The Watcher in the Woods Poster

The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

PG 04/17/1980 Fantasy, Horror, Thriller 1h 23m
59%
User
Score
6.1/10
52%
52/100

It was just an innocent game until a young girl vanished...for thirty years.

Overview

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.

John Hough

Director

Brian Clemens

Screenplay

Gerry Day

Writer

Harry Spalding

Screenplay

Top Billed Cast

Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Mrs. Aylwood

Lynn-Holly Johnson

Lynn-Holly Johnson

Jan Curtis

Kyle Richards

Kyle Richards

Ellie Curtis

Carroll Baker

Carroll Baker

Helen Curtis

David McCallum

David McCallum

Paul Curtis

Benedict Taylor

Benedict Taylor

Mike Fleming

Frances Cuka

Frances Cuka

Mary Fleming

Richard Pasco

Richard Pasco

Tom Colley

Ian Bannen

Ian Bannen

John Keller

Full Cast & Crew →

Media

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) - Trailer

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) - Trailer

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Reviews

A review by r96sk

Written on September 12, 2020

Oh so very boring.

<em>'The Watcher in the Woods'</em> isn't necessarily a terrible film, but wow did I feel completely uninterested from (almost) start-to-finish. Dully told plot with a plain cast list. I couldn't, unfortunately, tell you anything I actually found good about this.

Lynn-Holly Johnson (Jan), a year prior to her appearance in James Bond, is the standout, but that's only down to a process of elimination to be honest; I found the rest yawnful. They aren't helped by the writing which fails to captivate how supposedly heavy the premise is, it's all basically as it seems - obvious. I should've cared for Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis) but I simply didn't feel attached one bit.

It is a weird one due to it not, as noted, doing anything massively negative, it's just the fact tha...

Read the full review on TMDb →

A review by Wuchak

Written on February 27, 2022

_**This ain’t no conventional Disney flick; it’s genuinely eerie**_

An American family moves into an English country manor for the summer while the mysterious owner, Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis), lives in the guest house. The teen daughter, Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson), discerns something weird is going on, which is linked to Mrs. Aylwood's missing daughter, Karen (Katharine Levy), from decades earlier. Jan investigates the mystery with the aid of a neighbor (Benedict Taylor) and her younger sister (Kyle Richards). Carroll Baker & David McCallum play the girls' parents.

"The Watcher in the Woods" (1980-81) is a mystery thick with haunting ambiance, augmented by an unnerving score. DON'T expect typical Disney kiddie fare. Despite inexplicable criticism, winsome Lynn-Holly Johnson shine...

Read the full review on TMDb →
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