The Watcher in the Woods

"It was just an innocent game until a young girl vanished...for thirty years."

1980 1h 23m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 157

FantasyHorrorThriller

Synopsis

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After an American family moves to an old country manor in rural England, one of the daughters is tormented by the spirit of the owner's long lost daughter, who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago during a solar eclipse.

“It was just an innocent game until a young girl vanished...for thirty years.”

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Cast

Bette Davis
Mrs. Aylwood
Lynn-Holly Johnson
Jan Curtis
Kyle Richards
Ellie Curtis
Carroll Baker
Helen Curtis
David McCallum
Paul Curtis
Benedict Taylor
Mike Fleming
Frances Cuka
Mary Fleming
Richard Pasco
Tom Colley

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Hough
Writers: Brian Clemens, Harry Spalding, Rosemary Anne Sisson
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 56% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Geoffrey Foot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bette Davis and Lynn-Holly Johnson and Kyle Richards carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It was just an innocent game until a young girl vanished...for thirty years.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0081738 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Hough directs. Geoffrey Foot cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Earned back only 56% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
346 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Editor Geoffrey Foot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Bette Davis and Lynn-Holly Johnson and Kyle Richards carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "It was just an innocent game until a young girl vanished...for thirty years.".
8IMDB entry: tt0081738 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "countryside", "country house", "supernatural", "solar eclipse".

The technical file

Editing: Geoffrey Foot
Production design: Elliot Scott
Costume design: Emma Porteous
Makeup / hair: Ernest Gasser
Stunt coordinator: Vic Armstrong
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,000,000
Box office: $5,000,000
Return: 56% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

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John Hough

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-09-11
★ 5/10
Oh so very boring. <em>'The Watcher in the Woods'</em> isn't necessarily a terrible film, but wow did I feel completely uninterested from (almost) start-to-finish. Dully told plot with a plain cast list. I couldn't, unfortunately, tell you anything I actually found good about this. Lynn-Holly Johnson (Jan), a year prior to her appearance in James Bond, is the standout, but that's only down to a process of elimination to be honest; I found the rest yawnful. They aren't helped by the writing which fails to captivate how supposedly heavy the premise is, it's all basically as it seems - obvious. I should've cared for Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis) but I simply didn't feel attached one bit. It is a weird one due to it not, as noted, doing anything massively negative, it's just the fact that the (short) run time is such a chore to get through. Not one I'd recommend.
Wuchak2022-02-27
★ 7/10
This ain’t no conventional Disney flick; it’s genuinely eerie An American family moves into an English country manor for the summer while the mysterious owner, Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis), lives in the guest house. The teen daughter, Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson), discerns something weird is going on, which is linked to Mrs. Aylwood's missing daughter, Karen (Katharine Levy), from decades earlier. Jan investigates the mystery with the aid of a neighbor (Benedict Taylor) and her younger sister (Kyle Richards). Carroll Baker & David McCallum play the girls' parents. "The Watcher in the Woods" (1980-81) is a mystery thick with haunting ambiance, augmented by an unnerving score. DON'T expect typical Disney kiddie fare. Despite inexplicable criticism, winsome Lynn-Holly Johnson shines as the protagonist and carries the film with Davis superlative as the curmudgeonly crone. Baker is still attractive as the mother. The original ending of the movie wasn't finished in time so important expositional scenes were cut, which left the story nonsensical. Negative critical response to a test run in spring, 1980, resulted in the movie being pulled from theaters and, after reshoots, a more subdued ending was inserted for its official release in fall, 1981, which is the "official" ending. The original ending included a cool a skeletal-insectoid alien as the Watcher, who eerily floats in thin air, which also appeared in the 1980 test run, minus an explanatory "other world" sequence (which was the part that wasn't completed in time). While the 1980 ending fails to properly explain events, I thought it was quite effective for the time period and for this type of movie. Not everything's tied up, but that's okay because it's a haunting mystery movie anyway. The longer version with the "other world" sequence goes overkill with the gobbledygook. For a more low-key version with an intelligible and more interesting (but less entertaining) climax, which happens to be more faithful to the book, see the 2017 TV movie by Melissa Joan Hart. The film runs 1 hour, 24 minutes (theatrical version), and was shot in Warwickshire, Buckinghamshire & Pinewood Studios, England, with further studio work and reshoots (directed by Vincent McEveety) done in Burbank, California. GRADE: B