my parents rented this for me when i was 5 or 6, thinking, "hey, it's a Disney movie, it can't be that scary." i was afraid to look into mirrors for YEARS. it's good fun now, though, if not a bit early-80's cheezy.
shareYeah, this movie scared me too. I used to get freaked out when Jan's little sister talked in that deep possessed voice. Creepy. Still a good movie though.
shareDefinitely. The part that I could barely take was when she sees Karin's face reflected in the coffin in the church (or maybe it was a stone w/a pool of water at the head, i don't remember). I haven't seen it in a few years, but I plan to buy the DVD soon.
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It would have freaked me out if I could have figured out what the hell it was about.
shareI remember seeing this movie when I was probably 6-8 ish, and it scared the crap out of me. But for some reason I ended up watching it like a hundred times, I loved it. I haven't seen it in years, but its gonna be next on my list of movies to buy.
shareAnother reason I found this so scary was that, before I found out what was really going on with the girl in the mirror, they come close to implying demon possession; especially when it comes to the younger sister. And i vaguely remember a scene where they try to get away, but the bridge falls and won't let them leave. Kind of like a cross between demon possession and "The Haunting" (the ORIGINAL "Haunting," of course).
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This movie scared the bejeezus out of me. I actually saw it in the theatre when it came out. I was like 7 or 8, and I actually walked out of the theatre in the middle of it because I was so freaked out. My cousins who were with me, left also. I'd like to see it again now that I'm an adult to see it with different eyes.
"Stay on target..."
Geez, i can't imagine seeing this on the big screen as a child. You can buy the DVD now; i think Anchor Bay has released it. It has the original ending that people laughed at; apparently, they explain the whole thing using a large paper mache-looking alien. It's also got the new ending they shot, and the one i saw on the video as a kid. Good times...
shareOh man...I saw this movie when I was five and it scared the heck out of me. I had a fear of mirrors for years afterwards...I was always afraid I'd turn around and it wouldn't be me looking back out. Btw, did anybody read the book? Depressing tale of mortality pretty much sums it up. Definitely think the movie was better.
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I agree w/you about the book. I finally tracked down a copy of it about 5 years ago, and wondered why the filmmakers didn't just stick with that whole plotline. It moves really quickly at the end, so perhaps they decided that it would be too hard to follow, especially for younger audiences.
shareI had a teacher let my class watch this movie in 1987. It had been out for a long time at that point, and my whole class was scared shitless. Even now whenever i see anyone from that class we always remember this movie and how scared we were after watching it. I have never seen it in full since, but I almost bought it in a department store a year ago...kicking myself cause i haven't seen it since.
"Good...Bad....I'm the guy with the gun"
Army of Darkness....1993
It's available now on DVD; you may not find it in stores, but Amazon and BN.com are sure to have it. It's definitely on the top of my list...
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I haven't seen this is it really scary? Disney has scared me in the past with there movies Mr. Boogedy & Child of Glass. Those films scared the crap out of me as a kid.
"Hey, Hey Kid How Would You Like A Career in Show Buisness?"
Yes, this movie reminded me quite a bit of Child of Glass. It's definitely worth renting; think about it this way : when was Bette Davis NOT scary?
shareThanks i'll defintly check it out. Who's Bette Davis though?
"Hey, Hey Kid How Would You Like A Career in Show Buisness?"
Old Hollywood actress who played in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" as a psycho chick who tortures her sister. She always looks evil, no matter what she's in.
shareQuick question, I have read all through this board and I see everyone has found this movie scary as a child. But has anyone seen it as an adult? Does it hold true value as a scary movie?
I mean, I was scared of everything when I was a child....and I don't want to watch this again and ruin the memory as a child watching this and being scared.
There are a few movies I really liked when I was young and am kinda scared to watch now and see how bad they might actually be.
I don't really know...I mean, obviously it's not going to be anywhere near as scary as it was when you were a kid. I saw it again a couple of years ago, and i definitely got flashbacks of the true fright i felt as a child when watching it.
A friend of mine told me that she showed it to a bunch of people she knew, and the guys all spent the entire time making fun of it, but when they left, all the girls admitted that they were completely freaked out. When i watched it as an adult, i appreciated it more as a mystery than a scary movie.
I can't wait to rent this.
"Hey, Hey Kid How Would You Like A Career in Show Buisness?"
Hey,thanks a lot on the update, I am going to go and see if I can find this movie anywhere to rent and if I can't I think I am gonna buy it. If it can freak adults out a bit then it is worth having in my collection. I did catch the first 20 min on TV one day last October, so maybe they will have it on around Halloween time again this year.
Im gonna say "No". I never saw this movie as a child...had always wanted to. Then in my late 20s I found out about wonderful eBay where you could find old movies and I ordered a copy. I watched it with my 2 little nieces. The youngest one (lets say she was about 6 at the time) was sort of cringing through the first hour.(We will both admit that the funhouse mirror scene was freaky. she also seemed scared by the scene where the girl is in a lake and Bette Davis comes over with a stick.....hard to explain,guess you have to see it). I think its safe to say if you see this movie as a 20 or 30 year old it wont scare the crap out of you. Its best for people who remember it from thier childhood to watch it.
im almost tempted to rent the dvd JUST so I can see the (legendary funny) alternate ending.
