The Watcher in the Woods

• Bette Davis: Mrs. Aylwood
• Lynn - Holly Johnson: Jan Curtis
• Kyle Richards: Ellie Curtis
• Carroll Baker: Helen Curtis
• David McCallum: Paul Curtis
• Bendict Taylor: Mike Fleming
• Frances Cuka: Mary Fleming
• Richard Pasco: Tom Colley
• Ian Bannen: John Keller
• Katharine Levy: Karen Aylwood

Cry of the Lost (Original Title: The Watcher in the Woods ) is a film directed by John Hough 1980 A world premiere took place on 17 April 1980 in New York.. The film has been revised and only came on 7 October 1981 at a length of 84 minutes in the cinema. The film is based on a novel by Florence Engel Rangall. As title sometimes cries of the lost is ( as the cover of the DVD release ) specified.

Action

The Curtis family moves into an old mansion in the countryside. The owner of the house, Mrs. Aylwood, recognizes the daughter January Curtis resemblance to her long -lost daughter Karen. Jan soon visions of blue lights, triangles, and a girl of her age blindfolded. Even with her younger sister Ellie, strange things happen. It acts as if possessed and talks nonsense. When Ellie buys a puppy, she calls him Narek, which means backwards Karen. January is now trying to unravel the mystery of Mrs. Aylwood and finds out that Karen wanted to be added to the chapel in a club, thirty years ago, the induction ceremony was like a seance.

It turns out that Karen was drawn through the seance in another dimension and another creature, the Watcher has been summoned. This creature has taken possession of Ellie and now wants to return to their dimension. For this, the Seance must be repeated to retrieve Karen. You make it eventually and Karen is back. Since you can not age in the other dimension, Karen still looks like 30 years ago. At the end Mrs. Aylwood rushes into the chapel to take her daughter in her arms.

Reviews

" The first fantastic film that was produced by the Disney Studios, convinced by his camera work, the drawing of the morbid atmosphere and especially by Alt- star Bette Davis. "

Vincent Canby called also the indulgent viewers, to make an attempt to reproduce the end of the film somewhat understandable. Leonard Matin judged him as " produces pretty, provided with a good cast, but he acted strangely pieced together ".

Alternate endings

There two alternate endings were written for the film:

• The planned end was never filmed because the effects would have been too expensive. In this end you should see the true form of Watchers ( A monstrous skeleton). The creature pulls in January in the other dimension in which this can save Karen and escapes with her to the earth.

• One has then decided to turn a similar end, where you get to see anything from the other dimension. This end, however, was poorly received by critics.