Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Bette DavisMrs. Aylwood
- Lynn-Holly JohnsonJan Curtis
- Kyle RichardsEllie Curtis
- Carroll BakerHelen Curtis
- David McCallumPaul Curtis
- Benedict TaylorMike Fleming
- Frances CukaMary Fleming
- Richard PascoTom Colley
- Ian BannenJohn Keller
- Katharine LevyKaren Aylwood
Recommendations
- 90
New York Magazine (Vulture)
This so-called “children’s film” selects a variety of phobias and stitches them into a patchwork of shimmering terrorscapes and half-baked ideas about secret societies, the occult, and, of course, dirt-bike-racing in rural England. In other words, it’s perfect. - 80
Screen Rant
The Watcher In The Woods is an eerie, gothic horror movie and while it's suitable for older children, it feels utterly unlike anything else Disney has ever made. - 75
Slashfilm
Parents are frequently looking for transitory horror films to help bridge the gap between certifiable children's films to hard-R horror, and The Watcher in the Woods is a perfect addition. - 67
Collider
The Watcher in the Woods is a great movie for seventy minutes, but the subpar ending really does stain an otherwise solid watch. - 60
Empire
It does slow down a bit too much for endless walking hither and thither scenes in the woods, as we ebb toward the grand reveal, but the mystery proves strong enough to hold you. - 50
Variety
The acting and writing are barely professional but the art direction, especially Alan Hume’s stunning camerawork, gives the pic a gloss. - 50
The New York Times
A peculiar sort of Disney movie in that it's likely to scare the daylights out of the very young while reducing their usually sober-sided elders to unfortunate giggles. The audience in-between may well enjoy the standard spook-movie effects, but I challenge even the most indulgent fan to give a coherent translation of what passes for an explanation at the end. - 40
Time Out
When it became obvious that the film's mix of cutesy sentiment and vague scariness wasn't working, the company ordered whole sequences to be rewritten, re-shot or re-edited, then imposed a stupid ending that explains precisely nothing.
