It’s revealed that Mrs Aylwood’s daughter Karen disappeared over thirty years ago during a séance with her friends (because, why not?) in a rundown chapel. Jan starts to witness strange things: flashes of light in the woods, uncanny visions of a ghostly blind-folded girl in mirrors, instead of her own reflection, and her sister Ellie (Kyle Richards, Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)) has started to hear voices. They move into an insanely cheap manor, formerly owned by their neighbour who lives in the cottage next door: the cold, sour-faced Mrs Aylwood (Bette Davis in one of her last motion picture appearances). The story revolves around an American teenage girl, Jan Curtis (Lynn-Holly Johnson of For Your Eyes Only (John Glen, 1981) fame) and her family, who relocate to the British countryside. While that comparison seems far from the final execution, let alone a tad ambitious, it’s clear to see that they wanted to profit from the popularity of the horror market thanks to The Exorcist’s (William Friedkin, 1973) commercial and financial success only years before. Co-producer Tom Leetch is said to have pitched the film to Disney by claiming: ‘This could be our Exorcist. The idea envisioned by Disney was to create content that was more adult-orientated due to the declining success of their children’s live-action films. Production on the film began in August 1979, primarily at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England-as well as the surrounding areas-and was directed by John Hough ( The Legend of Hell House (1973), Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (1984/85)). The Watcher in the Woods was loosely based on the similarly titled 1976 novel A Watcher in the Woods by Florence Engel Randall. However, this is the movie I will always associate with Disney due to how distant it was from anything else I had seen them do before. Of course, these are usually animated classics with fairy tale morals and musical numbers. For some people, Disney films really stay with them for the nostalgia. This will keep him quiet for an hour.’ How misleading that Disney banner was! Even the simplistic montage of the woods during the opening credits, filled with monstrous looking branches and trunks, accompanied by Stanley Myers chilling music box score, was enough to make me shield my eyes as a young lad. I can vaguely recall the first time I viewed The Watcher in the Woods as a child, and how the box art image of a ghostly face peering through the woods was enough to feed my curiosity of the contents before I even watched it. In fact, it seems downright bizarre to think about The House of Mouse ever producing a horror movie at all, doesn’t it? At the turn of the 1980s, they did just that with a suspenseful tale, set in rural England: The Watcher in the Woods (John Hough, 1980).Īlthough Disney’s tepid dip into the genre was short-lived, the movie has gathered a cult following in recent years thanks to childhood nostalgic viewing. I t seems odd-nowadays-to imagine the ‘Walt Disney Productions’ banner sitting innocently above the title of a horror film.
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