The Watch

At the age of nine, Cassie Malloy was kidnapped and locked in a basement for two days. Nineteen years later, the traumatized Cassie (Clea Duvall) studies psychology at the Braxton University and needs to work on her thesis. Cassie decides to accept a four-week job working alone in an isolated fire watch tower in the forest to vanquish her demons from the past. Cassie leaves her best friend Andrea (Elizabeth Whitmere) and travels to the spot, where she meets the forest guard Rhett (James A. Woods) that brings Cassie to the tower. Cassie feels the effect of the isolation and experiences weird things but she is comforted by Polly, the lookout of the east tower. When Rhett visits Cassie, she learns that Polly died five years ago in a fire. Cassie decides to quit her job, but Rhett recalls her that she signed a contract and he needs at least two days to find a replacement. Cassie agrees to stay while Andrea receives a strange phone call for Cassie.

"The Watch" is a tense and claustrophobic thriller, but with a disappointing conclusion. The writer Ben Ripley and the director Jim Donovan lost the opportunity of making a great supernatural story; with minor modifications, giving an ambiguous or a horror ending, this film would be excellent. Nevertheless, Clea Duvall gives a great performance in the role of a woman traumatized in her childhood that wants to defeat her demons. The talented Elizabeth Whitmere is not only a beautiful and sexy actress, but has a wonderful voice. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Passado de Horror" ("Past of Horror")