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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Walt Disney Video
Salesrank: 9543
Released: August 3, 2004 |
| Our Price: $11.16 |
| Used Price: $8.24 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Legendary actress and two-time Oscar(R)-winner Bette Davis (DANGEROUS, 1935; JEZEBEL, 1938) stars in this frightening and atmospheric thriller. When an American teenager joins her family in an English country house, she experiences strange and supernatural occurrences. Mrs. Alywood (Davis), the kindly caretaker, knows the dark secret behind the happenings ... and prepares for the return of a young girl who died mysteriously some 30 years earlier! THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS weaves a haunting, riveting tale that stays with you long after the explosive ending!
Description of The Watcher in the Woods:
Ghost story meets paranormal mystery in Disney's PG family spookfest, a rare kid-friendly scary movie that still manages to frighten. American girls Lynn-Holly Johnson (Ice Castles) and little sister Kyle Richards move into a secluded British manor cradled in a mist-shrouded forest, home to a ghostly guardian angel and a decades-old mystery that still haunts the place. Director John Hough (whose Legend of Hell House is a classic of supernatural suspense) delivers all the right shiver-inducing ingredients: flashes of light, whispers in the wind, eerie visions of a blindfolded little girl lost (the long-lost daughter of withered widow Bette Davis) reaching out from mirrors, as if trapped behind them. Though tame by today's bloody standards and a flop on its original release in 1981, this handsome little gothic ghost story has become something of a cult film for its suggestive direction, impressionistic imagery, and spooky sense of the unknown. Ages 9 and up, although more sophisticated younger kids should enjoy this. --Sean Axmaker
The Watcher in the Woods Reviews:
This is a Great Movie! 
2009-03-18 - My sister and I were around 9 & 11-years old when our parents rented this harmless Disney movie to keep us entertained while they had a night out on the town. Oh my. It was so scary! We watched with our eyes half shut, huddled together.
All these years later and with all the "scary" movies I have seen since, Disney's The Watcher in the Woods still stands out as one of my favorites.
Not a great movie at all. 
2009-01-11 - I'm sorry to disagree with other reviewers, but this is not a scary movie. It's not even a good movie. Bette Davis as always gives a great performance, but even her talents can't save this movie! I can understand why some reviewers warn parents about allowing their young children to watch this film. However, as an adult it's not scary. At times it has a spooky element, but as this badly written film drags on one "boo" is no different then the next "boo". The acting by most of the older actors is good. But the performances of the main child stars stink rather badly. I will give this movie credit for attempting to give the audience a bizare and interesting ending. Some reviewers talk about this being a scary movies even for adults, but it's not. I believe that those people remember the movie as they saw it as children, and that's why they still think it's scary. If you can ride the haunted mansion ride (ten times spookier then this film) at Disney Land, then you can watch this film with the lights off.
Pleased
2008-12-28 - The movie I ordered, was an older movie. In fact, it was one I actually went to see at the theatre, when I was around 9. I happened by it on Amazon.com. I remembered it being a good movie, and thought my son would enjoy it as one of his Christmas presents. It was delivered quick and the product was brand new.
A timeless classic!
2008-09-14 - I have loved this movie since I was probably 12 years old, and it still gives me the willies every time I watch it! It's good clean scary fun.
Cozy and odd horror movie... 
2008-09-11 - As a family movie Watcher in the Woods has a fun and cozy vibe about it. It never gets very scary, except for Bette Davis whose presence is probably most genuinely intense thing about the movie.
The ending is awkward and a little anticlimactic, but mostly it's an enjoyable ride.
It's a good movie, but if you love it or hate it really boils down to your age (good for most kids), or if you are an adult it depends on whether you want to be amused...or genuinely scared.
In other words, fans of Saw might do well to stay away, but those who like other Disney horror/action like Something Wicked This Way Comes, should love it.
