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The Watcher in the Woods (1980) More at IMDbPro »

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67 reviews in total

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13 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
The scariest Disney movie ever!, 20 August 2005

Author: Dale Dewoody from United States

This movie terrified me as a child. So I ran across it and had to buy it. I was expecting it to be horrible and cheesy as an adult, but I was wrong.

This movie has some scary parts, even to adults, and I've watched hundreds of horror movies. This one still creates a few chills.

The basic plot is that a family moves to a new house next to some spooky old lady. One of the daughters starts seeing weird things, like a blind-folded girl in the mirror. She also learns the spooky old-lady neighbor had a daughter that disappeared about 20 or 30 years ago. She investigates this mystery despite the scary things that happen.

I promise this movie will at least give you a few chills. The creepy girl in the mirror still freaks me out. It's hard to believe this was a Disney film.

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15 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
The best disney film ever!, 10 March 2004
Author: narnerbee (narnerbee@hotmail.com) from US of A

Beating other films such as "Candleshoe" and "Escape To Witch Mountain" by far, this is the best film Disney ever produced, and I am outraged that this film does NOT get the right justice it deserves! I have enjoyed this film for years, and years, and never would I have guessed that Disney is the real villian when it comes to this chiller! Disney used to make film for adults, as well as chilldren, and now, children are so spoiled and rotten, and Disney is the rat! All Disney ever does is make rediculous films and TV shows depicting miscreants and awful characters! Back in the day, when movies were made right, Disney knew how to pack a punch! Children are clueless as far as this film is concerned, they do not know how to enjoy it, at least, not like we adults can. This movie was the film that made music box music a vary creepy thing, as Stanly Meyers brilliant score opens the film, with a slight ringing, and strings bringing out the dead still of the woods. The rest of the film is followed by great acting, good cinematography, and terrific special effects! What else an I say about this ghost story about families, alike, and different, and haunted by the lost spirit of a girl, trying to find her way home, and the angry soul, who switched places with her years ago? I LOVE this film, I will always praise it to the highest, and I weep for those who dismiss it!

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11 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Stylish visuals, but not much else, 26 December 2004

Author: Libretio

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.

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9 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
72yo Bette Davis in a Disney Family Suspense-Thriller, 18 October 2007

Author: semioticz from United States

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.

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11 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
An outstanding film which serves chills to the very touch of the bone!, 29 March 2005

Author: BansheeCreature from The World Of Movies

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!

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Kids Flick, 24 October 2002
Author: ripD from California

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.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Creepy happenings in the woods, 22 March 2005

Author: Chris Gaskin from Derby, England

I have seen The Watcher In the Woods just the once and found it very creepy. Disney decided to make a movie more of a horror nature and this is the result.

An American family move into an English house in the middle of some woods and it turns out to be haunted, as do the woods. The house is owned by an elderly widow, Mrs Aylwood, who is rather creepy herself. The family's two daughters hear and see strange things, including the voice of a teenage girl who disappeared many years ago during a solar eclipse. This girl turns out to be Mrs Aylwood's daughter. She appears during another eclipse towards the end...

This movie is very creepy in parts and is not recommended for younger children.

The Watcher In the Woods has an excellent cast: Bette Davis (The Petrified Forest, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?) as Mrs Aylwood, Bond girl Lynn-Holly Johnson (For Your Eyes Only), Man From UNCLE actor David McCallum, Ian Bannen and Eleanor Summerfield. Good acting from all, especially Bette Davis.

The Watcher In the Woods is certainly worth seeing, especially for fans of ghost stories.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
What happened to your daughter?, 27 January 2003

Author: Rainbow2003 from Montgomery, Alabama

Lynn-Holly Johnson is stupendous as Jan in this fabulous suspense film. The remaining cast is brilliant. The costumes are trendy. One of the good flicks in the genre, The Watcher In The Woods will haunt the viewer with a chilling past. 8 out of 10.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Still creepy after all these years, proof that DVD is king!, 10 April 2002
Author: mightyshwanzi from Wheeling, IL

I saw this movie when I was about 6 or 7. I made my parents watch it 3 times in a row in order for me to completely 'understand' the film because for a kid that age it's difficult to piece things together that are as complex as this plot... imagine a 7 year old watching 'The Sixth Sense'. OY! Now as a 26 year old veteran filmgoer I watch this film on DVD and can still appreciate what held my fascination for so long. Sure some of the dialogue is campy and a few of the situations don't make sense (why after showing Jan the circle clue in the pond does the entity shoot her, pushing her into the water to drown?), but it is creepy and atmospheric in the extreme.

