The Watcher in the Woods

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.

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.

Familiar stuff, but some major scares in the second half. [25 Oct 1991, p.F26]

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.

The acting and writing are barely professional but the art direction, especially Alan Hume’s stunning camerawork, gives the pic a gloss.

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.

This tepid ghost story fails to focus on either its story or its target audience.