The Watcher in the Woods

Bette Davis' Eyes Are Watching You

This is the second installment of my countdown to Halloween series. Each newsletter will feature a movie or television special to include in your spooky season viewing in anticipation of the best holiday of the year. Last time, we kicked things off with Shelley Duvall and her incredible series Faerie Tale Theatre. Next, we revisit the scariest movie Disney ever released: The Watcher in the Woods.

For a very long time, 1980’s Watcher in the Woods was the most terrifying film I’d ever seen. From the creepy/mysterious house to Bette Davis being a weirdo, and the psychedelic ending, it was a confusing and unsettling experience that stayed with me.

What’s it about? If you’ve seen the film, then you know the story doesn’t matter much. If you haven’t, I’ll say that it has your typical haunted house story set up: An unsuspecting family takes up residence in an old, gothic house in the country, and weird shit goes down.

Really, though, a lot of that is irrelevant. The only point during the film when you actually start paying attention to the story is when you pick up certain hints that the house isn’t “haunted” at all. At least, not in any traditional sense. That’s when stuff gets funky.

I didn’t understand the plot at all as a child, and it still frightened me so much that I wanted to scoop my eyes out just so I wouldn’t have to watch it anymore. No, the word of the day, as far as Watcher is concerned, is mood.

The atmosphere created by directors John Hough and Vincent McEveety pervades every frame of the film. Beginning with the opening credits, with all of those ominous shots of trees waiting for something, the dread doesn’t let up for the majority of the runtime. There is an uneasiness and foreboding to every scene. Even something as uncinematic as dirtbike racing takes on a horrific undertone of impending doom.

The house the family moves into is too old and too big. The woods surrounding it are too dense and intimidating. The sound design is overwhelming, often confusing you with creaks before loud crashes or screams. It plays on the subconscious, poking at buried triggers to elicit a feeling of anxiety.

Disorienting may be a good word to describe the viewing experience. There is nothing more difficult for a child to tolerate than feeling disoriented. So, when a movie so effectively manipulates the viewer into losing all sense of place and reality, it ratchets up the tension for a young viewer a thousandfold.

As an adult, it’s the isolation that makes the film so haunting. The area where the film takes place is gorgeous, but also startlingly remote. The only thing around the house is wilderness, and there’s something wrong with those trees. They are old, gnarled, and oddly curious. As if they’re watching you. It gives the impression of being alone on the surface, with a thousand eyes watching from the dark.

Bette Davis is still one of the greatest nightmares in cinematic history. She is so scary in the film that I still have trouble thinking of her as anything other than “that spooky actress.” Her eyes seem to register your presence, and she isn’t particularly happy with you snooping on her activities. It is so chilling that the only performance she’s done to rival it is that of Baby Jane Hudson in the fantastically twisted Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.

This is definitely one of those perfect movies to watch in preparation for Halloween. It doesn’t take place on October 31st, but you can sense it in the air. Something remarkable is coming. In the case of The Watcher in the Woods that something is a bit difficult to define. In the real world, however, the remarkable thing is Samhain itself.

Here is my bonus track recommendation: Red Right Hand from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The whole song embodies that abstract “something isn’t right here” vibe to the start of autumn. It should accompany you well on your trip down the phantasmagorical road…