The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

When a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to an occult event years past.

Directors:

John Hough, Vincent McEveety (uncredited)

Writers:

Brian Clemens (screenplay), Florence Engel Randall (novel)

Stars:

Bette Davis, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Kyle Richards

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Bette Davis	...	Mrs. Aylwood
Lynn-Holly Johnson	...	Jan Curtis
Kyle Richards	...	Ellie Curtis
Carroll Baker	...	Helen Curtis
David McCallum	...	Paul Curtis
Benedict Taylor	...	Mike Fleming
Frances Cuka	...	Mary Fleming
Richard Pasco	...	Tom Colley
Ian Bannen	...	John Keller
Katharine Levy	...	Karen Aylwood
Eleanor Summerfield	...	Mrs. Thayer
Georgina Hale	...	Young Mrs. Aylwood

Storyline

When a normal American family moves into a beautiful old English house in a wooded area, strange, paranormal appearances befall them in this interesting twist to the well-known haunted-house tale. Their daughter Jan sees, and daughter Ellie hears, the voice of a young teenage girl who mysteriously disappeared during a total solar eclipse decades before...

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Plot Keywords:

teenage girl | occult | solar eclipse | past | eclipse | 

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Taglines:

What can't be explained, must be explored.

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Genres:

Family | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Watcher in the Woods

Filming Locations:

St. Huberts, St. Huberts Lane, Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$5,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actress Diane Lane auditioned for this movie.

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Goofs

In the alternate ending, when the alien ascends with Jan in its arms, the wires used to cause ascension are clearly visible.

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Quotes

Jan Curtis: Something awful happened here. I can feel it. Something awful.

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Alternate Versions

The alternate ending begins with Jan calling Mike and telling him to gather his mother and Tom Colley to reunite with John Keller and have the ceremony to get Karen back. Then when she meets up with Mrs. Aylewood, and more dialogue than in the theatrical version is featured-depicting witchcraft and more talk about the demonic possessions Ellie experienced. Then, when she goes to John Keller, to get him to the church, there is more dialogue between the two of the belief that Karen died. Then, the same ending that the first one was is present, but instead of cuts of Ellie running in the woods, it is in fact Jan and Ellie's mother running in the woods-and the same manor that the young Mrs. Aylewood ran the night Karen disappeared. Then the demon comes and takes Jan away-like the original, only this time it shoes the dimension which the demon lives, and what Karen is trapped in time-which looks like a diamond rough. Jan goes into the time gap and embraces Karen then the two disappear to earth's dimension, and the rest picks up where the original ending left off. There is more footage taken out, and more footage thrown into this ending (a scene where John Keller is apologizing for Jan's disappearance to her mother).

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Another Top 10 Creepy Kids Movies (2015)

User Reviews

Absolutely Petifying

I watched this film when I was about 7 I think and I am not joking when I say it had a profound effect upon me and many of my friends. I was terrified of the dark for years and even scared to look in the mirror in case there was someone else staring back. Quite how this film was shown at 6pm on a Tuesday has always baffled me. It was a shocking decision by the BBC and they would never get away with it now. I met a guy at university who had also been traumatised by this film and I think we bonded over it because we are still very good friends! My memories of it are quite hazy but I'm sure I started crying half way through and didn't stop until the end; would have turned it off but my 10 year old sister wanted to watch it or rather wanted to watch me cry and I was too scared to leave the room. I'm giving it a 9 for fright value. It was a good film and a good idea.