Watcher in the Woods: why Disney pulled its Bette Davis horror film

Disney’s The Watcher in the Woods premiered in April 1980, then got pulled from theaters so a new ending could be filmed. Here’s the story, the cast and how to watch it now.

Disney has made plenty of spooky movies. The Watcher in the Woods might be the closest it ever came to a straight-up horror film.

It has a creepy English manor, a girl who vanished 30 years earlier and Bette Davis as the reclusive woman who rents the house out. It also has one of the strangest release stories in Disney history.

The studio premiered it in 1980, pulled it after audiences balked at the ending, filmed a new one and tried again a year and a half later. Here’s how that happened, and why the movie is still hard to find.

What is The Watcher in the Woods about?

An American composer and his family rent a gloomy house in England from a reclusive woman, Mrs. Aylwood, according to D23, Disney’s official fan club. Soon, strange and scary things start happening, mostly to 17-year-old Jan.

The weird events turn out to be tied to the disappearance of Mrs. Aylwood’s teenage daughter 30 years earlier, D23 says. A reenactment of that night finally reveals what’s been watching them.

Disney’s own tagline sums it up: An American teenager “finds the dark secret of a country home and awaits the return of a girl who died mysteriously 30 years earlier!”

The movie is based on Florence Engel Randall’s novel “A Watcher in the Woods,” D23 says.

Who is in the cast of The Watcher in the Woods?

Bette Davis plays Mrs. Aylwood. Lynn-Holly Johnson plays Jan, and Kyle Richards plays her little sister, Ellie, according to D23.

Carroll Baker and David McCallum play the girls’ parents, Helen and Paul. Ian Bannen plays John Keller, D23 says.

If Richards looks familiar, she’d already been in John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978) as a kid. Decades later, she became a star on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

Johnson was best known for “Ice Castles,” Parade noted.

Davis wasn’t new to Disney, either. She’d already played the villain Letha in “Return from Witch Mountain,” D23 says.

Where was The Watcher in the Woods filmed?

England. St. Hubert’s Manor, a big estate in Buckinghamshire, stood in for the family’s rental house, according to D23.

The crew also shot at Ettington Park, a Gothic mansion, and at an old stone chapel nearby. Other scenes were filmed at Pinewood Studios near London, D23 says.

Directing duties went to John Hough, who was best known for “The Legend of Hell House” (1973), Collider noted.

Why did Disney pull The Watcher in the Woods?

Because of the ending.

The movie premiered in New York on April 16, 1980, according to D23. Its finale leaned hard on special effects, supervised by Art Cruickshank and Bob Broughton using Disney’s Automated Camera Effects System, or ACES.

Early audiences didn’t like that ending. So Disney cut it and pulled the movie, D23 says.

The studio re-released “Mary Poppins” to fill the gap, while a new ending was filmed. The Watcher in the Woods came back to theaters on Oct. 7, 1981, D23 says.

Vincent McEveety directed the new ending without Hough on set, Collider reported. Disney’s official movie page now lists both men as directors.

What was the original ending of The Watcher in the Woods?

It went full science fiction.

In Hough’s original version, the Watcher turns out to be a flying, insect-like alien, Collider reported. It carries Jan to a spaceship where the missing girl has been trapped. Harrison Ellenshaw designed the creature, according to Collider.

Laughing Place called it a science-fiction ending that “continues to puzzle audiences to this day.”

The final version kept things simpler. The Watcher shows up as a beam of light during a solar eclipse, Collider said.

If you want to see the first ending for yourself, it’s a bonus feature on Disney’s DVD, Laughing Place noted.

A fan uploaded that alternate ending, creature and all, to YouTube back in 2006:

Was The Watcher in the Woods a hit?

No. By the time it came back in 1981, it was too late, D23 says. The movie mostly failed at the box office.

D23 still gave it credit for its “wonderfully eerie direction, music, and Bette Davis’s performance.” Over the years, it found a cult following, Collider noted.

What was it like working with Bette Davis?

Johnson told Remind Magazine she never felt intimidated by Davis on set, Parade reported in 2025. She described Davis as professional and demanding.

Her one regret was not getting to know the Hollywood legend better.

“Wish I had sat down with her and chatted about life… but I never did,” Johnson said.

Davis died in 1989, according to D23.

Is there a Watcher in the Woods remake?

Yes. Lifetime made a new version in 2017, directed by Melissa Joan Hart of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” fame. Anjelica Huston played Mrs. Aylwood, Women and Hollywood reported, crediting Variety.

It premiered on Lifetime on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, Laughing Place reported. Lifetime posted this trailer:

Can you stream The Watcher in the Woods?

Not the 1980 original. As of this writing, it isn’t streaming anywhere in the U.S., Disney+ included, and JustWatch doesn’t list it for digital rental or purchase. It’s available on DVD and Blu-ray.

The movie first came out on home video in 1982, D23 says.

Here’s the original trailer, uploaded by a fan:

What are some fun facts about The Watcher in the Woods?

Mary Poppins stepped in. When Disney pulled the movie in 1980, it re-released “Mary Poppins” to fill the hole in its schedule, D23 says.

It came from a Disney dark streak. The Watcher in the Woods landed between “The Black Hole” (1979) and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” (1983), two more Disney movies that went darker than usual.

Disney softened it. At the studio’s request, many references to witchcraft were cut, and an alternate opening Hough filmed was replaced because it was considered too extreme, Collider reported.

The book title is slightly different. Randall’s novel is “A Watcher in the Woods.” Disney swapped “A” for “The.”

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• D23 Disney A to Z: The Watcher in the Woods and Bette Davis entries

• Disney Movies: The Watcher in the Woods official page (directors, cast and tagline)

• Collider: The Watcher in the Woods, Disney’s live-action horror film (the endings and the reshoot)

• Alex Reif, Laughing Place, Oct. 20, 2017: The Watcher in the Woods (2017) review

• Laura Berger, Women and Hollywood, March 22, 2017: Melissa Joan Hart to direct Anjelica Huston for Lifetime, citing Variety

• Andrea Reiher, Parade, July 10, 2025: Lynn-Holly Johnson on Bette Davis, citing Remind Magazine

• JustWatch: The Watcher in the Woods (1980) U.S. streaming listing, checked Oct. 10, 2026

• Lifetime on YouTube: The Watcher in the Woods official trailer, July 20, 2017

• glows on YouTube: The Watcher in the Woods trailer (1980)

• nikkisioux on YouTube: The Watcher in the Woods alternate ending, July 12, 2006

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