In the late 70’s and early 80’s Disney seemed to take a strange path and began producing slightly darker type films in an effort to capture the young adult audience (read teenagers). At the time their films aimed at children were not being received with the typical critical acclaim of years past so in an effort to regain some lost sales the journey into the horror genre began.
While there had been previous attempts at inserting darker components into an otherwise kid friendly movie like Escape to Witch Mountain, the movies still remained relatively light and whimsical. Watcher in the Woods on the other hand was just as bizarre as the book on which it was based, complete with pentagrams, ghosts, demons, and a whacked out looking Bette Davis.
The movie begins with the Curtis family, whom are American, starting a new life in England. They purchase a suspiciously low-priced home from Mrs. Aylwood (played by the striking Bette Davis) who claims that the house contains too many bad memories and currently resides in the accompanying guest house.
As the movie progresses, we learn that Mrs. Aylwood’s daughter suddenly disappeared some thirty years ago without a trace. Jan, the family’s eldest daughter catches glimpses of a blindfolded girl in mirrors and glass that looks remarkably similar to her. As more characters from the town are introduced you begin to realise that they know more than they’re letting on.
I don’t want to spoil any more for you dear reader as, for all it’s flaws this movie is still totally watchable and you should really give it a chance.
It was shot with a budget of nine million dollars. The initial release date was in April of 1980 and the studio planned to expand the release to 600-800 screens however, the crowd and critical reception was so poor that the film was pulled after just 10 days. Disney spent another million on a reshoot and re-cut eliminating some critical story developing scenes including a fairly integral opening scene and the film was released some eighteen months later. The re-release earned considerably better reviews than the initial release however, the film still failed to perform at the box office earning only five million domestically and was largely considered a flop.
It’s hard to believe that a moody, dark rich story performed so poorly, especially with several horror veterans such as John Hough, a director of several of the Hammer Horror films and Bette Davis in her later years when she began to get really creepy. Furthermore, the location scout in what can only be described as a stroke of genius selected what is probably the most famous haunted house ever, the mansion from 1963’s The Haunting. The score was also written by well known genre composer Stanley Myers.
So… if you’re looking for something to watch on a dark and stormy night… or just this Friday night, give ‘er a whirl, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Honourable mention from the Disney, horror genre comes just three years after this, Something Wicked This Way Comes was a brilliantly crafted masterpiece that will absolutely not disappoint.
