Plot Summary

The Watcher in the Woods is one of Disney’s first attempts at a more serious horror movie as it chronicles the struggles of an American family which rents a charming country cottage from a strange old woman. The home is set within some mighty spooky-looking woods, and soon after they move in, one of their young daughters begins having scary visions. Eventually they figure out that the hapless child has been possessed by the spirit of the old lady’s dead daughter, who vanished many years before.

Memorable Lines

Mrs. Aylwood: [to unseen presence in the woods] She’s going to stay here. Is that what you wanted?

****

Paul Curtis: You know how old mirrors are. I never made a move yet without something getting broken.
Ellie Curtis: Hey, that’s seven years’ bad luck!
Paul Curtis: Nonsense. I broke a mirror the day I met your mother.
Helen Curtis: I’m not sure that makes your point, darling.

****

Jan Curtis: Mom said she’d only be a minute.
Paul Curtis: Yeah, well that means ten.

****

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

****

Ellie Curtis: She had to. She had to push you down to get you loose from the branch. She saved your life.

****

Thoughts from the HauntedHouses.com team

Based on a 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall, and directed by John Hough, The Watcher in the Woods is a wonderfully shot, well-acted curiosity, an eccentric artifact from that time in Disney’s history when the studio was trying to reestablish its bonafides in the post-Star Wars cinema landscape. Unhappy with Watcher’s initial audience reception, Disney pulled the film and plunged into an ordeal of rewrites (there were supposedly 152 endings under consideration) and reshoots that produced two competing finales, one of which made the final cut while the other, which depended on special effects to create an alien world, remained unfinished.

In its widely seen form, the film builds toward an epic revelation that never materializes, and while the climactic ritual is staged with great intensity, the resolution takes place in typically Disney fashion, with hugs and smiles.

It’s quite striking to see Watcher edge towards genuine terror before retreating back into Disney’s comfort zone. Then there’s the issue of the big blue alien. Though cult film legend has it that the “Watcher” revealed towards the end of the original 1980 film was an unconvincing mess, the reality isn’t nearly that bad. Watching the alternate ending – included on the Anchor Bay DVD and available on YouTube – there’s a real thrill generated by the blue-skinned, half-insect, half-reptile apparition with glowing amber eyes and unspeakable mandibles. The creature’s wing movement might be a little puppet-like, but we still recall being petrified by far less convincing monster effects in episodes of Doctor Who. The Watcher is a decent stab at something truly strange and non-human for a young audience.

But all this is beside the point. Without a director’s cut, we have only the 1981 theatrical release, minus the big blue beast. It’s always a temptation to get lost in speculation, given that the original 1980 cut is still out of reach. But even in its most widely viewed form, The Watcher in the Woods is a haunting, stylish film, steeped in a strange magic made all the more tantalizing by the thicket of rumor and myth surrounding it.

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