The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

Undescribable Perfection

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

When a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to an occult event years past.I wasn't really aware of this film until Rue Morgue magazine did a focus on it. And wow, it really deserves a wider audience. John Hough is a great director; his "Hell House" is one of my all-time favorites. Here, working more in a family-friendly way, he still manages to terrify.Although the older sister is a terrible actress, at least when she is trying to be emotional, the movie as a whole stands up as creepy and a decent mystery. You can never go wrong with those films where kids know more about what is going on than their parents do.

a music box as axis of a horror who reminds old Gothic stories. Bettle Davis in impeccable role. a family in a strange place, in middle of traces of past. a film who impress for atmosphere and for the sparkles of old fashion instruments to define tension and fear and slices of a past incident who explains a strange form of survive. not extraordinary but useful for discover another side of Disney and admire its mark in a different form. short, a decent horror. useful for teenager, who are, maybe, its basic target but, in same measure , interesting for adults for remind the force of magic of memories preserved by ordinary objects. a film about strange events and obscure explanations. and that could be enough. for entertainment. for the flavor of 1980 cinema. for precise art to do a not bad story.

Florence Engel Randall's book "A Watcher in the Woods" becomes abysmal, dumbed-down entry in Grand Guignol territory by the Disney people, an unusually bland ghost story offering special effects galore but nobody to care about. Young girl's spirit haunts an isolated manor, with Bette Davis doing just-OK work as a spooky neighbor who helps the new residents unravel the mystery. Supporting players Carroll Baker and Lynn-Holly Johnson are acceptable, but the film's major set-pieces, designed for chills, fail to come off due to pedestrian handling. This is a thriller made by people who don't understand the genre, although the production values are up to Disney's high standards. Film is hurt overall by post-production tinkering; the finale, reworked twice due to poor audience reactions, is simply unsatisfactory. *1/2 from ****

I have very little interest in movies about the supernatural. Subjects like ESP and other psychic powers just don't interest me. You should keep that in mind, as I am sure this had an impact on my enjoyment of the movie. So why did I watch it? Bette Davis. It's one of the only films she made that I have never seen--this one and "Return to Witch Mountain"--both of which are considered kids' films. However, I noticed that at least in the case of "Watcher in the Woods", it has appeal for all ages and isn't just another Disney family film. No, it has a bit more of an edge and apparently was a deliberate attempt by the studio to branch into PG-rated films for the first time--with this film and "The Black Hole" (a film I really disliked). Apparently, pre-screenings for "Watcher" were not good, so the studio decided to release "The Black Hole" first--though in hindsight, I think "Watcher" was a much better and less 'kiddie' oriented.The story begins with a family moving to a home in England. Almost immediately, weird things start happening involving the oldest daughter. She starts having what appear to be spooky visions--and they are quite frightening and also sometimes warn her of impending disasters (more than once saving her life). Soon, her little sister starts hearing things--and all this is too coincidental not to mean something is seriously wrong. See the film to find out what happens next.All in all, a mildly diverting film but one that didn't have a huge impact on me. It's not bad--but lacks scary qualities that might have made it better--like the film sometimes pulled its punches. Still, it's worth seeing.