Edgar Allan Pooh . . . to the Bette Davis from OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1934), and returning home after 60 minutes to a Mom who's morphed into the Bette Davis of HUSH, HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964). This is exactly what happens to Katherine Levy in this little-known horror movie released in the late 1900s. Though Ms. Levy's character has spent the intervening three decades (identical to the time span between BONDAGE and HUSH) sequestered in some sort of suspended animation under the nose of a nine-foot dragonfly orbiting earth in an UFO (at least in Alternate Ending #2), The Earth Has NOT Stood Still. Nearly half a century of chain-smoked coffin nails has reduced Bette's version of "Mom Aylwood" into a saggy baggy caricature of her former Sadomasochistic BONDAGE self. Any of the actors Betty Dissed in the 1930s who survived long enough to view THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS surely enjoyed "the last laugh" spying Betty Big Eyes portraying an apparent Rodent Queen in the spectacularly cheesy fright fest. Beyond witnessing Ms. Davis' physical demise, WATCHER's main takeaway is that "Karen" spelled backwards is "Nerak."

superbmov So this one is not that scary... It's more mystery and family and it's made by Disney so this can be watched by anyone... Mostly... So story is about family that moved to a county home and they suddenly experience some strange happenings(or you can call it paranormal). Story follows mostly two sisters(Jan and Ellie) while their parents are not big part of the whole story... So after some time they stumble across Mrs. Aylwood who is typical character(antagonist) that everybody should be scared of... But she is not... Jan suddenly realize what is that but then latter she connect that with Mrs. Aylwood... But lets just stop there and talk about acting a bit. So their performances are average i think that there are few scenes where they act like really out of place so different and better... Even when movie introduces you to other characters(Mary,Tom,John) they still act average... But move came out 1980 and feels so much like movie from 1970s(but that makes sense)... So lets continue with the story... Jan finds out what happened to her daughter and tries to convict them to perform ritual again! They had their secret society! After whole that trouble between and before they finally performed ritual and Mrs. Aylwood's daughter is back and that is the end! Well there is not that much of the watcher in the woods its just that format and you constantly have that camera angle from woods and places that should convict you that something is watching you! it works but after sometime it gets boring with... So here it is The watcher in the woods!!! You should watch it! It's experience on its own!

Scott LeBrun "The Watcher in the Woods" was made at a time when Disney was getting ambitious, making PG rated films and dipping its toes into different genres; other efforts, of course, include "The Black Hole", "Tron", and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Co-written by Brian Clemens ('The Avengers', "Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter") based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall, it tells a story with a very atmospheric feel. As others have said, it has the appeal of a fairy tale. An American family comes to live in an isolated English country estate owned by a lonely recluse, Mrs. Aylwood (screen legend Bette Davis). In no time at all, the two daughters, teen aged Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) and younger Ellie (Kyle Richards) are besieged by other worldly forces, and Jan realizes something must be done to resolve the case of Mrs. Aylwood's daughter Karen, who'd disappeared many years ago when she was Jan's age. Director John Hough and crew make this something worth watching with their moody and stylish presentation. Sometimes some cheesy effects get utilized, and they do tend to stick out a little too much. The reasonably compelling, and never too complicated, story does a good enough job of pulling the viewer in, along with especially strong lighting by Alan Hume and camera-work by Jack Lowin and Malcolm MacIntosh. Right from the start these individuals help to create a very weird feel to the proceedings. Carroll Baker and David McCallum don't get a lot to do as the parents, especially McCallum, but the other adults are all fine, including Richard Pasco as the frightened Tom Colley and Ian Bannen as the cantankerous John Keller. Ms. Davis is wonderful as the distraught old lady who realizes that she could finally find out the truth behind her daughters' disappearance, while Johnson, despite being appealing enough, really overdoes it in terms of her characters' hysteria. What's interesting is how many times the ending was altered during the history of this film. It was originally shown at 100 minutes, with an abrupt ending, then given an elaborate special effects based finale, then reworked again for the films' re-release the following year. The alternate endings are available on the DVD for fans to check out. It's not particularly memorable, but it's pretty enjoyable while it lasts. Seven out of 10.

Michael_Elliott Watcher in the Woods, The (1980) ** (out of 4)Disney's attempt at a horror movie had all sorts of problems during production, including various endings shot and when the film was finally released it bombed at the box office, which for some reason had the studio go back and re-edit it some more. What's left is pretty bland stuff. A family moves into an old, creepy house where the oldest daughter (Lynn Holly Johnson) begins to see visions of a young girl named Karen who mysteriously disappeared years earlier. Turns out this is the daughter of the home owner (Bette Davis). Some extremely bad performance, bad special effects and a poor screenplay make this a rather unpleasant film even though there are some redeeming qualities. We might as well start with the bad stuff first. The performances are beyond bad here and I times I couldn't help but wonder if they accidentally used an outtake instead of real footage. Carroll Baker and David McCallum play the parents and I thought both overacted something terrible. Kyle Richards plays the youngest sister and she isn't all that impressive either. Johnson is decent in her role and carries the film just fine even though the screenplay doesn't do her too many favors. As for Davis, she is pretty fun in the movie, although I certainly wouldn't call this one of her best performances. She gives us a few nice facial gestures, which will have one reminded of her early days with those great eyes and dazes off into space. The special effects from start to finish are quite laughable and the ones at the end will have you scratching your head. The screenplay is all over the place but I'm not sure if I'd put too much blame on the writers as it's clear the film has had a lot of tampering with and this includes the multiple endings with two of them appearing on the DVD. Outside of seeing Davis, other items that work here is a nice music score and director Hough's ability to build up some atmosphere. The highlight of the film is a scene where the oldest daughter falls into a pond and gets trapped. There are a few good camera shots but that's about it. While watching the film one can't help but think of THE SHINING, which was released the same year.