The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

Brian Clemens (screenplay)
Florence Engel Randall (novel)

Release Date:

7 April 1982 (France)

Genre:

Family | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Scared of going into the woods? You should be ...

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.

Plot Keywords:

Eclipse | Solar Eclipse | Country Home | Haunted House | Occult

Awards:

3 nominations

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

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Australia:G | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Mrs. Alywood saves Jan from drowning in the pond they are in Mrs. Alywood's cottage talking. Jan's bangs change from being spread out across her forehead to being all together.

Quotes:

Mrs. Aylwood: [to unseen presence in the woods] She's going to stay here... is that what you wanted?

Movie Connections:

References The Haunting (1963/I)

Stylish visuals, but not much else

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.