The Watcher (2000)

Watcher in the Woods
It is great to re-live the movie that terrified me as a child :) It's not quite as scary as I remember, but brings back fun memories.

Early Disney attempt at PG-style fare is worth a look
Creepy, subtle horror/mystery by Disney was a good attempt to produce more mainstream movies (as opposed to strictly kids' fare) back in the early 80's. Though, if you think about it, Disney was always pretty willing to include scary elements in both its animated and live-action movies, so this initiative really wasn't much of a stretch. The great Bette Davis lends additional credibility to this modest but well-crafted film via her fairly small but nicely-performed role as the grieving mother of a long-lost child. The DVD I saw included the two alternate endings described by other Amazon reviewers. They're interesting to see, but the ending attached to the film- though it IS somewhat abrupt- is probably the best of all the conclusions. The other endings spell out too specifically things (the nature of the Watcher, where he/she/it comes from, etc.) that are better left imagined or speculated about by the film's characters.

Disney Tries to Go Edgy
The Curtis family moves into a secluded English country house. Strange things happen right away. Daughter Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) sees things. When she touches glass it breaks into a triangle. When she looks into an old dresser mirror, she cannot see her reflection. When she touches it it cracks into a triangle. And in the triangle she can see the reflection of a blindfolded girl.

That night she is awoken by her sister Ellie's sleeptalking. But Ellie (Kyle Richards) tells Jan it was her that was talking.

The next day the girls are visiting a farm and Ellen in a trance writes NERAK on the barn window. From the other side it reads Karen and Mrs. Fleming becomes disturbed by this. Back at home, Ellie is drawn into the woods and Jan goes looking for her. She finds Ellie by the pond. The girls hear disembodied singing followed by a light flash and then a circle in the water.

Jan falls into the pond and gets trapped by a branch underwater. Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis) rescues her. Jan tells her of what is happening. Mrs. Aylwood tells Jan about her daughter that disappeared 30 years ago.

The following day, the family goes to a motorcross race. Ellie starts to scream for Jan to come to her. Moments later a motorycle goes off track and lands on the rock that Jan was standing on.

The girls go horseback riding neighbor Mike (his mother was present whan Karen disappeared.) Ellie's horse bolts and Mike goes after her. Jan's horse gets spooked takes her to the chapel where Karen disappeared. She sees a trianglular light on a coffin and then Karen's image in the coffin. While there a sudden gust blows out a window and two circular panes of glass fall at her feet, one with a sunburst being covered by a dark piece of glass.

Next Jan is in a house of mirrors and suddenly every reflection is of the blindfolded Karen. Jan decides to find out what happened the night that Karen Aylwood disappeared. John Keller tells her to leave it alone. But Tom Colley tells her want happened. That Karen during an initation the chapel was struck by lightning and caught on fire. The three ran leaving the blindfolded Karen alone. Tom turned around and saw the tower bell fall but Karen had already gone.

Mrs. Curtis (Carroll Baker) tries to take the girls away from the house but the woods stop them, setting up the rescue of Karen.

This was part of Disney studio trying to change its image from low budget family orient films to a more main stream films. This film was left on the shelf for over a year before they reshot the end and released it.

This film is very interesting and despite some minor story flaws and rather rudimentary special effects (even for those days), this film is enjoyable for the entire family.

By the way Kyle Richards looks incredibly like her more famous sister Kim Richards. And it is great seeing Carroll Baker working again.

DVD EXTRAS
Alternate Ending #1 (6:32) - this gives a form to the watcher - which looks like something from Alien. In this one the special effects are more elaborate but there is something missing.

Aleternate Ending #2 (13:38) - this is an extended version of alternate ending #1. The beginning is like the current ending but the last half is like ending two. But in each case extended. This takes Jan to the alternate universe to save Karen.

I think that these two ending were too overly sci-fi and the current ending is simpler yet edgier.