Watchers (1988)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Jon Hess

Writers (WGA):

Dean R. Koontz (novel)
Bill Freed (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Secret experiment, Unstoppable monster, Deadly mistake...

Plot:

Based on a novel by Dean Koontz. A boy takes in a stray dog, later finding out that its an ultra-intelligent runaway from a genetic research lab...

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Stray Dog | Genetic Mutation | Triple Child Murder | Dog's Eye View

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Michael Ironside	...	Lem Johnson
Christopher Cary	...	T.V. Newscaster (as Christopher Carey)
Graeme Campbell	...	Man on Boat
Dan O'Dowd	...	First T.V. Reporter
Lala Sloatman	...	Tracey (as Lala)
Corey Haim	...	Travis Cornell
Dale Wilson	...	Bill Keeshan
Blu Mankuma	...	Cliff
Colleen Winton	...	Deputy Porter
Duncan Fraser	...	Sheriff Walt Gaines
Barbara Williams	...	Nora Cornell
Lou Bollo	...	Man by Stream
Jason Priestley	...	Boy on Bike
Matt Hill	...	Boy on Bike
Andrew Morkey	...	Boy on Bike (as Andrew Markey)

Runtime:

91 min | Germany:87 min (DVD version)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (cut) | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Canadian Entertainment Investors II

Trivia:

Paul Haggis wrote the original screenplay. By the time the movie was greenlighted, the Writer's Guild Strike hit and Haggis refused to do any further writing on the movie during the strike. Production was passed to Canadian producer Damien Lee who rewrote the script. Haggis read the script and took his name off it - taking credit instead as "Bill Freed", his WGA pseudonym, and insisted Damien Lee take credit for his work.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Watchers III (1994)

The movie doesn't compare

I rented this movie because I thought (and still think) that the book was a masterpiece. The book is still on my top five novels ever list. So when I rented the film I expected it to fail in comparision. But not on this level. Travis is a Kid? I mean come ON. In the book the guy was ex-delta with plenty of tricks up his sleeve. In the movie he's a sixteen or so year old kid who seemed to be taught everything about traps and guns by the age of 10 when his dad died. I'm from the south and I don't know half the crap the kid was taught. Hell i was shooting guns at seven sure. 22s. BB guns. Not even a very entertaining movie. If you want to see a Dean Koontz book that made a good movie watch Phantoms.

*****/10