Lynn-Holly Johnson/Watcher in the Woods

I just watched the movie for the first time in 26 years (or whenever it was in theaters). I enjoyed the movie then, and I actually enjoy it more now.

I like Lynn-Holly Johnson in this movie. Her acting worked for me when the movie was new, and now her portrayal of Jan comes across as likable, sweet, and cute. I think she played a teenager convincingly. I always assumed she was a teenager when the movie was breing filmed until I recently read a bio. about her.

Interestingly, I saw For Your Eyes Only back in '81, a few months after seeing Watcher in the Woods, and I didn't recognize her in the former. She had a pretty different persona in the Bond movie (I think).

I have a few minor issues about Watcher in the Woods, especially now that I've seen the alternate endings. However, I have and continue to regard this movie as an exception to Disney's otherwise disappointing and lackluster movies circa the late '70s and early '80s.

I love Alan Hume's photography of the forests and trees and the ongoing tree and sun motifs, which seem to reflect the pagan element of the story.

It's surprising, I think, that Hume did such beautiful forest photography in this movie while his depiction of the forest moon of Endor for Return of the Jedi (1983) was often flat and "unenchanting."(1) Although, Hume said at the time that George Lucas wanted the film to be shot quickly, and so Hume's vision of misty woods was unrealized. Apparently, on Return of the Jedi, pace was more important than quality. (Hume stated this in the 1983 book The Making of Return of the Jedi.)

Another highpoint in Hume's photography for me is the carnival sequence, including the house of mirrors.

I also love Elliot Scott's production design. The interiors of the old houses are beautiful. Scott, of course, continued to distinguish himself on movies like Labyrinth and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (I loved his interior of the zepelin.)

Watching John Hough's direction of Watcher in the Woods compounded my regret that he walked away from Disney's The Black Hole (after a year of involvement) to be replaced by another director. Had Hough directed The Black Hole, I think it would have had a sense of wonder (like other of his films) rather than being a Star Wars-inspired action film with explosions and video game-like shoot-outs.


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(1)Critic Pauline Kael called Endor "unenchanting" in her 1983 review of Return of the Jedi.