Watchers II

Watchers II
Directed by Thierry Notz
Produced by Roger Corman
Written by Screenplay: John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Novel: Dean R. Koontz
Starring Timothy Marlowe
Marc Singer
Tracy Scoggins
Jonathan Farwell
Irene Miracle
Music by Rick Conrad
Cinematography Edward J. Pei
Edited by Diane Fingado & Adam Wolfe
Release date
  • August 16, 1990 (1990-08-16)
Running time
 101 mins.
Country United States
Language English

Watchers II is the 1990 sequel to the horror film Watchers. Starring Marc Singer and Tracy Scoggins, the film is loosely based on the novel Watchers by Dean Koontz. It was released on August 16, 1990.

The film's writers were credited under a pseudonym as they were not members of the Writers Guild at the time.[1]

Plot

The film continues the saga of two genetically altered life forms turned loose. One is a super-intelligent golden retriever with an uncanny ability to communicate and reason. The other is a hybrid monster, a non-human assassin created to track the dog and destroy all who come in contact with it. The golden retriever finds and befriends a fugitive from the Marine Corps (Marc Singer). The clever dog prompts the Marine captain to call an animal psychologist from the top secret laboratory where the genetic manipulation occurred. Together with this trusted psychologist (Tracy Scoggins), they attempt to elude the murderous monster and the gory trail of death closing in on them.

Release

The sequel did not receive the benefit of a theatrical release that the original did. Instead, the film went straight-to-video via VHS and laser-disc.[2][3] The film remained out-of-print for many years until September 23, 2003, when both this film and the original were released on a double feature DVD by Artisan Entertainment, although the release was eventually discontinued.[4] As of December 21, 2009, Lions Gate has not announced any plans to re-release both movies on DVD.

Critical reception

The film has largely received negative reviews, although Watchers II has often been noted as the closest to Koontz's book, out of all four film adaptions. Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com gave 2.5 out of 5, and stated "Watchers 2 is an improvement of Empire Strikes Back proportions over its predecessor for one distinct reason: Part 2 doesn't have Corey Haim from Watchers in it. The plot is, not at all surprisingly, exactly the same as in the original Watchers, but none of the plot stuff really matters all that much. What's most interesting about Watchers 2 ("most" being a relative term) is that it actually seems to follow much more closely to the Dean Koontz source material than did the original. It's still a painly chintzy and woodenly delivered little affair, but if you happen to be a fan of the novel, Part 2 is the one you'd probably dig the "most"."[5] Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central described the film as "A joyless exercise."[6][7]

J. P. Harris, in his 2001 book Time Capsule: Reviews of Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films and TV Shows from 1987-1991, stated "While a marked improvement over "Watchers," "Watchers II" is hardly more faithful to the wonderful novel; "improvements" by scripter Dominic include several plot flaws. But the kernel of both films and book are still there. The monster has an awful rubbery suit by Dean Jones and William Star Jones, which is ineffective even as a shadow. The film gives Singer an opportunity to be laughably macho. As in the book, the best scenes are of the dog, played by golden retriever Dakai, using a computer and other displays of intelligence."[8]

References

  1. ↑ Chris Nashawaty, Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie, Abrams, 2013 p 220
  2. ↑ "Watchers 2 [VHS]: Timothy Marlowe, Marc Singer, Tracy Scoggins, Jonathan Farwell, Irene Miracle, Mary Woronov, Tom Poster, Don Pugsley, Joseph Hardin, Kurt Braunreiter, Merritt Yohnka, Diana James, Edward J. Pei, Thierry Notz, Joel DeLoach, Rodman Flender, Roger Corman, Dean R. Koontz, John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  3. ↑ "Watchers 2 (Laser Disc): Everything Else". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  4. ↑ "Watchers / Watchers II: Corey Haim, Michael Ironside, Christopher Cary, Graeme Campbell, Dan O'Dowd, Lala Sloatman, Dale Wilson, Blu Mankuma, Colleen Winton, Duncan Fraser, Barbara Williams, Lou Bollo, Jon Hess, Thierry Notz, Damian Lee, Bill Freed, Dean R. Koontz, John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  5. ↑ "Movie Review - Watchers 2". eFilmCritic. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  6. ↑ "Watchers II - Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  7. ↑ "Watchers/Watchers II [Double Feature] - DVD". Film Freak Central. 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  8. ↑ Time Capsule: Reviews of Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films and TV ... - J. P. Harris - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
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