Day 13
The Watcher In The Woods (1980)
Ah...Disney's foray into scary movies. They really never fared well in this particular genre. Come on, we are talking the land of fairy tales and talking animals. Horror and suspense: not so much. Having said this, I loved this movie as a kid and as a kid, I did feel it was scary for a young tyke like myself at that age.
A family moves into a home, with the owner living in the cottage next door. Weird things begin to happen to the two daughters and its traced back to an incident 30 years prior, when the owner's own daughter went missing.
One creepy factor: Bette Davis. If those eyes won't get you, her voice, mannerisms and overall look will. She was striking and distinctive as a young woman and she kept that with her as she aged. Another factor: the eldest daughter keeps seeing the daughter in mirrors all over the house and throughout the town. Third factor: the youngest daughter keeps hearing things and saying things and then doesn't remember it. Last factor: check out the pond scene.
One really cool factor that I discovered after re-watching (and purchasing a new DVD) was that there were two alternate endings. I thought that was awesome. Having watched all three endings now, I can say the best ending was used in the theatrical release. The other two consisted of a very different take and then a combination of the original and the different one. They weren't awful by any means, but one of they did have a different scare factor. They were just harder to believe.
I also re-watched the theatrical trailers for the film and the end tagline for each of them was 'it's not a fairy tale.' How fitting for Disney, right? Also, it had a warning stating that while Disney was proud of the movie, the suggested parents screen the movie prior to allowing their children to watch.
Fun facts: the mom in this movie (not Bette Davis) went on to be the mother of the villain in Kindergarten Cop (fantastic role) and the dad is Ducky (the forensic medical examiner) on the television series NCIS.
Similar Movies:
Poltergeist (1982)
13 Ghosts (1960)
Up Next:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
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