Watchers (1988)

A boy takes in a stray dog, later discovering that it is an ultra-intelligent runaway being stalked by a dangerous creature from the same genetic research lab.

Director:

Jon Hess

Writers:

Dean R. Koontz (based on the novel by), Bill Freed (screenplay)

Stars:

Corey Haim, Michael Ironside, Christopher Cary

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Ironside	...	Lem
Christopher Cary	...	TV Newscaster (as Christopher Carey)
Graeme Campbell	...	Man on Boat
Dan O'Dowd	...	First TV Reporter
Lala Sloatman	...	Tracey (as Lala)
Corey Haim	...	Travis
Dale Wilson	...	Bill Keeshan
Blu Mankuma	...	Cliff
Colleen Winton	...	Deputy Porter
Duncan Fraser	...	Sheriff Gaines
Barbara Williams	...	Nora
Lou Bollo	...	Man by Stream
Jason Priestley	...	Boy on Bike
Matt Hill	...	Boy on Bike
Andrew Markey	...	Boy on Bike

Storyline

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. Unknow to him, the dog is being stalked by another escaped creature thats not quite so friendly.

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Plot Keywords:

mother son relationship | genetic mutation | based on novel | child protagonist | child in peril | 

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Taglines:

It started as a secret experiment... It ended up as a new breed of terror.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

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.

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Quotes

Lem: [referring to the explosion] Who escaped?
Man on Boat: What makes you think anything lived through that?
Lem: You called me. If you wanted to know who blew the place up you would've got phelan or Davis. You called me because I know Banodyne.
Man on Boat: GH3.
Lem: The dog? Of course he would have smelled the explosives.
Man on Boat: And one of the Oxcom's.
Lem: Number 7?
[He nods his head]
Lem: Always the bad seed.
Man on Boat: Cliff Somes is our local agent, keep him on a need-to-know basis.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders: Episode 1 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Dream Machine
Performed by Mike Reno

User Reviews

We get that it's not exactly like the book; it's not supposed to be

When a saboteur blows up a controversial government research lab, two experimental animals are loosed in a small community in Washington State. One is a dog with unusual intelligence. The other is an "Outside eXperimental COmbat Mammal", or "OXCOM". Because of reasons divulged further into the film, the oxcom hates the dog, and so is trying to kill it. Watchers concerns the accidental involvement of Travis Cornell (Corey Haim), his mom Nora (Barbara Williams) and his girlfriend Tracey (Lala Sloatman) with the dog and oxcom, as two National Security Organization agents, Lem Johnson (Michael Ironside) and Cliff (Blu Mankuma), track them down.

Many comments are made about Watchers being very different than the Dean Koontz book that serves as the launching pad for the film. This is true. But it should not affect your rating. If you want the book, read the book. Judge the film on its own merits, not how closely it matches the book. Bill Freed and Damian Lee, who wrote the screenplay, are just as much artists as Koontz is (that's not a quality comparison, just a statement that they're all artists). So is director Jon Hess. Their job as filmmakers isn't to slavishly follow the book as if it were a script. They're adapting the book, as artists, to make a unique artwork. It's based on the book. Not identical to it. You have to loosen your preconceptions/expectations when you watch the film, because you're going to be experiencing an artwork that you are not already familiar with, even if you've read Koontz' novel.

So, is Watchers a good film? It's pretty good, not excellent. Good enough to earn a "B", or an 8. Hess begins things on the right foot with one of the most beautifully filmed explosions I've seen in awhile. Unfortunately, he trips a bit immediately afterward as we listen to some very thick, jargonistic exposition. After that scene Watchers threatens to become a clichéd 1980s film as we first meet Travis and Tracey.

Veering towards cliché is a tendency continually threatened. But it is only a skew. More often than not, Hess is able to transcend well-trodden territory with a number of interesting twists: Both Travis and Tracey are from single parent homes, with their genders flipped. Both have unique, mature relationships with their parents. Although this is a horror film, a major focus is a cute, intelligent canine, and it often feels as much like an adventure film as it does horror, a thriller, or sci-fi, which are all genres it touches upon. Hess introduces a large cast of characters, some not entering until late in the game, yet the film is never confusing and no characters feel as if they are left in the dust--all of the threads are nicely tied up in the end. The structure is also complex in that there are two major villains, the second becoming less obviously ill-intentioned as the film progresses, until a twist accompanied by brutal violence makes one antagonist clearer. Soon after, Hess gives us a nice moment of doubt with the other antagonist.

The biggest flaw in my eyes is a dreaded, common one with horror films since at least the 1980s--the "attack" scenes are shot too darkly, too close, too out of focus, and they're edited too choppily. It makes it extremely difficult to tell what's going on, which saps most of the tension from scenes that should be a highlight. Surely, part of Hess' motivation for the style, and this is the typical justification for this problem, was worry that the creature would come across as humorous and/or fake rather than frightening and suspenseful. In my view, presenting the audience with a dizzying blur isn't a satisfactory solution. We only get to see the creature costume/makeup clearly towards the end of the film. It was well done enough that better shot and edited attack scenes would have brought the film up to at least a 9.

Regardless of the degree of correspondence between the novel and the film, Watchers presents a gripping story using smart, alluring characters. It is frequently a nail-biter and the horror scenes are more feral than you might expect, if not exactly gory (although there is a fair amount of blood in a couple scenes). Watchers tends to be underrated because of misconceptions about the role of film when it comes to adapting literature--don't pass it up or summarily dismiss it based on a misconception.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Watchers

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$260,820, 4 December 1988

Gross USA:

$940,173

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$940,173

Company Credits

Production Co:

Concorde Pictures, Centaur Films, Rose & Ruby Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 87 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1