Watchers Reborn (1998)

User Rating:

2.0/10   

Director:

John Carl Buechler

Writers:

Sean Dash (writer)
Dean R. Koontz (novel)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Driven by instinct...destined for murder.

Plot:

An extra-smart dog and detective team up to stop a DNA enhanced killer. |

Plot Keywords:

Fourth Part | Genetic Engineering | Mutant | Detective | Trunk

Cast

Mark Hamill	...	Murphy
Lisa Wilcox	...	Grace
Stephen Macht	...	Lem Johnson
Gary Collins	...	Gus Brody
Lou Rawls	...	Doc Grimes
Bob Clendenin	...	Barnes (as Robert Clendenin)
Melissa Cross	...	Kristin
Shawn David Thompson	...	Researcher #1
Lucy Lin	...	Researcher #2
Milton Kahn	...	Agent
Tony Guma	...	Agent #1
Gary J. Wayton	...	Agent #2
Kane Hodder	...	Clerk
Floyd Levine	...	Captain Dekker
Larry Cedar	...	Driver #2

Also Known As:

Watchers 4 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for monster-related violence and gore.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | Iceland:16 | France:-16 | USA:R | Spain:18

Movie Connections:

References "The X Files" (1993)

Pet me!

Man, Roger Corman certainly got his moneys worth out of the film rights to the Dean Koontz novel WATCHERS. This, the fourth entry in the series, continues the saga of Einstein the Golden Retriever and his mutant buddy/stalker The Outsider. The Outsider breaks out of a Government facility where he and Einstein are being tested on. The duo are on the loose and The Outsider kills off a zoo security guard. Det. Murphy (Mark Hamill) is on the case and quickly discovers the dog and scientist Grace (Lisa Wilcox) snooping around. The mean Feds (led by Stephen Macht) are also on the case and want to kill everyone associated with the project to keep it hush-hush. Naturally, that means kill them in public.

Despite an offer of new ideas (REBORN), this is the same ol' WATCHERS. Man finds dog. Dog is smart. Monster chases dog. Dog saves lives. The end. And what does it say about a film when the best actor is a dog? I'm not kidding. Einstein, who gets no screen credit, displays better emotions than Hamill ever does. Director John Carl Buechler keeps things moving fast enough and the kills are all gory so I guess it has that going for it. The end tries to go for a sympathetic Frankenstein's monster twist but it isn't working when your monster looks this bad. "Pet me," he cries at one point to great comic effect. Wilcox, who played Alice in ELM STREET 4 & 5, sports blonde hair in this and looks like a dead ringer for Barbara Campton. As always, Macht gives a solid turn as the heel. He must be filed in all Hollywood Rolodexes under "Bad Guy."