Watcher in the Woods

[Mr. Toad]

I was thrilled to see Luke's news on the front page that it will be anamorphic widescreen. Always loved the movie. Bette Davis did an excellent job. Although I think it is going a little far to call it a horror movie, it was certainly one of Disney's finest suspensful movies.

[Luke]

"Horror" is a bit extreme, since generally that calls to mind blood. And that's not the film that this is. But then it does seem a bit beyond suspense.

Anyway, it's a very good movie and one I'm looking forward to getting! Shame it won't have the Anchor Bay commentary.

[TheZue]

It's almost like a horror movie for kids. Scared the heck out of me when I was in grade five and I'm really looking forward to this one!

[Kram Nebuer]

This movie amazed me so much when I first saw it. The ending spooked me! My 6th grade English teacher showed The Watcher in the Woods to us to inspire us to write a suspenseful story. It was a great movie and I would love to see it again. My story ended up being more like a mystery than suspense.

[Disney Guru]

I will deffinately be buying this DVD. I loved this movie a lot as a child. It was so enjoyable and yet so Spooky for wee ones. When I turned 8 My Sister showed me this movie and I loved it so much.

[Joe Carioca]

If you have not read it yet, here is an interesting story on the release of the original DVD.

From IMDb

The Anchor Bay DVD release was originally going to be a two-disc set, with both the famous original 100 minute cut that test audiences saw (Anchor Bay found the footage that was thought destroyed, and was going to re-edit it as close as possible to the preview version) and the theatrical 84 minute cut. Unfortunately Disney did not allow Anchor Bay to have the original cut, and only let them use the two "alternate endings" which now appear on the DVD. This explains Director Hough referring to the movie as being finally edited the way he intended (the commentary was recoreded before Anchor Bay had to drop the two-disc idea), when it actually isn't. The alternate endings, however, do provide the majority of the missing footage from the 1981 preview, save some small scenes/changes. Hough explains that "his" ending is a combination of the two alternate endings and the film's current ending.

[Udvarnoky]

Agh. So the new Disney DVD will not contain the original screening cut or the real original ending, but the two "editor's endings" that we got with the AB disc, not to mention less extras. I guess it's not worth an upgrade. I wonder, if the TV spots are included, if Disney will put the Disney title back that they made AB remove.

[englishboy]

I know it contains two. But I believe there were actually four alt endings produced and screened before the film went out to theaters. From what I recall, the first ending bombed at early screenings, causing the release to be delayed. The ending was re-cut and possibly newly filmed footage added, and then the film was screened with various endings for various test audiences. I haven't seen it in many years. There was one ending in which the "presence" appeared as a--and I'm paraphrasing from a newspaper review--Chinese paper dragon type thing. I've always been curious about this ending. Is this ending included on the disc?

[Loomis]

I can't say for sure, but they will presumably port over the alternate endings from the Anchor Bay DVD (which is really quite good).

The AB disc contains only 2 sequences: the one that is a slight variation on the theatrical ending, and the "Other World" ending (not to be confused with the "Other World" sequence, which was never actually completed).

I don't think Disney have dug up anything different for this release.

[disneyfella]

so far from what i've heard this will be the first anchor bay disc that i do not want on disney dvd. it seems to me that the anchor bay disc is so much better as is, and what a pity that disney wouldn't let them make it any better.

one can only hope that disney does the underhanded, back-stabbing thing and make Watcher the 2-disc set that Anchor Bay wanted it to be