The Watcher (2016) Directed by Ryan Rothmaier
It's really starting to become apparent to me how much better TV movies are compared to most theatrical- and straight to DVD releases. Well, in the horror genre at least. It's as if TV movies have far more creativity in them and don't rely on most of the standard clichés or jump scares. And really, as weird as it might sound, the Lifetime channel is a the top of the game when it comes down to horror/thriller movies, that are made for TV.
Thing that this movie does particularly well is that it deliberately keeps you in the dark about things for as long as possible. Most of the time it won't even be clear to you whether you're watching a horror, a supernatural thriller, or just a plain good old fashioned thriller here. After having finished watching the movie I can't even really give you the answer to it since I myself am not too sure. It's especially the atmosphere, the slow buildup and the mystery of the story that makes this a pretty good movie to watch.
It's still far from perfect of course. It's true that the movie definitely could have been at least 15 minutes shorter and this likely would have made things a tad bit more exciting too watch. There isn't always an awful lot happening in it and the movie tends to repeat itself a bit after a while. It's only an hour and a half movie but it feels like a 2 hour long one instead. It's not that movie doesn't have a good pace to it (the pace helps to build up the movie its mystery and atmosphere) but it's never the most eventful movie, which remains a bit of a shame, since the movie itself still seemed to have plenty of good ideas and originality in it to make this an unique and great viewing. I guess it's true that the movie doesn't work out as well as it potentially could but it's also true that the movie still manages to do plenty of things well, which help to make this an above average genre attempt.
It's also still very obviously a made for TV movie though, which means it's not the bloodiest or scariest of movies, which should scare off some of the fans of the horror genre but to me it's still a bigger problem that the movie really does feel and look like a made for TV movie as well. The camera never does anything special and the editing feels too standard as well. It's obvious most scenes where shot with only just one camera present and the movie didn't cost an awful lot of money to make and had to be finished within a certain amount of time.
But really, the story and overall execution of it still makes up for this. It's all original and interesting to make this a pretty good little movie to watch, once you get the opportunity to see it.
6/10
Thing that this movie does particularly well is that it deliberately keeps you in the dark about things for as long as possible. Most of the time it won't even be clear to you whether you're watching a horror, a supernatural thriller, or just a plain good old fashioned thriller here. After having finished watching the movie I can't even really give you the answer to it since I myself am not too sure. It's especially the atmosphere, the slow buildup and the mystery of the story that makes this a pretty good movie to watch.
It's still far from perfect of course. It's true that the movie definitely could have been at least 15 minutes shorter and this likely would have made things a tad bit more exciting too watch. There isn't always an awful lot happening in it and the movie tends to repeat itself a bit after a while. It's only an hour and a half movie but it feels like a 2 hour long one instead. It's not that movie doesn't have a good pace to it (the pace helps to build up the movie its mystery and atmosphere) but it's never the most eventful movie, which remains a bit of a shame, since the movie itself still seemed to have plenty of good ideas and originality in it to make this an unique and great viewing. I guess it's true that the movie doesn't work out as well as it potentially could but it's also true that the movie still manages to do plenty of things well, which help to make this an above average genre attempt.
It's also still very obviously a made for TV movie though, which means it's not the bloodiest or scariest of movies, which should scare off some of the fans of the horror genre but to me it's still a bigger problem that the movie really does feel and look like a made for TV movie as well. The camera never does anything special and the editing feels too standard as well. It's obvious most scenes where shot with only just one camera present and the movie didn't cost an awful lot of money to make and had to be finished within a certain amount of time.
But really, the story and overall execution of it still makes up for this. It's all original and interesting to make this a pretty good little movie to watch, once you get the opportunity to see it.
6/10
