... The reason this movie ever came to be called `The Watcher´ is because Griffin `watches´ his victims first (clever eh?, no I didn´t think so either), getting to know every little thing about them and picking his spot to make his move when he knows his intended victims will be all alone.
This ... Read review
FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) has gone into hiding. Traumatized and beaten down ... more
after years of pursuing psychotic killers in Los Angeles he is trying to carve a new less stressful life for himself in Chicago. But his guilty past follows him....
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
A stunning clever and unputdownable new Minnesota-based thriller from the masterful pen ... more
of a future giant. Lieutenant Jonathan Stride has never forgotten the case that made him decide to join the police force. Back in the 1970s Laura -- sister of Stride's girlfriend -- was murdered. The obvious suspect was a vagrant who slipped through the hands of the police including Stride's detective hero Roy. Now though Stride's looking at the case in a new light. Tish Verdure an old friend of Laura's has come home: and she's certain that the killer was a local boy now an attorney with connections at the highest level. Stride's soon convinced that there was a deliberate decision to direct the investigation towards a simple solution and away from Tish's suggested perpetrator: but he's also convinced that Tish is hiding a secret about the past. A secret that could have shattering consequences -- including a second murder...
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Legendary actress and two-time Oscar-winner Bette Davis ('Dangerous', 'Jezebel') stars in ... more
this frightening and atmospheric thriller. When an American teenager joins her family in an English country house, she experiences strange and supernatural occurrences. Mrs. Alywood (Davis), the kindly caretaker, knows the dark secret behind the happenings...and prepares for the return of a young girl who died mysteriously some 30 years earlier! THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS weaves a haunting, riveting tale that stays with you long after the EXPLOSIVE ENDING!!!
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Mean, dark and moody, James Spaders Performance Disadvantages: Predictable, Keanu is well....um.....Keanu
...mean you can get all the top titles on DVD months earlier than you would here in Blighty and cheaper too, when I bought my player thats what I originally thought, but since then I´ve had the (and I use the term loosely) pleasure of viewing the Region 1 (American) Release of the Watcher, a movie thats been hyped up so much it has to be said when we strip down to the bare bones its a bit of a let-down.
Settling down with my staple movie-watching ... ...movie, we soon found that the thought of the damage to my teeth (and my wallet when the dentist finds out) this kind of food will do was scarier than the tale we were watching, and all this after a great opening.
We start off seeing a Police stake-out on a building, it soon becomes obvious that the character Keanu Reeves is playing is the man they´re searching for, in fact in a change to your regular horror movie - you know who the ... more
Multi-region DVD Players eh?, great inventions aren´t they? I mean you can get all the top titles on DVD months earlier than you would here in Blighty and cheaper too, when I bought my player thats what I originally thought, but since then I´ve had the (and I use the term loosely) pleasure of viewing the Region 1 (American) Release of the Watcher, a movie thats been hyped up so much it has to be said when we strip down to the bare bones its a bit of a let-down.
Settling down with my staple movie-watching diet of one large tub of Haagen Daaz Ice-Cream and a large bottle of Pepsi hoping that we´d have a fair old horror movie, we soon found that the thought of the damage to my teeth (and my wallet when the dentist finds out) this kind of food will do was scarier than the tale we were watching, and all this after a great opening.
We start off seeing a Police stake-out on a building, it soon becomes obvious that the character Keanu Reeves is playing is the man they´re searching for, in fact in a change to your regular horror movie - you know who the murderer is within the first 5 minutes, we get a chase scene as David Allen Griffin (Reeves) runs away from his impending capture, before we cut to Joel Campbell(James Spader) in a psychiatrists office telling of how he´d been chasing a murderer for years and never got anywhere near catching him, hence he moved to the city we´re in now.
