"Watchers" is an incredibly fun and enjoyable creature feature.
**SPOILERS**
Escaping from a damaged medical lab, dog Einstein manages to run into Travis Cornell, (Corey Haim) and goes home with him and Nora, (Barbara Williams) his mother. Hearing that his girlfriend Tracey, (Lala Sloatman) has been attacked, he finds Special Agent Lem Johnson, (Michael Ironside) trailing the dog and a special project. As both he and the dog spend time together, he realizes that the dog is a real genius and begs his mother to keep him. As a series of strange accidents in town plague the community, the two discover that the project that also got loose with the dog was a vicious creature trained for military purposes, and has been trailing the dog for it's own reasons. Desperate to save them both, they team up to take down the creature before it attacks more residents.
The Good News: This wasn't all that bad of a film. One thing that really works is that this is actually a well-explained film for it's type. There's a really great reason given for the creature and the dog, which is quite different than most other films. This one's reasoning is a really unique and novel one that is pretty clever. There's some really new ideas in the theory presented with it taking on a really new ideas. There's a really big body count in here that makes it pretty good. There's some throat rips, a whole slew of eyeball-removals, being thrown onto an electrical panel, having their face scratched up and a decapitation included, as well as others in here. The decapitation is the single most brutal one, being shown in after-affect and having just a mangled stump left. The large amount of deaths gives it a pretty fast-paced feel to it, as a body is dropped in what feels like every other few minutes. That extends from the opening minutes, with a fantastic set-piece that really works and carries throughout the entire course. The action is pretty non-stop, from a great confrontation in the woods where three get it at the same time to a fantastic quest to escape inside an under-siege house and the final blow-out at the cabin, this one manages to contain a lot of action inside it. This is what makes it more watchable, since they can overcome a lot of negativity when there's some big series of action scenes along the way. Another big plus is that the creature is basically kept off-screen for the majority of the film. This is one of the smartest moves possible. It's seen in quick, fleeting moments here and there but never really anything that could give a good, definitive viewing of it and it's not revealed until a couple of second-long scenes at the very end surrounded by shadows. It keeps it away from the trap of constantly showing a cheesy, non-frightening creature for the during of the film and taking the fear of it away. Since it's unknown what it looks like, the reveal of it at the end despite seeing glances along the way gives way to fear when it's on-screen. A great move, and one in a series of good moves that make this one a good film.
The Bad News: There's only a few areas in here that don't really work. The biggest one that doesn't is the fact that there's a really cheesy stench that carries this flick over. It's not a necessarily bad thing, but to have the story lines about a mutant creature chasing after a genius dog being trailed by the government agents responsible for both is just a tad too much to take seriously. The high amount of action in here also plays into it a bit. The biggest problem is that most of the attacks are shown off-screen. There's a blurry flash and a lot of screaming during most of the attacks in here, and from there it's just impossible to tell what happened until it flashes back to the after-affects. Most of the attacks happen in that fashion, and it does get a little annoying when they're all in that manner. This is the biggest flaw, as it really devalues the ferocity of the creature, but these are the main flaws.
The Final Verdict: This was a very entertaining film in a surprising way, and it overcomes the few negatives it has. It's a great pick for those looking for a decent, under-the-radar creature feature or those looking for a night of cheesy entertainment.
Rated R: Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity
**SPOILERS**
Escaping from a damaged medical lab, dog Einstein manages to run into Travis Cornell, (Corey Haim) and goes home with him and Nora, (Barbara Williams) his mother. Hearing that his girlfriend Tracey, (Lala Sloatman) has been attacked, he finds Special Agent Lem Johnson, (Michael Ironside) trailing the dog and a special project. As both he and the dog spend time together, he realizes that the dog is a real genius and begs his mother to keep him. As a series of strange accidents in town plague the community, the two discover that the project that also got loose with the dog was a vicious creature trained for military purposes, and has been trailing the dog for it's own reasons. Desperate to save them both, they team up to take down the creature before it attacks more residents.
The Good News: This wasn't all that bad of a film. One thing that really works is that this is actually a well-explained film for it's type. There's a really great reason given for the creature and the dog, which is quite different than most other films. This one's reasoning is a really unique and novel one that is pretty clever. There's some really new ideas in the theory presented with it taking on a really new ideas. There's a really big body count in here that makes it pretty good. There's some throat rips, a whole slew of eyeball-removals, being thrown onto an electrical panel, having their face scratched up and a decapitation included, as well as others in here. The decapitation is the single most brutal one, being shown in after-affect and having just a mangled stump left. The large amount of deaths gives it a pretty fast-paced feel to it, as a body is dropped in what feels like every other few minutes. That extends from the opening minutes, with a fantastic set-piece that really works and carries throughout the entire course. The action is pretty non-stop, from a great confrontation in the woods where three get it at the same time to a fantastic quest to escape inside an under-siege house and the final blow-out at the cabin, this one manages to contain a lot of action inside it. This is what makes it more watchable, since they can overcome a lot of negativity when there's some big series of action scenes along the way. Another big plus is that the creature is basically kept off-screen for the majority of the film. This is one of the smartest moves possible. It's seen in quick, fleeting moments here and there but never really anything that could give a good, definitive viewing of it and it's not revealed until a couple of second-long scenes at the very end surrounded by shadows. It keeps it away from the trap of constantly showing a cheesy, non-frightening creature for the during of the film and taking the fear of it away. Since it's unknown what it looks like, the reveal of it at the end despite seeing glances along the way gives way to fear when it's on-screen. A great move, and one in a series of good moves that make this one a good film.
The Bad News: There's only a few areas in here that don't really work. The biggest one that doesn't is the fact that there's a really cheesy stench that carries this flick over. It's not a necessarily bad thing, but to have the story lines about a mutant creature chasing after a genius dog being trailed by the government agents responsible for both is just a tad too much to take seriously. The high amount of action in here also plays into it a bit. The biggest problem is that most of the attacks are shown off-screen. There's a blurry flash and a lot of screaming during most of the attacks in here, and from there it's just impossible to tell what happened until it flashes back to the after-affects. Most of the attacks happen in that fashion, and it does get a little annoying when they're all in that manner. This is the biggest flaw, as it really devalues the ferocity of the creature, but these are the main flaws.
The Final Verdict: This was a very entertaining film in a surprising way, and it overcomes the few negatives it has. It's a great pick for those looking for a decent, under-the-radar creature feature or those looking for a night of cheesy entertainment.
Rated R: Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity