Disney's Dark Films: How The Watcher in the Woods (1980) Defined My Personality

I know I’m not the only one who was traumatized from The Watcher in the Woods (1980), a Disney movie based on the novel by Florence Engel Randall. Watching it back as an adult (which is really hard to do, it’s impossible to find) I realize this movie may have given me my entire personality. 

The Watcher in the Woods tells the story of an American family that moves to an old estate in the English countryside. The teenage daughter becomes fascinated with a decades-old disappearance involving a girl who vanished in the nearby woods, and the youngest daughter seems to be controlled or connected to an invisible force. 

The movie stars Bette Davis, Kyle Richards (!!) and Lynn-Holly Johnson. And while some of the more intense moments don’t hit as hard as an adult, it still feels squarely like a horror movie. Which begs the question, why did Disney make a horror movie for children in the 80s? 

In the 1970s and 80s, Disney was trying to shift the age of its audience older. In 1983, Disney released Something Wicked This Way Comes, and in ‘79 The Black Hole was released. Producer Ron Miller was pitched the idea by Tom Leetch, who said “This could be our Exorcist.” Miller brought on John Hough to direct, a very deliberate choice. 

Hough had directed Disney hits like Escape to and Return From Witch Mountain, and The Magical World of Disney TV series. But he also directed The Legend of Hell House (1973) and Sudden Terror (1970). He had the strange but perfect combination of Disney and horror experience as a storyteller. But even with this background in mind, Hough still took it too far sometimes on set. Producer Ron Miller had to intervene and tone down certain moments during production. 

This film always stood out to me, it was a childhood favorite. My sister and I watched it many times. I love that it plays with the eclipse (very witch) and childhood games as rituals. Side note: here are some of my favorites. Hough uses his hammer horror background a lot in Watcher. The stylized POV camera shots, the loud pre-lap jump scares, and the delightfully outdated props and effects. There’s also a strong British folk horror throughline, especially with the ritual and magic elements. 

Also, both The Watcher in The Woods and The Shining came out in 1980. Both use the backwards word trick (which to be fair was part of the original Shining novel in 1977). But there are more similarities between the story of The Shining and Watcher, for example a somewhat isolated property, children as a conduit for the paranormal, and the past bleeding into the present. 

Watcher also calls to mind Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) for me, it's interesting (and perhaps gentler) when the mystery revolves around a missing character, not a murdered one. 

Production was chaotic, taking a total of 12 weeks to film. And once the film ended its theatrical run the ending was changed. Despite that, the film feels cohesive and complete. 

In conclusion, from the witchy-pagan-eclipse-rituals to the hammer horror style filmmaking funneled into a children’s movie, this film defined me. As an adult I'm obsessed with horror, the moon, rituals, the history of folklore and the paranormal. But in a soft way. If you haven’t seen it, good luck finding it. If you have, did it change your life too?