Before long theres been a murder in Campbells apartment block, this originally means nothing till Campbell finds some unopened mail in his apartment that turns out to be pictures of the murder victim, from here-on in its plain to see that Griffin has followed Campbell to his new home-town and has started yet another killing spree, only this time he´s sending Campbell pictures of his intended victims and giving him 1 hour to find them. The reason this movie ever came to be called `The Watcher´ is because Griffin `watches´ his victims first (clever eh?, no I didn´t think so either), getting to know every little thing about them and picking his spot to make his move when he knows his intended victims will be all alone.
This is where the story-telling ends, there are quite a few twists in the tale that if told would completely ruin what little story there is, what we end up with is a cat and mouse game between Griffin and Campbell, seeing how Campbell tries to find Griffins intended victims before Griffin gets to them, and although there are a couple of nice touches to the movie - story-line-wise its a standard fare, its not genuinely a bad story-line so much as one where the writers could have done a lot more with what they had, its a tepid affair by all means and this makes for a slow movie.
However there isn´t just a story-line to be reviewed as the cast try and make it into something a little more than it actually is so cast-me-do time:
Keanu Reeves (David Allen Griffin): this was one of `The Watcher´s´ main selling points - Keanu Reeves plays a bad-guy, and the man tries to pull it off theres no denying that, and with a promising start as he does look truly menacing on screen when we first see him, but the cockiness of the character makes him a little too unbelievable as a genuine threat to society, maybe we´re just used to him being the good-guy (Speed, The Matrix, Bill and Ted, etc) but it just doesn´t work that well.
James Spader (Joel Campbell): another turn around for the books as Spader has often been known to play the bad guy in a movie yet here he is trying to be the saviour in this movie, this time hes playing a neurotic character who needs to see a psychiatrist as often as possible, whilst taking a cocktail of drugs to keep him going, he is genuinely mean and moody on screen and puts in what has to be said a very good performance making his character real and believable, hes taken the character of Campbell and made it his own.
Marisa Tomei (Polly): Playing Campbells psychiatrist Tomei turns in a half-decent performance - essentially shes the `eye-candy´ for the movie, and as such I´m sure some of you seasoned veterans of Movies are already aware what her main part is in the whole story, she floats around screen, trying to constantly look good if nothing else and her performance is average to say the most. She tries but its definitely not her best performance.
Ernie Hudson (Ibby): Campbells partner in trying to find Griffin, hes basically there to provide a couple of clues in the chase, Hudson does provide a good character its just that again we don´t get to see that much of him - when we do, he is a calming influence to Griffins anger - he makes the whole FBI/Police involvement in the movie more believable.
Short cast list isn´t it? well to watch the movie its more of a Reeves and Spader show than a full movie - those two being the main characters, we don´t really get to see that much of the other characters, it makes it hard to be objective and see the movie for what it is as these 2 take up the bulk of the whole production, but that is what the Producers wanted.
This leads me onto the next point of the movie - reading the production notes they state that the location is actually a big part of the character of the movie, what they wanted to get across is how easy it is for anyone to be a serial killer, and they hoped to put this across in the fact that Reeves´ character finds it easy to blend back in with the crowd walking around and the phrase the producers used was `getting lost in the night-time rush´ and this does come across well - the darkness and moodiness of the locations that were chosen truly adds to the effects of the movie and makes for an eerie setting to some of the scenes - interesting fact time: when this movie went into production, they had to film all the scenes in 75 days as they wanted to utilize how dark it gets in Winter and needed to get the scenes filmed before Spring spoilt the night-time aura they needed.
Final part of movie to get a mention is the sound-track, this time there is a little bit of a sound-track - we get music in the background from the stores our characters are walking past and there are times when Griffin plays music to accompany his murders, theres a hip-hop/dance feel to what we´re hearing and again it adds a little to the movie, making the whole scenes a little more atmospheric.
Overall if you watch this movie expecting the hype to be true then sorry, but you´re in for a shock, there are times when it comes close to what the trailers and reviews promised and if you sit back and throw all expectations out of the window theres some fun to be had here. When it all comes down to it theres a great movie here trying to escape from an average movies body.
