by Jack Lowin and Malcolm MacIntosh. Right from the start these individuals help to create a very weird feel to the proceedings. Carroll Baker and David McCallum don't get a lot to do as the parents, especially McCallum, but the other adults are all fine, including Richard Pasco as the frightened Tom Colley and Ian Bannen as the cantankerous John Keller. Ms. Davis is wonderful as the distraught old lady who realizes that she could finally find out the truth behind her daughters' disappearance, while Johnson, despite being appealing enough, really overdoes it in terms of her characters' hysteria. What's interesting is how many times the ending was altered during the history of this film. It was originally shown at 100 minutes, with an abrupt ending, then given an elaborate special effects based finale, then reworked again for the films' re-release the following year. The alternate endings are available on the DVD for fans to check out. It's not particularly memorable, but it's pretty enjoyable while it lasts. Seven out of 10.

THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS

Aspect ratio: 1.75:1

Sound format: Dolby Stereo

An attempt by Disney to lift itself out of the doldrums following a creative and commercial downturn in the 1970's, THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS takes its plot from a Young Adult novel by Florence Engel Randall in which an American family takes residence in a creepy old house in the English countryside. Almost immediately, the eldest daughter (former ice-skater Lynn-Holly Johnson) experiences weird visions linked to the disappearance of a teenage girl under mysterious circumstances many years before. The film has visual style to burn (cinematography and set design are especially eye-catching), and there's a couple of terrific PG-level scares, but all the technical gloss in the world can't make up for a listless pace and repetitious plot line, and Johnson's one-note performance transforms a strong, resourceful heroine into little more than a whining goody two-shoes. Worse still, co-stars Bette Davis, Carroll Baker and David McCallum are given almost nothing to do, and there's much evidence of editorial tampering during some of the opening scenes.

Originally slated to conclude with an ambitious visual effects sequence, the version which premiered in 1980 was basically unfinished and led to scornful reviews which doomed it from the outset. Realizing their mistake, Disney pulled the film and reworked the ending, without the participation of several key personnel (including director John Hough!), most of whom had moved on to other projects. This revised print - running 16 minutes shorter than the 100m original - made it into theaters the following year, sporting a 1981 copyright, and is the version which has prevailed ever since. For a detailed report on "Watcher"s troubled production history, see Paul Talbot's superb article in 'Video Watchdog' 88.

The Watcher in the Woods fmovies. Ok, it might not be the greatest movie out there, but I really enjoyed it when I was a kid. And because of that the few times since then that I have watched it, I have held a kind of fascination with it. But alas, my opinion is tainted by childhood. That scary (oh so scary) scene in the fun house haunted me for a long time. And Bette Davis, she is awesome.

"The Watcher In The Woods" is a well crafted thriller from Walt Disney Productions. Originally released in 1980, the film had a rather abrupt ending after which extensive credits for an "Other World" sequence followed. The only problem was that there wasn't any "Other World" sequence in the film and Disney finally admitted that the sequence wasn't finished when the film was released and hoped that no one would notice the credits! When the film was reissued several months with the sequence (really a special effects nightmare) it only made matters worse. Almost a year later the film was re-issued yet again with the ending that is now seen. Through all these problems the film is still one of those rare Disney gems that, to this day, remains overlooked. Bette Davis is well cast as Mrs. Alywood, whose daughter disappeared under mysterious circumstances 30 years earlier. She owns a stately English manor which is rented by an American family over the summer. The eldest daughter Jan (Lynn Holly Johnson) begins to notice strange things happening in the home and in the woods surrounding the manor. She also has an uncanny resembelence to Mrs. Alywood's daughter Karen. Slowly the pieces of Karen's disappearance fall into place and Jan along with the three townspeople that were present when Karen disappeared, try a desparate attempt to bring her back from beyond. The film is not well suited for young children (hence its PG rating) but older kids as well as adults should enjoy it. It's a good horror/mystery film without blood and gore.

Along with Orca the Killer Whale and Jaws, this was among one of the first films I ever saw on video - back in about 1983, when I was three years old!

I remember watching this film practically every evening and going crazy when my elder brother taped over it! I didn't see it again until I was 14 and although it didn't have the same impact, I still think it is a highly imaginative chiller.

It is a shame that this film seemed doomed from the moment the cameras started rolling. To add to all the distribution problems, Bette Davis was reportedly bored rigid on set and thought Lynn-Holly Johnson was a lousy actress, often commenting on how much she'd wanted Diane Lane to star as Jan Curtis instead.

The atmosphere of the film is undeniably creepy, largely thanks to the music featured in it - both the score and the tune from Mrs Aylwood's music box are first rate. Alan Hulme's brilliant cinematography is a wonder to behold. Had The Watcher in the Woods been a box-office hit, I'm sure Hulme would have been nominated for an Oscar.

Johnson is not "lousy" (as Davis reportedly said), she is adequate in the leading role. Much better is adorable Kyle Richards (who had previously appeared in the horror film Halloween and as Alicia Sanderson Edwards in TV's Little House on the Prairie) who plays Johnson's younger sister. However, it is a shame that Davis, Carroll Baker and David McCallum are all sadly underused - the last named has hardly any screen time at all.

Definitely one to see, IF you DO manage to catch it, which is unlikely - the film was never available to buy on videotape in England and has only been on TV about twice in 20 years!

NOTE: The film did get a fabulous special edition DVD release in 2001, with all three endings so fans of the movie could FINALLY see the deleted scenes with the alien watcher of the title!