The DVD edition of this film is one of the reasons I love this format. The two alternate endings featured here are worth the price of the disc alone! Sure, I'm glad they didn't put them into the film since they don't fit in any way, shape or form... it's just cool to see what the original intentions of the filmmakers were back in 1980. People complain that while Ellie was possessed by the entity in the final version she spouted too much exposition. Not true when compared to Jan's nonsensical explanation in the alternate endings where she talks about 'negative images' and how Karen was 'suspended in time and space'. It's just dumb. I love the ending in the final version. You never see the entity's 'true' form (just a pillar of light), making it creepier, and the ending makes sense (it's been sort of possessing Ellie throughout the film, so it's final takeover is justified). Just hearing Ellie's modified voice while possessed is scarier than the alien puppet floating around on strings (it looks like the male alien from 'Species II' mixed with a dragonfly). And that indecipherable FX ending on the alien's home planet.. what the hell was that? Only after reading the DVDs liner notes did I understand what was going on.

Stick with the final version's ending... it's clean and fitting. And this movie is still wonderful after all these years.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Dark Disney., 10 April 2008

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

This is a movie I'll always remember as one of the ones that sparked my interest for the horror genre, and yet, I only saw it just now from start to finish for the very first time. There's a nice (albeit totally irrelevant) story behind that. Back in my grade school years, it was tradition for the entire class to watch a movie on the Fridays before each major school holiday. After enduring multiple gentle Disney movies, like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Robin Hood" and "Mary freaking Poppins", our second grade teacher suggested to watch a slightly more mature and serious film, this being "The Watcher in the Woods". Personally I was very enthusiast, but several of my wimpy classmates got too scared during the opening credits already and the teacher decided it would be better to turn it off. Darn soft kids! The atmospheric and unsettling opening sequences (showing images of a forest guided by remotely eerie music) were exactly what fascinated me, and I'm sure these brief images contributed a lot to my current obsession with everything that involves horror. For some reason I never saw it again until now, nearly 20 years later, and that's quite a shame because "The Watcher in the Woods" is a movie you're supposed to see at young age. It's primarily a fantasy film, and those are far more appropriate for child-audiences because their imagination is far more vivid and the substantial defects are easier to overlook.

These are two fundamentally required characteristics when watching the movie, by the way. You need to have a vivid imagination and complete the story in your own mind (because the script is full of holes and suffered from drastic re-writes) and you definitely need to look past a lot of shortcomings. It's basically an ordinary supernaturally themed mystery, but obviously without shocking death sequences and complex undertones because it's a Disney film. The model Curtis family moves into an ancient English countryside mansion bordering on an immense forest. The owner, the peculiarly behaving Mrs. Aylwood, is very strict regarding her tenants, but she welcomes the Curtis family because the teenage daughter Jan reminds her of her own daughter Karen, who inexplicably disappeared nearly 30 years ago. Almost promptly, the youngest girl Ellie starts hearing silent voices and Jan notices a frightening presence as if someone's constantly watching her from within the woods. Jan develops the impression that Mrs. Aylwood daughter might still be around and that her spirits is trapped in the woods.

The finished product clearly suffers under the massive amount of re-edits, re-shoots and re-writes of the script. It looks as if the creators realized at a certain point that the movie was too sentimental and/or not suspenseful enough, so the quickly added improperly elaborated hints towards alternate dimensions, solar eclipses and bizarre initiation rites. The last 15-20 minutes are a messy hodgepodge of ideas and, eventually, you're left to your own devices to copy and paste the conclusion together. "The Watcher in the Woods" is at its most effective when talented director John Hough uncannily trolleys his camera through the thick and sinister woods, or when Bette Davis gives a one-woman-show as the intriguing Mrs. Aylwood. The music is excellent and the special effects showcased during the finale are guaranteed to astound young viewers with a healthy interest in the macabre.

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