The 25 Most Immersive Worlds in Cinema
Highly immersive cinematic worlds can carry a movie, and we've rounded up the best of the best.
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Title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
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3 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview: | |||
| Bette Davis | ... | ||
| Lynn-Holly Johnson | ... |
Jan Curtis
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| Kyle Richards | ... |
Ellie Curtis
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| Carroll Baker | ... |
Helen Curtis
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| David McCallum | ... |
Paul Curtis
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| Benedict Taylor | ... |
Mike Fleming
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Frances Cuka | ... |
Mary Fleming
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Richard Pasco | ... |
Tom Colley
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| Ian Bannen | ... |
John Keller
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Katharine Levy | ... |
Karen Aylwood
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Eleanor Summerfield | ... |
Mrs. Thayer
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Georgina Hale | ... | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
When a normal American family moves into a beautiful old English house in a wooded area, strange, paranormal appearances befall them in this interesting twist to the well-known haunted-house tale. Their daughter Jan sees, and daughter Ellie hears, the voice of a young teenage girl who mysteriously disappeared during a total solar eclipse decades before... Written by Michael Ducharme <ducharme@escape.ca>
Taglines:
Scared of going into the woods? You should be ... See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
1981 (Mexico) See more »Also Known As:
Az erdei kápolna titka See more »Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
DolbyColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Ellie Curtis: Hey, that's seven years' bad luck!
Paul Curtis: Nonsense. I broke a mirror the day I met your mother.
Helen Curtis: I'm not sure that makes your point, darling.
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Did You Know?
Goofs
When Jan goes to see Mr Keller she leans her bike against the right hand door post, but when she leaves she collects her bike from the opposite door post. See more »Quotes
Paul Curtis: You know how old mirrors are. I never made a move yet without something getting broken.Ellie Curtis: Hey, that's seven years' bad luck!
Paul Curtis: Nonsense. I broke a mirror the day I met your mother.
Helen Curtis: I'm not sure that makes your point, darling.
See more »
THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS
Aspect ratio: 1.75:1
Sound format: Dolby Stereo
An attempt by Disney to lift itself out of the doldrums following a creative and commercial downturn in the 1970's, THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS takes its plot from a Young Adult novel by Florence Engel Randall in which an American family takes residence in a creepy old house in the English countryside. Almost immediately, the eldest daughter (former ice-skater Lynn-Holly Johnson) experiences weird visions linked to the disappearance of a teenage girl under mysterious circumstances many years before. The film has visual style to burn (cinematography and set design are especially eye-catching), and there's a couple of terrific PG-level scares, but all the technical gloss in the world can't make up for a listless pace and repetitious plot line, and Johnson's one-note performance transforms a strong, resourceful heroine into little more than a whining goody two-shoes. Worse still, co-stars Bette Davis, Carroll Baker and David McCallum are given almost nothing to do, and there's much evidence of editorial tampering during some of the opening scenes.
Originally slated to conclude with an ambitious visual effects sequence, the version which premiered in 1980 was basically unfinished and led to scornful reviews which doomed it from the outset. Realizing their mistake, Disney pulled the film and reworked the ending, without the participation of several key personnel (including director John Hough!), most of whom had moved on to other projects. This revised print - running 16 minutes shorter than the 100m original - made it into theaters the following year, sporting a 1981 copyright, and is the version which has prevailed ever since. For a detailed report on "Watcher"s troubled production history, see Paul Talbot's superb article in 'Video Watchdog' 88.