Cry of the lost

Movie
German title	Cry of the lost
Original title	The Watcher in the Woods
Country of production	USA , UK
original language	English
Publishing year	1980
length	80 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	John Hough
script	Brian Clemens ; Harry Spalding ; Rosemary Anne Sisson
production	Hugh Attwooll
music	Stanley Myers
camera	Alan Hume
cut	Geoffrey Foot
occupation
	Bette Davis : Mrs. Aylwood; Lynn-Holly Johnson : Jan Curtis; Kyle Richards : Ellie Curtis; Carroll Baker : Helen Curtis; David McCallum : Paul Curtis; Bendict Taylor : Mike Fleming; Frances Cuka : Mary Fleming; Richard Pasco : Tom Colley; Ian Bannen : John Keller; Katharine Levy : Karen Aylwood;

Scream of the Lost (Original title: The Watcher in the Woods ) is a film by John Hough from 1980. It premiered on April 17, 1980 in New York. The film was then revised again and was only released in cinemas on October 7, 1981 with a length of 84 minutes. The film is based on the novel A Watcher in the Woods by Florence Engel Rangall . Screams of the Lost (according to the cover of the DVD release) is sometimes given as the title .

action

The Curtis family moves into an old manor house in the country. The owner of the house, Mrs. Aylwood, sees in the daughter Jan Curtis a similarity to her long-lost daughter Karen. Jan soon has visions of blue lights, triangles and a blindfolded girl her age. Strange things also happen to her younger sister Ellie. She seems possessed and talks weird stuff. When Ellie bought a puppy, she called him Nerak, which backwards means Karen. Jan tries to solve the secret of Mrs. Aylwood and finds out that thirty years ago Karen wanted to be accepted into the chapel in a club, whose acceptance ceremony was similar to a seance .

It turns out that Karen was pulled into another dimension by the seance and another creature, the Watcher , was summoned. This creature has taken possession of Ellie and now wants to return to its dimension. The seance has to be repeated to bring Karen back. You finally make it and Karen is back. Since you cannot age in the other dimension, Karen still looks like it did 30 years ago. In the end, Mrs. Aylwood rushes into the chapel to take her daughter in her arms.

Reviews

"The first fantastic film that was produced by the Disney studios convinces with its camera work, the drawing of the morbid atmosphere and, above all, with old star Bette Davis."

- Lexicon of international film :

Vincent Canby urged even the most indulgent viewer to make an attempt to reproduce the end of the film in a reasonably understandable way. Leonard Maltin rated it as "nicely produced, with a good cast, but it seems strangely pieced together".

Alternative endings

There were 2 alternative endings written for the film:

The planned ending was never filmed because the effects would have been too expensive. In this ending one should see the true form of the watcher (a monstrous skeleton ). The creature pulls Jan into the other dimension , where she can save Karen and flee to earth with her.

You then decided to shoot a similar ending in which you don't get to see anything of the other dimension. However, this ending was badly received by critics.

Web links

Commons : Film locations of The Watcher in the Woods (1980) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

The Watcher in the Woods in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Background information on the film at fast-rewind.com (English)
Summary of the review in the New York Times
The screams of the lost in the German dubbing index

Individual evidence

↑ not in the revised version
↑ Cry of the Lost. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
^ John Kenneth Muir: Horror Films of the 1980s. 2007, p. 138.
↑ in: Leonard Maltin's Family Film Guide. 1999, p. 598.
^ Criticism on Moviepilot.de

[1] t in the revised version

[2] Cry of the Lost. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .

[3] John Kenneth Muir: Horror Films of the 1980s. 2007, p. 138.

[4] : Leonard Maltin's Family Film Guide. 1999, p. 598.

[5] Criticism on Moviepilot.de