Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: The best movie! Review: This movie is a greatest suspense film I have ever seen!I remember seeing this movie in the 2nd grade in the mid-80's on video and it haunted me for many years. I recently saw it again with a friend in college and we were both freaked out! This movie has a great cast, a thoughtful director, and a wonderful plot. The movie has a great pace, and it keeps you interested. I especially appreciate the early 80's feel of the film. It is an especially scary movie because it has an uncontrollable supernatural element. To this day, I sometimes am scared to see a blind-folded girl reaching out to me in the mirror! The lines, "Nearly too late ... hardly ever happens," and the name Narek will stick with you once you watch this movie!
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Wonderfully Enchanting Review: Like a lot of reviewers, I saw this as a child with my mother. She was a horror fan so I got to see all the 80s thrillers in the cinema. This film still stands in my mind. It has a great atmosphere about it. The great Bette Davis stars and is as wonderful as always. It may look cheesy by todays standards, but they don't make movies like this anymore. An old fashioned ghost story without gore and violence. Just good creepy fun.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: This is made by DISNEY?!? Review: Ok this movie traumatized me as a 5 year old girl. I can't believe it was made by Disney. I used to have nightmares about it. Betty Davis is by far the scariest character in this movie, especially when you think she's going to drown Jan's little sister in the pond. Also the scene where they show how Karen died was freaky. I watched this years later in my twenties and it was totally corny and cheesy. There were even parts that made me laugh like crazy. Please parents, don't let your young kids watch this. This ain't no Disney Saturday Night at the Movies kind of deal.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: NOT the scariest movie ever made. Review: Initially planned for a 1980 opening, The Watcher in the Woods was released for a few screenings and it was not well received. The ending in particular earned a lot of criticisms, so producers stuck the movie on a shelf and went about reshooting a few alternative conclusions. Regardless of these changes, audiences and critics did not embrace the movie and it died a quick box-office death. It wasn't until several years later - when the film hit home video - that more fans began to crop up, most of them citing fond childhood memories of a creepy flick. The controversy surrounding the film's difficult birth only added fuel to the fanbase fire, which is just one of the reasons that this Anchor Bay DVD is a long overdue sight for the hardcore fans. The plot is a family-friendly pastiche of nighttime creaks, forest-bound shivers, past-life problems, and ghostly messages. Hollywood legend Bette Davis plays Mrs. Aylwood, a kindly-yet-creepy old lady who rents her massive estate to a friendly American family. The Watcher in the Woods is an intermittently creepy and quite well photographed piece of "gothic lite", but newcomers to this movie may struggle through the movie's numerous slow spots and ponderous pacing. The screenplay (based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall) sets up a few provocative ideas, but they're rarely followed up in satisfying style. Most of the acting performances are essentially wooden, with Ms. Davis turning in a glorified cameo that doesn't leave much of an impression. On the whole, The Watcher in the Woods isn't a really bad movie; it's just a bit too safe and more than a little drab. Fans of old-fashioned, atmospheric ghost tales will undoubtedly forgive the film's obvious faults more than others might, but even they will have a hard time generating much enthusiasm for the movie. To call this "the scariest movie ever made" is a flat out lie. I mean you're more likely to laugh at it that get scared in it. I really wanted this to be scary, but I was very dissappointed. Haven't been this dissappointed since When A Stranger Calls. See it if you want, but don't expect anything like The Exorcist or The Shining. Watch it alone in the dark. May be it'll scare you.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Childhood Memories Review: I saw this for the first time when I was 6 years old, and I remember how scary it was to me. Even watching it today as an adult, I get goosebumps at certain scenes. A must see for any Bette Davis fan or anyone who loves a good ghost story. I'm so glad it's on DVD now!!!
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Slumber Party Best Review: This film satisfies the best needs of the 1980s slumber party! I highly recommend it for a new generation of slumber party audiences. It is scary without gore or gratitutious violence. (And Bette Davis is in this film!) Perfect for pre-teen audiences.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Childhood favourite Review: This is possibly the film that I recall most vividly from my childhood - saw it on the original release (about 6 years old) and watched it again when I was 20 odd to discover that it still had the ability to scare me. Will thouroughly reccommend to my neices.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A slick, spooky thriller for all... Review: The Watcher in the Woods is one of my favorite ghost/sci-fi thrillers that I have been waiting for on DVD. Disney did a pretty good job on this '82 film that stars Bette Davis and many other memorable performances from both the seasoned and the new young actors...I saw it while still in school the first time... and it was just as good on DVD the second time around...Check it out!
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: THE HORROR FILM THAT PLAYS LIKE COMEDY Review: I remember why I hated this film so much. "The Watcher In The Woods" is the tale of an American family, vacationing in England. The eldest daughter taps in to a thirty year old mystery of a young girl who disappeared from the estate she is currently staying at when mirrors, blowing winds and other "strange" phenomenon begin to occur. During the seventies, when the Walt Disney company looked for a time as though it were going to go belly up, the traditional family entertainment banner gave way to some bizarre experimentation, including a disatrous foray into the 'horror' film genre. Bad special effects, a disjoined story and some really, really bad acting submarined this film from becoming anything more than a lamentable experience to watch. The Anchor Bay DVD has been THX certified but doesn't really hold its own among discs that share that Lucasfilm registered trademark. Pixelization, edge enhancement and shimmering details are present. The image is often softly rendered and, in some cases, colors even bleed. The soundtrack has been remixed to 5.1 but here too, expectations fall short, with a strident characteristic, lacking in bass, being the prominent feature. Extras include the original "unused" ending that was shown at the film's premiere and laughed off the screen. If you see it you'll know why. There's also a mini-featurette that really doesn't help boister an appreciation for this wretched story. OVERALL: A bad movie, an average transfer, a total washout.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: there's no english subtitles Review: There's no english subtitles as written in the cover.
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