“The Watcher in the Woods” was made at a time when Disney was getting ambitious, making PG-rated films and dipping its toes into different genres; other efforts, of course, include “The Black Hole”, “Tron”, and “Something Wicked This Way Comes”. Co-written by Brian Clemens (‘The Avengers’, “Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter”) based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall, it tells a story with a very atmospheric feel. As others have said, it has the appeal of a fairy tale.An American family comes to live in an isolated English country estate owned by a lonely recluse, Mrs. Aylwood (screen legend Bette Davis). In no time at all, the two daughters, teen-aged Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) and younger Ellie (Kyle Richards) are besieged by otherworldly forces, and Jan realizes something must be done to resolve the case of Mrs. Aylwoods’ daughter Karen, who’d disappeared many years ago when she was Jans’ age.Director John Hough and crew make this something worth watching with their moody and stylish presentation. Sometimes the special effects get overly cheesy, and they do tend to stick out a little too much. The reasonably compelling, and never too complicated, story does a decent job of pulling the viewer in, along with especially strong lighting by Alan Hume and camera-work by Jack Lowin and Malcolm MacIntosh. Right from the start these individuals help to create a very weird feel to the proceedings.Carroll Baker and David McCallum don’t get a lot to do as the parents, especially McCallum, but the other adults are all fine, including Richard Pasco as the frightened Tom Colley and Ian Bannen as the cantankerous John Keller. Ms. Davis is wonderful as the distraught old lady who realizes that she could finally find out the truth behind her daughters’ disappearance, while Johnson, despite her appeal, really overdoes it in terms of her characters’ hysteria.What’s interesting is how many times the ending was altered during the history of this film. It was originally shown at 100 minutes, with an overly abrupt ending, then given an elaborate special effects based finale, and then it was reworked again for the films’ re-release the following year. The alternate endings are available on DVD for fans to check out.The film is not particularly memorable, but it’s pretty enjoyable while it lasts.Seven out of 10.
The Watcher in the Woods
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