Starring Bette Davis, Lynn Holly-Johnson, Kyle Richards, Carroll Baker, Benedict Taylor, David McCallum

(5-Okay Film)

Strange. Creepy. Disappointing.

Disney was trying things at the time (1980). I prefer the risk-taking, despite it not always working, over the cookie-cutter polish they’re churning out right now. The Watcher in the Woods is not particularly well-acted, nor is it a well-crafted ghost story, featuring a family that gets what seems like a bargain on a mansion, but finds out too late the reason why.  There’s an unresolved thirty-year-old tragedy haunting the grounds. As a Disney production, the film entertains solely on strangeness and the performance of Bette Davis. One of the creepier kids movies made. I just wish they pushed it further.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

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