Advantages: excellent cast, really good direction, good script Disadvantages: not much - go see it
...is not a patch of the original SOTL - Wait a week for the release of another serial killer movie - 'The Watcher'.
Due to be released generally on Friday, March 9th - I was privileged to see a Press screening at UIP's offices in London on Wednesday.
This is my review of the film, which I'd highly recommend to anyone as a cracking movie and well worth the wait (it was released in the US back in September according to my production notes)
Beware ... ...not be alone!!!
The new dark, chilling, psychological thriller from director Joe Charbanic. pits David Spader as ex FBI agent Joel Campbell against serial killer David Griffin played by Keanu Reeves in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Both Spader and Reeves give superb performances - Spader as the ex Los Angeles FBI agent, Campbell, who is living on the edge of insanity after suffering a nervous breakdown caused by the loss of his lover in a fire, ...
nipples 23.02.2001 (03.03.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Watcher (DVD)
Does the term 'generic' mean anything to you? Well, The Watcher can best be described as generic, nothing more nothing less. Its not a good movie, its not a bad movie, it just...generic. It is a movie which puts a serial killer at the centre of a case involving a pursuing burnt-out FBI agent and centres a whole bunch of games around this pursuit to torment him. Its a movie you have seen countless times before but with different actors and a barely ... ...It has no place in the world because its seat has already been taken and standing room is becoming rapidly limited, and there are surely very few people who are desperate enough to see serial killer movies anymore to warrant making a little more space. Its is just so distinctly....AVERAGE!
The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en and The Cell provided the benchmark for this type of movie to meet, The Watcher doesn't even come close. It features James Spader ...
wampyrii 07.10.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Watcher (DVD)
...Thinking he is away from the crazy man, who has carried out these atrocities, he is seeking help from a psychiatrist to help him over the nightmare. Unbeknown to him, ‘the watcher’ has followed him to Chicago, and is about to start the horrendous killings again! His nightmare is about to re-start all over again.
Keanu Reeves plays David Allen Griffins- the serial killer. Campbell takes the case on, and during some telephone conversation ... ...of killing the victim without warning, he will send a photo of his next victim and allow the FBI until 9 o’clock to find her. IF they don’t find her, then her life is over!
Little clues point Campbell to the right place, shame he was too late by minutes! In one scene the girl is standing at the back of him, while in a lift!
Griffin’s picks his victim and then ‘watches’ them. He knows their every move! When they come ...
dabmim 16.02.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Watcher (DVD)
Advantages: Timed aspects, some good acting, and some truly scary moments Disadvantages: Logic lapses and some bad acting
...are real blockbusters. Silence of the Lambs, the Psycho series, and The Bone Collector ring true in our minds as marvelous pieces.
Sometimes, however, crime drama/suspense movies are utter tripe. I'm sure we've all seen some piece of hardboiled detective bilge that we'd never want to see again.
The Watcher fits somewhere in the middle. It combines terrible, contrived plot lines with some magnificently suspenseful elements and a mix of acting capabilities.
... ...moved to Chicago to escape the strain of his earlier job when he pursued a serial killer. Unfortunately, the serial killer has followed him to Chicago to begin his spree anew.
It is from this that a rather innovative game of serial murder begins. The killer selects one target almost at random, sticking to young, attractive, yet somehow societally inept women (already there's a reality lapse...what these attractive women are doing home alone talking ...
Blacknarwhal 24.12.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Watcher (DVD)
Advantages: Something to do Disadvantages: Not if theres anything else in the cinema
Over the past few years, cinema goers have been treated to an increase in films of this genre-"Seven", and of course "Hannibal" to name just two. It seems the human, rather morbid interest in serial killers continues, in real life and on our screens. And so "The Watcher" is released.
