I liked this movie. I think that Karen was fine in the movie and she looked just like a real woman to me unlike what someone had said in aother post that she's not like a man dressed in drag to LOOK LIKE A WOMAN. Also, who or what was the watcher exactly? Just curious.
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If you watched the alternate ending, you will see that the Watcher is some creature from outer space, who ended up switching places with Karen during the eclipse. IMO, the alternate ending is horrendous, and I am much happier with the original ending that is creepy even if it doesn't make as much sense.
I think that Karen was fine in the movie and she looked just like a real woman to me unlike what someone had said in aother post that she's not like a man dressed in drag to LOOK LIKE A WOMAN.
The watcher is an alien from another world or dimension.
In the theatrical/classic ending, Ellie explains what happened, that Karen and the watcher, from another world/dimension were switched places.
In the deleted/extended endings on the DVD you see the watcher and their home world, the watcher looks like that flying roach guy from Star Wars Phantom Menace.
In the original book the movie is based on, the watcher is a small female child from a distant planet. She was sent to earth for a day (equaling 50 years earth time), basically for some unknown reason. When the door was open to send her through, Karen was inadvertently sent to their world and trapped until the door could open again.
I wish they had made the watcher more like she was in the book.
As for the man-ish looking Karen alternative, I think the wig just didn't suit the woman in it. It brought out unkind tones in her skin.
Karen was not in drag- they had to use a different actress to film one of the scenes (the second actress was not in the credits.) To make them look like the same girl, they made her wear a blond wig, which might be why it looks like she's in drag.
shareYou are all wrong - to a certain degree! The actress throughout the film - shown blindfolded is Katharine Levy. When the film was first released in 1980, the scenes now called "alternate endings" were the ORIGINAL ending. She has naturally dark hair, so I'm sure the pale blond wig is unflattering to some people because of her coloring.
When a new ending was made for the film a year later, it was done here in the States and apparantly Katharine was not available. So another woman was chosen to stand there speechless in the chapel as Bette Davis says "Karen...you've come home". It always bothered me because she looks NOTHING like the Karen in the mirrors and flashbacks! Doesn't even look like the same dress!!! Katharine Levy's name was removed from the credits because she is never seen unblindfolded, and this new chick was not credited - probably why she wasn't given a line to speak. And another bit of trivia - that is NOT Bette Davis walking to her in that final scene. Bette refused to film more than the one shot "Karen...you've come home" In her mind the film was already complete and should have been left alone, especially since the director was NOT involved with the new ending.
When the DVD was released and we were finally given the honor of seeing the original ending, people started complaining about the "alternate ending" Karen not being a woman and not being the girl shown throughout the movie. This is just not true. Watch the film again and look closely at the face of Karen, and watch the ORIGINAL endings again. It is her. The "official" ending is not the original ending and does not contain the real Karen.
Here is Miss Levy's IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0506496/
Hope I've helped clarify the inconsistencies.
This is pretty much what I said, except for the Bette Davis part. So I wasn't "all wrong."
shareNo, actually you said "to make them look like the same girl, they had to put her in a blond wig". But she WAS the same girl throughout the film. That's what I was wanting to clarify. There were 2 Karen's - the original and the one shown silent in the chapel at the end of the "official version" of the movie. Your post almost sounded as if you thought there were 3.
shareI never said/insinuated that there were three Karens.
shareWhen I watched the film for the first time last month - after knowing about it since the early 1980's - I went in cold, with no knowledge of any of the background stories in making it. And I wasn't aware that it was a different actress used for the 'final' theatrical ending. They managed to keep the illusion because Karen is always seen with that large blindfold covering most of her face, and the actress at the end is never seen any closer than a medium wide shot. So yeah, nothing went off in my mind that something wasn't right.
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