The Watcher in the Woods
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| The Watcher in the Woods | |
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 The film's second theatrical poster. |
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| Directed by | John Hough Vincent McEveety (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Hugh Attwooll Tom Leetch Ron Miller |
| Written by | Novel: Florence Engel Randall Screenplay: Brian Clemens Rosemary Anne Sisson Harry Spalding Gerry Day (uncredited) |
| Starring | Bette Davis Lynn-Holly Johnson Kyle Richards Carroll Baker David McCallum |
| Music by | Stanley Myers |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Editing by | Geoffrey Foot |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista |
| Release date(s) | 17 April 1980 7 October 1981 |
| Running time | 84 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Watcher in the Woods is a 1980 film best known as an atypical live action Disney movie that has become a cult classic. The film spans numerous genres, including: family, mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, and science fiction. The Watcher in the Woods is also well-known for the notorious rewritings, reshootings, and re-editings of the film's conclusion – as well as the censoring of the original opening credits – after it was pulled from theatres.
The film is also known as Les yeux de la forêt (The Eyes of the Forest) in French, Schreie der Verlorenen (Cries of the Lost) in German, and 숲 속의 눈동자 (Eye Within the Forest) in Korean.
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[edit] Synopsis
Decades ago a young girl named Karen Aylwood (Katherine Levy) mysteriously disappeared in a decrepit chapel during a solar eclipse. Nearly thirty years later an all-American family – Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson), Ellie (Kyle Richards), Helen (Carroll Baker), and Paul Curtis (David McCallum) – move into a beautiful British manor close to where the event occurred. Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis), the owner of the residence and Karen's mother, notices that Jan bears a striking resemblance to her missing daughter.
The girls sense a strange presence lingering in the woods: Jan sees ghostly apparitions of Karen trapped within mirrors, blindfolded and calling for help, while Ellie channels the thoughts of an ethereal sentience that may or may not be the missing girl. Jan assumes the presence is Karen and, in an attempt to help her, tries to unravel the events surrounding Karen's disappearance. However, a veil of fear silences the residents of the tiny village, including Karen's childhood friends, who seem determined to conceal the secrets that could unlock the thirty-year old mystery.
Jan realizes, via the Watcher's communications through Ellie, that Karen's disappearance is linked to the solar eclipse. In an attempt to save Karen she recreates the séance-like ceremony that occurred the night of the disappearance, in which Karen's three best friends linked hands around her. In the chapel, the Watcher possesses Ellie and explains the accidental switch that took place thirty years ago. It then appears independently, fueled by the "circle of friendship", as a pillar of light. It engulfs Jan and lifts her into the air, but Mike Fleming (Benedict Taylor) intercedes and pulls her away before the Watcher disappears. At the same time, the eclipse ends and Karen reappears – still blindfolded and not looking a day older. She removes the blindfold as her mother enters the chapel.
[edit] Endings
[edit] The "other world"
The "other world" sequence was an integral part of the intended ending for the film; it was never completed.
The original ending featured an appearance by the growling Watcher, a skeletal and insectoid alien, which picks Jan up in the chapel and disappears. At this point, the two were supposed to fly across an alien landscape to the Watcher's scuttled spacecraft. Inside, Karen was trapped in a pyramidal prism. According to Sam Nicholson, the visual effects supervisor, "For some reason, the girl who disappeared imbalanced this alien's craft when she went through this portal. Which in turn caused this alien to crash."[1] Jan reached out to Karen, and when the two embraced they were teleported to the chapel. The girls then returned to the manor, where Mrs. Aylwood and her daughter were reunited. As they walked arm in arm, Jan explained everything to Ellie: the Watcher – who was switched with Karen by accident during the eclipse – needed Jan to free the girl.
The visual effects for the "other world" scenes were not finished in time for the release because The Watcher in the Woods was rushed out to coincide with Bette Davis's 50th anniversary as a film actor. (Davis was first hired by Universal Studios in 1930.) Rather than finish the existing effects shots, Disney opted to rewrite and re-shoot the ending to create a more benign Watcher and tone down references to the occult.
[edit] 1st theatrical release (1980)
The first theatrical ending featured only part of the intended ending, leaving out all of the "other world" sequence and replacing it with Helen's interrogation of Karen's friends (after Jan disappeared). The film relied on Jan's brief, cryptic explanation to provide closure. The conclusion to The Watcher in the Woods was nearly unintelligible as a result, thus giving the film the reputation of not having an ending. It also omitted Mrs. Aylwood's condemnation of recreating the séance on the basis that it was witchcraft. After the week-long run of sneak previews was poorly received by critics, the film was pulled from theatres and work on a new ending began.
[edit] 2nd theatrical release (1981)
The 1981 theatrical release is the "official" version of the movie and can be found on any VHS, laserdisc, or DVD release of The Watcher in the Woods. It is summarized above in the film's synopsis.
