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The Watcher in the Woods (1981)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 5,315

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Movie Info

This Disney Studios attempt at entering the horror genre is a British production based on the chilling novel by Florence Engel Randall. An American family, headed by composer Paul Curtis (David McCallum) and his wife Helen (Carroll Baker), is renting an old mansion in England. The mansion's owner is Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis), who lives in a small guest house on the property. The mansion is surrounded by dense, forbidding woods. The Curtis children, Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) and Ellie (Kyle

Apr 2, 2002

Cast

All Critics (13) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (7) | DVD (13)

The acting and writing are barely professional but the art direction, especially Alan Hume's stunning camerawork, gives the pic a gloss.

October 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This tepid ghost story fails to focus on either its story or its target audience.

October 17, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

When it became obvious that the film's mix of cutesy sentiment and vague scariness wasn't working, the company ordered whole sequences to be rewritten, re-shot or re-edited, then imposed a stupid ending that explains precisely nothing.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

About as scary as a bagel that's been left out on the counter overnight. Okay, maybe it's a raisin bagel. I'll give you that much.

September 14, 2005 Comment
Needcoffee.com

Creepy later-Bette Davis tale.

December 28, 2004 Comment

Horror-Lite.

August 3, 2004 Full Review Source: Horror.com | Comment

Decent but unsophisticated ghost story, best suited for young adults.

March 19, 2003 Comment
eFilmCritic.com

Fans of old-fashioned, atmospheric ghost tales will forgive the film's obvious faults, but even they will have a hard time generating much enthusiasm for the movie.

July 25, 2002 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

Anchor Bay deserves credit for delivering the original ending as a bonus feature to this B-movie charmer.

June 27, 2002 Comment
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland

A movie about how a camera presents a point of view and of how that point of view, if it's not attached to a specific identity, can become menacingly voyeuristic.

March 10, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | Comment
Film Freak Central
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Watcher in the Woods

The Watcher in the Woods is a surprising film for a Disney film. The film quite chilling, and scary at times. For a ghost story, the film works well enough to entertain. The Watcher in the Woods has gotten so many bad reviews, which is a shame because there is a good horror film here. The film is not the best, but as a

October 21, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

Mediocre scare flick, rather dark for a Disney film but not really very frightening. Lynn-Holly Johnson is an appallingly bad actress ruining every scene she's in. Old pros McCallum and Carroll Baker are wasted. Poor Bette Davis is spared nothing, made to look perhaps the worst she ever did on screen except in Baby

December 23, 2007
jjnxn
jay nixon

Super Reviewer

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