The Watcher in the Woods (PG)
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This is based on a 1976 novel, "A Watcher in the Woods," which I haven't read. The movie was initially released in October 1980 (when I was five years old), but then pulled from theaters, re-edited, given a new ending, and re-released in October 1981. However, I don't recall having ever heard of it until I saw it in a Disney Movie Club catalog, probably in 2012. (The Disney DVD was released in 2004.) After becoming aware of the movie's existence, I read about it online, and learned that it had previously been released on DVD by Anchor Bay (in 2002), including alternate endings and other bonus features. So I decided to get the older, out-of-print Anchor Bay version... Which I finally did a few years later, and watched the movie in October 2015. After buying a used copy of the Anchor Bay DVD, I read online that the Disney DVD did have the alternate endings, which I could have sworn I'd previously read that it didn't, as that was one of the main reasons I wanted to get the older DVD. But still, the Anchor Bay DVD does have some bonus features that the Disney DVD does not, so I suppose it was still worth it to choose as I did.

Helen and Paul Curtis move into a large old house with their teenage daughter Jan and younger daughter Ellie. (I find it kind of interesting that throughout the film, I thought Ellie looked familiar, and my best guess was that the actress had played Tia in Escape to Witch Mountain. After the movie ended, I checked online, and she actually played a younger version of Tia in flashback, in that movie. But I probably knew her better from Little House on the Prairie.) The house they move into is owned by an old woman named Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis), who continues to live in a cottage near the main house. Jan soon starts seeing strange things, like images of a blindfolded girl in mirrors, and eerie flashes of light. And Ellie starts hearing things. And they learn that Mrs. Aylwood's teenage daughter, Karen, had mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Meanwhile, Jan befriends a neighbor boy around her age named Mike Fleming, and it later turns out that Mike's mother, Mary, was one of three kids who had been with Karen when she disappeared all those years ago. The other two were John Keller and Tom Colley. Throughout the film, Jan becomes increasingly desperate to learn the whole truth about what happened to Karen, and possibly to bring her back, somehow. But Helen doesn't believe anything supernatural is going on; she thinks Mrs. Aylwood has put crazy ideas into her daughters' heads. Jan, however, refuses to give up.

I don't want to reveal how it ends, but I will say the official ending (from 1981) is probably better than the two alternate endings (both of which were pretty much the same concept, though one was just slightly longer than the other). But I didn't think it was that much better, and it's possible that if they'd had time to complete the original intended ending (from 1980), it might have been better. Or not. (Of course, anyone can decide for themselves which ending they think is best.) Regardless, I'm a bit disappointed by the movie. I had read things online about how a lot of people thought it was one of the scariest movies they'd ever seen, and I just can't imagine feeling that way about it. It was very nicely atmospheric and creepy, in a sort of old-school way, for most of the film. But I never really found it scary, even if it had some real potential. And the ending- either the official concept or the original one- was for my taste a bit too sci-fi to really mesh with the rest of the film's tone. Still, I enjoyed the movie, for the most part. I'm definitely glad to have finally seen it.

There was a TV remake in 2017.