Family Horror. That's not a phrase you hear very often, but at one time it was a whole sub-genre. From The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, films like Escape from Witch Mountain, and even cartoons like Scooby Doo, it was once thought that the family who was scared together stayed together, and Walt Disney's The Watcher in the Woods is perhaps, one of the finest examples of the family horror film, and is now available in a fairly loaded and budget priced disc from Anchor Bay.

The Curtis family move into an old house in the English countryside after it's reclusive owner, Ms. Aylwood (Davis) approves of their character and allows them to lease the home. The eldest daughter, Jan (Johnson), begins experiencing strange phenomena, which soon plagues her younger sister, Ellie (Richards). It seems as though there is something watching them from the dark woods, and it's trying to communicate with Jan through her young sister. Is it a voice from beyond the grave, or something more?

Watcher in the Woods is the rare horror film made past 1980 that the whole family can watch and enjoy. Don't think that this means this film isn't particularly scary, because it is, but on a much gentler level. The film doesn't throw a lot of trick horror at you, instead opting to scare you with atmosphere and creepy imagery. It may not give you the jolt of, say, Halloween, but you just may find yourself in a group huddle with the family as the spooky stuff comes to it's somewhat anticlimactic endgame. Still, the majority of the film works marvelously and the horror still holds up after more than two decades.

Anchor Bay have given this film the deluxe treatment, with a series of deleted scenes, two alternate endings, a commentary with director Hough, the films trailers and a twenty page booklet filled with behind the scenes info. The quality of the THX approved transfer is flawless and the Dolby DTS sound is amazingly effective for a film of it's age. Anchor Bay deserves a special nod for such a lovingly handled restoration of what many believe to be one of the few classics of family horror.