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The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
7 April 1982 (France)
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Tagline:
Scared of going into the woods? You should be ... more
Plot:
When a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to an occult event years past. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Eclipse
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Haunted House
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Country Home
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Occult
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Past
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Awards:
3 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Tiff '09 Review: 'Under the Mountain'
(From FEARnet. 18 September 2009, 10:02 AM, PDT)
From the Files of Fangoria: The Watcher In The Woods with Bette Davis Eyes
(From Fangoria. 25 August 2009, 6:56 PM, PDT)
(From FEARnet. 18 September 2009, 10:02 AM, PDT)
From the Files of Fangoria: The Watcher In The Woods with Bette Davis Eyes
(From Fangoria. 25 August 2009, 6:56 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
72yo Bette Davis in a Disney Family Suspense-Thriller
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Cast
(Credited cast) | Bette Davis | ... | Mrs. Aylwood |
 | Lynn-Holly Johnson | ... | Jan Curtis |
 | Kyle Richards | ... | Ellie Curtis |
 | Carroll Baker | ... | Helen Curtis |
| David McCallum | ... | Paul Curtis |
 | Benedict Taylor | ... | Mike Fleming |
| Frances Cuka | ... | Mary Fleming |
| Richard Pasco | ... | Tom Colley |
| Ian Bannen | ... | John Keller |
| Katharine Levy | ... | Karen Aylwood (uncredited in the shortened 1981 release) |
| Eleanor Summerfield | ... | Mrs. Thayer |
| Georgina Hale | ... | Young Mrs. Aylwood |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
84 min
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
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Certification:
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The original version ran 100 minutes. This was with the short ending that didn't include the explanatory "Other World Sequence" (which wasn't finished at the time of the film's initial release). After the original ending didn't work, the filmmakers re-cut it, adding the special effects sequence in which the viewer sees the other world that the victim was trapped in. This ending still didn't fare well with the critics, so Vincent McEveety was brought in (director John Hough was unavailable) to tweak the film and shoot an entirely new ending and opening credits sequence.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Jan and Mr. Keller are in the chapel waiting for the rest of the people to come she looks through a stained glass window. It is a big missing piece she looks through, but when they show the rest of the people coming it shows the lead in the glass minus the stained glass rather than one big missing piece.
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Quotes:
Mrs. Aylwood:
[to unseen presence in the woods] She's going to stay here... is that what you wanted?
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Movie Connections:
References The Haunting (1963/I)
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It's an interesting contrast to experience Bette Davis in a Disney family suspense thriller--maybe the scariest Disney flick ever made. If anyone could have been more mysterious & bewitchingly secretive, I can't imagine who. I have the 1998 VHS that has a cover with a marvelous photograph of Davis on the back.
Florence Engel Randall's plot in her novel, "A Watcher in the Woods," goes like this: The Curtis family, Helen (Carroll Baker), her husband Paul (David McCullum), & their 2 daughters, Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) & Ellie (Kyle Richards), rent an old English manor from it's owner, Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis), who lives in the guest cottage. The lady of the manor seems to be haunting, mean & eerily eccentric.
Jan experiences some paranormal events immediately after moving into the manor. For one thing, she can't see her own reflection in a bedroom mirror. Then, Jan begins to strongly sense that someone is watching her in the woods. Neither Helen nor Paul are keen about the girls spending time with Mrs. Aylwood. But, as Jan becomes more scared & curious about who or what is in the woods, the pre-teen begins investigating, starting with Mrs. Aylwood.
After Jan goes into Mrs. Aylwood's cottage to talk with her about the mysterious phenomena that she's noticed, the secret of the woods starts to be revealed by Mrs. Aylwood. Although she's very reluctant to talk about it, Mrs. Aylwood tells Jan the story about her pre-teen daughter's disappearance in the same woods 30 years ago.
The supernatural cinematic effects are well done. Bette Davis' subdued performance as a mysterious older woman makes the show a spine-tingling thriller. The suspense builds to a climax that is not predictable. The settings are spot-on & befitting for a haunted mood.
Keeping in mind that the genre of this movie is a family suspense suitable for children, I found it to be excellent.