The Watcher in the Woods Interview at Comic Con 2017

October 18, 2017 by Rueben

On July 20 at San Diego Comic Con, actress Melissa Joan Hart (best known for her work on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and the sitcom Melissa and Joey) and her producing partner (and mother) Paula Hart [among others] participated in a panel focusing on their upcoming new project from their Hartbreak Films production company: The Watcher in the Woods.

This new take on the book by Florence Engel Randall and the 1981 Disney film, which starred legendary actress Bette Davis, will air on Lifetime this Saturday, October 21.

In this new version Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston takes on the role of Mrs. Alywood, the distraught mother whose daughter, Karen, vanished in the English countryside 36 years ago. Jan Carstairs (relative newcomer Tallulah Evans) and her family move into the idyllic Alywood manor for the summer. Upon arriving in the small village of Northrop, the family is warned against entering the surrounding woods, but Jan and her little sister Ellie (newcomer Dixie Egerickx) hear voices coming from the forest. Strange occurrences begin to unnerve the family and Jan begins to suspect that they are linked to Karen’s disappearance. As Jan unravels the dark past hidden by the townspeople, she delves further into the mystery and deeper into danger, but now it might be too late to escape the Watcher in the Woods.

Melissa not only served as executive producer alongside her mother, but she also directed the film, which has been a passion project of hers for the past 20 years. In a special roundtable interview with the press, Melissa and her mother as well as writer Scott Abbott and associate producer Andrew Gernhard shared details about the reimaging of The Watcher in the Woods.

Here is an excerpt of that interview:

What inspired you to reimagine The Watcher in the Woods?

Melissa: I was obsessed with the 1981 movie. I watched it over and over again with my family. When we were doing Sabrina, (we were constantly) looking for projects to do when I was off from the show.

Paula: At the time, Melissa would have been perfect for the part of Jan.

Melissa: (Mom) tried getting the rights for 17 years and we finally got Disney to give us the rights to let us do it, but at this point I was too old to play Jan and too young to play Mrs. Alywood.

Paula: Melissa really wanted to play Mrs. Alywood (though)…

Melissa: Then I was going to play the mom, but I really (didn’t) want to have to act AND direct so we ended up finding a really wonderful woman (Melanie Gutteridge) to play the mom and I didn’t have to do it.

What are the things you most wanted to use in this reimagining?

Scott Abbott (Writer): The first thing I wanted to preserve was the story itself. It’s a gothic story; it’s really a ghost story. The biggest concerns I had were, “Who is the Watcher?” “What is the Watcher?” and “What does the Watcher want?” Another thing I wanted to observe was (the) tone. (I wanted) to tell a straight gothic story. I didn’t want it to be a tale full of blood. I wanted it to be a tale of suspense.

Melissa: I think one of the things that Scott did that was so great, he really preserved (the) family aspect. (He also made) the Watcher be his own character (and that is the one major difference (from the movie and the book). I think he did an amazing job streamlining the story and making it clear who the Watcher is, what it wants and what’s going on.

You’ve got Anjelica Houston and some talented newcomers playing the kids. Can you talk a little about the casting process?

Paula: When we work on projects like this we have wish lists: “Who do we want?” “What do we think?” On top of my wish list was Anjelica Houston. And she said yes, it was fairly simple. We have this fantastic script, (we) sent it off to her and she said “yeah, I’ll do it.”

Melissa: And I freaked out. And (then) I (got) to direct her. We did casting in London and even some of the day players are people from Downton Abbey and Doctor Who because we filmed in Cardiff. But we cast in London and they were an amazing cast. They were all so easy to work with. Everyone gave 110 percent.

Paula: Everybody auditioned…no matter how small the part was or how big the actor was, they all auditioned.

NOTE: It should be noted that actor Benedict Taylor, who played Mike Fleming in the 1981 movie, plays John Keller – the grown version of the teenager who was in love with long missing Karen – in this new version. It should also be noted that Huston was the only American actor, playing a character with a British accent, while many of the British actors in the cast were playing Americans.

What was your favorite part of this version?

Melissa: Everything. It was really fun. It’s been fabulous. It’s an actual dream of mine. This has been going on for almost 20 years for us. So this is something – to finally get it done. This is a dream come true.

Scott: I learned a lot about the process from working with Paula and Melissa.

Andrew Gernhard (Associate Producer): We did all the post-production. We loved every minute of it. From the rough cut to the color correction to the special effects. It was just cool to get to recreate the 1980’s to something that was new.

Here is a trailer for the movie: