The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)
The Watcher in the Woods is a 1980 American[a] supernatural horror film[3][4] directed by John Hough and Vincent McEveety and starring Bette Davis, Carroll Baker, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Kyle Richards, and David McCallum. Based on the 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall, the film tells the story of a teenage girl and her little sister who become encompassed in a supernatural mystery regarding a missing girl in the woods surrounding their new home in the English countryside.
The Watcher in the Woods
- John Hough
- Vincent McEveety (uncredited)
- April 17, 1980 (New York City)
- October 9, 1981 (U.S.)
84 minutes
United States
United Kingdom
English
$9 million[1]
$5 million[2]
Filmed at Pinewood Studios and the surrounding areas in Buckinghamshire, England, The Watcher in the Woods was one of several live-action films produced by Walt Disney Productions in the 1980s, when the studio was targeting young adult audiences. The film had its premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on April 17, 1980, but was pulled from release after ten days, and future screenings were canceled by the studio because of an overwhelming negative response from critics and audiences. Several changes were made thereafter, including the excision of a pre-credits sequence, as well the filming of an entirely new ending, which was directed by Vincent McEveety without Hough's involvement. Disney re-released the revised cut of the film on October 9, 1981, and it grossed $5 million.
Though critical response to the film was varied and included numerous unfavorable reviews, the film went on to gain a cult following in the years following its release.[5] Another adaptation of the novel was released for television in 2017 starring Anjelica Huston.
Plot[edit]
Americans Helen and Paul Curtis and their daughters, Jan and Ellie, move into a manor in rural England. Mrs. Aylwood, the owner of the residence who now lives in the guest house next door, notices that Jan bears a striking resemblance to her daughter, Karen, who disappeared inside an abandoned chapel in the woods thirty years earlier.
Jan senses something unusual about the property almost immediately and begins to see strange blue lights in the woods, as well as triangles and glowing objects. On one occasion, she sees the apparition of a blindfolded girl in a mirror in front of her. Shortly after the family settles in, Ellie goes to buy a puppy she inexplicably names "Nerak". After seeing the reflection of the name "Nerak" (Karen spelled backwards), Jan is told about the mystery of Mrs. Aylwood's missing daughter by Mike Fleming, the teenage son of a local woman, Mary.
One afternoon, Nerak runs into woods and Ellie chases after him. Jan, realising that her sister has disappeared from the yard, goes into the woods to find her, eventually locating her at a pond. In the water, she sees a blue circle of light and is blinded by a flash, causing her to fall in; she nearly drowns, but Mrs. Aylwood saves her. Mrs. Aylwood brings Jan and Ellie to her home, and recounts the night her daughter disappeared.
Later, Mike discovers that his mother was with Karen when she disappeared, but she evades his questions. Meanwhile, Jan attempts to get information from John Keller, a reclusive aristocrat who was also there that night, but he refuses to speak to her. On her way home, Jan cuts through the woods, where she encounters a local hermit, Tom Colley, who tells Jan he was also present at Karen's disappearance. He claims that during a seance-like initiation ceremony on the night of a lunar eclipse, Karen vanished when lightning struck the church bell tower.
Jan decides to recreate the ceremony during an upcoming solar eclipse, hoping it will bring Karen back. She gathers Mary, Tom and John at the abandoned chapel, and they attempt to repeat the ceremony. Meanwhile, Ellie, while watching the eclipse from the front yard, suddenly goes into a trance-like state, apparently possessed, and enters the woods. At the chapel, the ceremony is interrupted by a powerful wind that shatters the windows, and Ellie appears. In a voice that is not her own, she explains that an accidental switch took place thirty years ago, in which Karen traded places with an alien presence from an alternate dimension; thus, the Watcher has been haunting the woods since, while Karen has remained suspended in time.
The Watcher leaves Ellie's body, manifesting as a pillar of light, fueled by the "circle of friendship". It engulfs Jan and lifts her into the air, but Mike intercedes and pulls her away before the Watcher disappears. Simultaneously, the eclipse ends, and Karen, still the same age as when she disappeared, reappears – still blindfolded. She removes the blindfold just as Mrs. Aylwood enters the chapel.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
The Watcher in the Woods is based on Florence Engel Randall's 1976 novel A Watcher in the Woods. Producer Tom Leetch pitched the project to Disney executive Ron Miller, stating that "This could be our Exorcist."[6] Brian Clemens adapted the novel into a screenplay. However, Disney decided that Clemens' version—which had a different conclusion than that of the novel—was "too dark and threatening and black,"[7] and had Rosemary Anne Sisson revise it.[8] This script was later revised again by Gerry Day in July 1979.[9] Miller recruited John Hough to direct the film after seeing his previous movie, The Legend of Hell House with Roddy McDowall.
When the film was pulled from theatres, several new endings were penned by various writers at Disney to substitute for the original. In addition to the work of studio writers, a number of science fiction writers, including Robert Silverberg, Joe Haldeman, and the Niven/Pournelle team, all working separately, were brought in and paid for alternate endings, but apparently none of those were used. Harrison Ellenshaw, the visual effects designer, later stated that there were "roughly 152" possible endings.[10][5] Ellenshaw wrote the version of the ending that eventually accompanied the final 1981 re-released version of the film.
Casting[edit]
According to director John Hough during his audio commentary on the 2002 Anchor Bay DVD release, casting the role of the young Mrs. Aylwood was complicated, since the character is featured in two separate time periods; Bette Davis, who was already cast as Mrs. Aylwood, was considered for playing both the young and old versions of the character.