This is not a terrible film, just rather boring. There is not enough characterisation, I came out of the film not actually remembering the name of the main character, ... ...feel it necessary to follow the cop from LA?), and the flashbacks to some kind of fire that obviously had a great effect in shaping the outlook of the cop(sorry, I really can't remember) are not made clear. I was also disappointed with Marisa Tomeis character, from being a strong figure at the start of the film, she became a typical damsel in distress, waiting for rescue by the big strong man.
Having said all this, there is suspense, especially ...
Karyn 26.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Watcher (DVD)
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "The Watcher (DVD)"
Advantages: Split up into 5 min sections so you don't get bored, Easy for beginners Disadvantages: For me, there aren't any!
This dvd is presented by Claire Sweeney and her personal trainer Caroline Sandry. In the background of the exercises she has two real life participants, Lucy and Donna who are a size 14 and a size 16 and have both dropped a stone in 4/5 weeks and inches from their bodies in the same amount of time.
As well as exercises this dvd also has meal plans that can be used just as part of healthy eating or as part of the weight watchers plan. However you do not need to be following weight watchers to use this great dvd. Weight watchers members can get a cheaper version with some extras like interviews with the chef, a resistance band and an extra routine-fit to strip.
The dvd costs about £13-£15 and can be found in places at Woolworths or hmv, or bought on the internet at amazon or even the weight watchers website or for members, at weight ...
Advantages: Easy to follow routines that are so short you don't get bored Disadvantages: I couldn't find any
I bought this DVD from my weight watchers meeting as a friend recommended it to me. It is brilliant. I followed it after I had my first baby and lost several inches from my body as well as it speeding up my weight loss.
It is split into 14 sections, each 5 minutes long and you can do as many (or few!) as you wish. You always have to do the warm up and cool down sections. There is a random setting whereby you 'tell' the DVD how long you wish to exercise for and it gives you a random selection of routines. This stops the boredom factor which i have found with other exercise DVDs where you get to know the routine too well. The other way you can use it is to literally choose which sections you wish to do according to which body part(s) you wish to focus on.
There is also a section on healthy eating where Claire is interviewed ...
FBI agent Joel Campbell has spent many years on the pursuit of killers in Los Angeles and now he wants to break free from all of that. But serial killer, David Allen Griffen, has a different idea, can Joel find and bring him to justice before it is too late?...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS
Release date
18/02/2002
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
078 322 2
Barcode
0044007832226
Screenwriter
Darcy Meyers, Clay Ayers, Joe Charbanic, David Elliott
"...A thoughtful screenplay by David Elliot and Clay Ayers give a strong supporting cast plenty to chew on..." (Sight and Sound, p.61, 01/01/2001)
DVD Description
A stylish thriller that recalls David Fincher's SEVEN, THE WATCHER is set in the urban landscape of modern Chicago. The story follows Los Angeles transplant Joel Campbell (James Spader), an ex-police detective who has relocated to Chicago in order to escape his past. It appears that a dangerous serial killer, David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), has formed a special emotional attachment to Campbell, luring him to Chicago in order to continue their deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Each game commences when Griffin sends Campbell a picture of a young girl, giving Campbell 24 hours to track her down before she's murdered. After three tragic failures, the stakes are upped when Griffin kidnaps Campbell's beautiful psychiatrist, Polly (Marisa Tomei), mimicking an earlier event that drove Campbell to Chicago in the first place. THE WATCHER is a commentary on modern society's effect on people: making them crudely unable to notice the peripheral people in their daily lives. First-time director Joe Charbanic shoots his film like a music video, using elliptical editing, slow motion, and a postindustrial soundtrack that greatly reflects the Chicago music scene. As the tortured detective, Spader possesses an internal fire that gradually builds in intensity as the film progresses.
Compare The Watcher (DVD) to other similar Thriller & Mystery »
![The Watcher [DVD] [2001]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78523042.jpg)
