Last night I was trawling through new movies to watch, by unorthodox terms I might add. but never the less I watch more TV Shows than I do movies.
I looked around to see what was available on download to watch and I came across The Watcher in the woods 2017.

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Curious I thought first incase it was just a title change for the old movie, I went on the old youtube and checked and sure enough there was a trailer for it.

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Too good an opportunity to miss I had to watch it.

Warning contains spoilers

So this is a remake of the original 1981 disney classic, starring the late and unforgettable Bette Davis. The character names are the same, sad to say that none of the original actors are in the movie though.

The remake however was not done by Disney this time and I was surprised to see that the movie was directed by former actress Melissa Joan Hart. (Remember Sabrina the teenage Witch?) Yep thats her.

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So like the original, an American Family move to Britain for the summer, and rent a big old house which belongs to Mrs Aylewood. Originally Bette Davis now played by Angelica Huston. Now in the original like the recent Karen Aylewood went missing under suspicious circustance which no one really understood what had happened, more to the point no one wanted to talk about it.

We know from the original that Karen Aylewood went missing on the night of a Solar Eclipse, and switched with an entity from another dimension, where Karen was trapped. And could be seen by the main Character Jen in Mirrors.

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In the original Karen was part of a secret ceremony in an old abandoned church, as part of the ritual she was blindfolded and told she could not speak, as a result she was trapped in another dimension still blindfolded. What I never got about the movie was the character Tom Colley told Jen it was a game of Ring around the rosies, an old childhood nursery rhyme.

I did never understand the significance of this line, in relation to what actually happened as the rhyme was never said throughout or really talked about.

In the recent version like when Jen was in the fun house, this time Jen is in the conservatory with Mrs Aylewood and Karen appears but this time she is gagged not blindfolded.

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The reason for this Karen Aylewood going missing is different from the original, and Ring around the Rosies plays a vital part to the story line. The nursery rhyme actually is to do with the plague back in the 16th century.

Ring around the Rosies was a rash on the body, and pocket full of posies was dried flower petals which were used to mask the smell of death around the villages and towns. Tissue, Tissue was the sneezing which was another clue when someone had the plague, and all fall down was the mass death of people who had it. Really its not a nice song at all.

The night of the dissapearance

So this time it is very different, Karen has not long lived in the village and in the house that they moved into she found a trunk with an old robe in and a mask which was used during the plague worn by doctors to mask the smell of death.

There is a tale around the village that during the plague some sort of miracle happened and the plague missed the village entirely. However Karen discovers in a book written by a doctor, that it was not a miracle and that the doctor discovers the importance of hygiene and not to leave the village at all.

However the doctor goes to a nearby village wearing the robes and mask and is caught by villagers who see he has contracted the plague and is killed. Somehow the robes and mask end up at the house locked away in a trunk in the attic.

In this film she invites her friends to come into the woods, Tom Colley, Mary Fleming and Joe Keller during the eclipse. The three are reluctant but eventually agree to meet up with Karen. In the woods they arrive at a particular tree by the pond, when from behind the tree they hear the Ring around the Roseys song and Karen appears wearing the robe and the mask.

Type of outfit she wore

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She unmasked her self when suddenly they heard haunting whispers singing the same song, the tree roots snatch Karen and she dissapears into the tree.

The new Mrs Aylewood

Jen suspects that Mrs Aylewood is responsible for Karens Death and suspects she is a witch, watching her go out every evening into the woods. When one night she follows her and as before she falls into the pond, Mrs Aylewood helps her to prevent her from drowning but people and the police believe she tried to kill her until Jen speaks up.

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Jen speaks with Mrs Aylewood ,who tells her that the woods are haunted by the watcher. She tells her about the story of the doctor, how he died, how he has haunted the woods and has Karen trapped where he is. She tells Jen she has made a bargain with the watcher to get Karen back in exchange for Jen's younger Sister Ellie. She also mentions that the watcher will give Karen back if it can have the peelings, but she does not know what this means.

At this point I should point out that Ellie the younger sister in this film has a doll which she called Nerak instead of the dog in the original, she does not play as big as a role as the original Ellie in the movie.

Jen decides that she needs to do all she can to stop Ellie from being Taken so persuades Tom, Mary and Joe to join her in the woods, with Mark, Mary's son and Mrs Aylewood. She re-enacts what happens and is also pulled into the tree, when just then Jen's parents and Ellie arrive, franticly wanting answers.

This time though we see Jen reach the other dimension and rescue Karen, but when they try to get back the doctor stops them and tries to keep them there. Mark realises what is meant by the peelings which is the ringing of the church bells, the same count as the age the doctor died.

The doctor hears this from the other dimension and releases Jen and Karen and they are allowed back through. Once through all is restored and they leave the woods.

Conclusion

The movies story line is the same in a lot of ways the same as the characters but in some ways different. The ring around the rosies now makes a lot more sense, but I can't help but feel it was a little rushed. Angelica Huston plays an amazing Mrs Aylewood, and did a great job making her extra spooky looking, unsure why she spoke with an Irish accent unless she found welsh a little too difficult.

There was a scene also where about a day or so after Jen had met Mark Fleming, he said he liked her and tried to make a move. I don't really see the relevance of this scene and feel it should have been cut it was not necessary at all.

Also whilst original Karen was Blindfolded the plot explained why, but there is no mention why the new Karen was gagged and bound. When she left this dimension she was not so where did the gag and rope come from, and who put it there? When she talks to Jen she makes no recollection about it, that could have been explained a lot better.

Over all I feel the remake could have been good, the story line was there but it was not pulled together tight enough, which left you with a lot of questions that you will never get the answers to.

I would overall rank this a 6/10 for effort, using the same characters names, and the plot.

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