*** Marry me,Hal! ***
I'm 28 and I just watched it for the first time. It was not as bad as I was expecting. It's actually a pretty well-made little movie. I was not, however, actually scared at any point. That doesn't mean it's not worth watching as an adult.
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i laughed when i read this headliner...
it did indeed freak me out as well when i was child...
i thoguht i was the only one..
i went around for yrs saying this was the scariest movie i had ever seen..
not shining not halloween, not exorcist...
but this DISNEY movie@!!!!
of coarse always followed by a weird look, i still sometimes shutter, and look away come time that haunting image comes across the mirror...
thought it doesnt scare me....i dont want to be stuck in a dream, forced to look at that all night. AHHHHHHHHHH
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i am so relieved to discover that i am not the only one who is terrified of this movie. i almost pooed my pants. i saw it was i was about 7 or 8 and for about 2 years after that i couldnt look directly into a mirror. my god the part when karen is in the mirror with that blind fold on and the mirror brakes and then that girl becomes possesed and the music box and "nerak" writen in the window, when the horse goes wild, when the girl is trapped under those branches in the river........ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
i didn't even watch the whole thing i begged my friends to turn off the video. i plucked up the courage to watch it when it came on tv a while ago and the ending didn't really seem scary but watching it for the first time was horrifying. its my scariest movie of all time and people think i'm crazy because its by disney. i'm still not completely comfortable around mirrors!
i will be seeking therapy.... i know this movie freaked other kids out too but does anyone feel as strongly about it as i do?
the most frightening movies i've seen besides WITW are
the ring and the japanese version
house on haunted hill
phantoms (yes that crappy movie with ben affleck sad but true)
candyman
texas chainsaw massacre (the original of course)
Well, I won't be seeking therapy, but it was definitely the most frightening movie I saw (like another poster, up until I saw the Exorcist when I was around 14) as a child.
For me, one of the scariest moments was when the bridge fell, not letting the family leave the house. Even at the age of 5, the implications of a house trapping you inside of it freaked the crap out of me.
I'm glad to meet an online support group of people who know how it feels to not be able to look in a mirror. Geez, I can still remember waking up at 2am, trying not to look at the full-length mirror on the back of my bedroom door.
The only 2 other movies that have stayed with me the way The Watcher in the Woods did are The Ring and the Exorcist.
I first saw this film when I was 6 and it scared the crap out of me.
It was very well acted at the setting was beautiful but it is what started my fear of Bette Davis (she is so scary)
I am now 18 and still have a cushion with me each time I see this film and Bette Davis.
I know I'm a wimp but I am sure this film is what began my fear of reflections and shadows.
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Absolutely could NOT look into my mirror for a lonnng time. Even the music in the whole thing is horrifying, and the fact that all early 80's movies are a little gritty looking. Good god. Definitely the scariest movie of my childhood. The scene in the fun house, the whole writing on the mirror thing, the whole "hardly ever happens" thing, yeah. The scariest of my adulthood thus far? The RING.
shareI was about 10 and my mother had seen it years before, so me and her sat down one day when it came on TV and watched it. I don't remember being scared but I never forgot about the movie and when I was able to catch it on TV again I would watch it.
I really loved the movie. I thought the occult thing was a bit odd.
The ending was excellent though I didn't understand at the time why Karen didn't age.
Later it made sense.
I actually don't remember being frightened when watching "Watcher in the Woods" as a child. I do remember seeing it on TBS the other day and having to sleep with the lights on, lmao.
"Plots are for dead people, pore-face." -Lorrie Moore, How to Become a Writershare
To answer someone's question from a while back, I just saw the movie for the first time ever, and I am 24...the movie is pretty cheesy by today’s standards. It didn’t frighten me at all as most of the scare tactics are sort of kiddy versions of stuff you might see in the Shining or any other haunted house movie. At some points in the movie, you see the remnants of what could make a pretty good scary movie, but it just doesn’t really click to a young adult movie viewer. I guess the real question is, would it scare today’s typical five year old? I know kids in the second grade who have seen the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, so I guess this would be pretty tame.
Seeing as how I am younger than most of you, I do have my movie that scared me to death. It was the corny movie, The Gate. After that I was convinced the tree in my backyard would lead me to the gates of Hell and zombie construction workers would pop out of my wall, and I was forever afraid of any record player.
Well you would have had to have seen it as a child. I saw it as a child and it gave me nightmares for months! No stuff! It really did! It's the whole psychosis thing! If only you had the privalege of seeing it as a child! I LOVED IT! Still do. Still gives me some chills!
shareI remember dancing around the video store with my cousins, making fun of this movie. To this day, I don't think I've seen the end of this movie. Today in my macroecon class i got the song we were singing stuck in my head. (The song was along the lines of "Farmer in the Dell," only with the movies title. I have to look for it.
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