In the new ending, the re-imagined Watcher (an ectoplasmic pillar of light) was less threatening and more supernatural. The nature of Karen and the Watcher's switch was clearly explained by Ellie in the chapel (whilst possessed by the Watcher). The new footage (including the forest scenes that replaced the original opening credits) was directed by Vincent McEveety, although he was not credited due to union rules which forbade a screen credit unless the director worked on the film for a certain number of hours.
[edit] Anchor Bay alternates
When Anchor Bay Entertainment obtained the rights to release The Watcher in the Woods on DVD, it spearheaded an effort to find the original film elements and enlist director John Hough's help in re-editing the film. They planned to release two versions of the film: the 1981 theatrical version as well as John Hough's director's cut, which would feature the censored opening credits (in which the Watcher scares a girl and incinerates her doll) and a finished version of the "other world" ending.
However, Anchor Bay encountered considerable resistance from Disney. In the end, they were forced to drop the original credits and release the "other world" footage as an abbreviated (14 minute long) and unfinished alternate ending. The other alternate ending (6 minutes long) is an approximation of the first theatrical ending. Both of these alternate endings were later included in Disney's own DVD release of the film in 2004.
[edit] Cast
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* Uncredited for 2nd theatrical release (1981), but credited for 1st theatrical release (1980).
[edit] Source novel and screenplay
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."[2] Brian Clemens adapted the novel into a screenplay. However, Disney decided that Clemens' version was too dark and had Rosemary Anne Sisson edit it. This script was later revised by Gerry Day in July of 1979.[3] During filming, Ron Miller would often intervene to tone down intense scenes, leading to tension between himself and Leetch.
When the film was pulled from theatres, several new endings were penned by various writers at Disney to substitute for the original. After they were revised and rerevised, there were roughly 152 possible endings.[4] The Watcher in the Woods' visual effects designer, Harrison Ellenshaw, wrote the version of the ending that eventually accompanied the re-release of the film.
[edit] On DVD
| DVD Cover | Description |
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Released by Anchor Bay on 2 April 2002. This version is considered the best of the DVD releases because it comes with a wealth of extras: An audio commentary by director John Hough, a detailed biography of Hough, two alternate endings, three theatrical trailers, and a TV commercial. The DVD also comes with a 20 page collectible booklet and card insert of the film's original poster art (seen on the DVD's front cover). The Anchor Bay DVD is permanently out-of-print.
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Released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on 29 March 2004 (primarily in the United Kingdom and Australia).
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Released by Walt Disney Video on 3 August 2004. This version is considered the inferior of the two American DVD releases. However, it is the only version currently available through retailers. This DVD only includes the two alternate endings and two theatrical trailers. It does not come with the audio commentary, biography, third trailer, TV commercial, booklet, or card insert.
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[edit] Trivia
Taglines:
- A masterpiece of suspense!
- It was just an innocent game until a young girl vanished... for thirty years.
- It is not a fairy tale.
- Something is watching. Something unknown.
Award nominations:
- The film was nominated for a Saturn Award (Best International Film 1982).
- Kyle Richards was nominated for a Saturn Award (Best Supporting Actress 1982) and Young Artist Award (Best Young Motion Picture Actress 1982) for her portrayal of Ellie Curtis.
Other:
- In the second theatrical release of the film, Katherine Levy portrayed Karen in all but the final scene (an uncredited actress replaced her).
- When the Curtis family attempts to flee in the middle of a storm, you can see a hose behind their car spraying water (which is supposed to be rain) just before they drive onto the bridge.
- Mr. Keller (Ian Bannen)'s home also served as Hill House in Robert Wise's 1963 horror classic The Haunting.
- The Watcher in the Woods was one of Disney's first films to receive a MPAA rating of PG.
- The film's total domestic gross was approximately $5,000,000.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Bosco, Scott Michael. "Interview with Sam Nicholson". Digital Cinema. 1 April 2002.
- ^ Bosco, Scott Michael. "The Watcher in the Woods: The Mystery Behind the Mystery". Digital Cinema. 5 May 2002.
- ^ Gerry Day's The Watcher in the Woods script revision lisiting dated 11 July 1979 at Script City.
- ^ Bosco, Scott Michael. "Interview with Harrison Ellenshaw". Digital Cinema. 27 March 2002. Interview conducted 7 November 1998.
- ^ The Watcher in the Woods at Box Office Mojo.
[edit] External links
- Digital Cinema, detailed articles on the controversies surrounding The Watcher in the Woods by journalist Scott Michael Bosco.
- RetroJunk, article about the film, novel, and lost footage.
- Review of the Anchor Bay DVD at Ultimate Disney.
- Review of the Walt Disney Video DVD at Ultimate Disney.
- Anchor Bay alternate ending (6 min) on YouTube.
