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The Watcher: Directed by Ryan Rothmaier. With Erin Cahill, Edi Gathegi, Denise Crosby, Riley Baron. Unaware of its terrible history, a young couple purchases their dream home. But it soon becomes clear that they may not be alone in the house… and that someone — or something — is determined to drive them out.
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THE WATCHER is one of the most dated films I've ever seen, a film from 2000 which goes for that low-fi grungy look with random editing, cheap-looking visuals, lots of grain, and odd hand-held camera work that adds nothing to the slim story. It's a serial killer story featuring James Spader on the trail of a miscast Keanu Reeves as the murderer, a guy who enjoys holding women captive and subjecting them to a slow and lingering death. The film opens with a scene of Reeves dancing to some dated tunes which had me burst into laughter and then gradually goes downhill from there. The dialogue is pitiful, the thrills non-existent, and the stretched-out material just goes on and on and on.
For the most part, "The Watcher" is another serial killer movie: there's a psychopath killing people and a detective has to stop him. But the three-way relationships between the killer (Keanu Reeves), the detective (James Spader) and his psychiatrist (Marisa Tomei) add an extra, more interesting dimension to it.
The.Watcher.2000.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG.mp4 [1985973003.00]
The.Watcher.2000.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG.nfo [3892.00]
The.Watcher.2000.720p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG.mp4 [1258972636.00]
The.Watcher.2000.720p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG.nfo [4021.00]
"The Watcher" tells of a serial killer (Reeves) who plays cat & mouse with a burnt out FBI agent (Spader) by stalking him and sending him photos of his next victim, all young women, 24 hours before killing them. Slammed by the critics for not being heady enough for their cultivated cinematic tastes, this little flick is a surprisingly enjoyable mix of good versus evil with a delicious babe (Tomei) caught in the middle of a psychodrama which begs the question: which is "cat" and which is "mouse"? The film doesn't get too graphic, is always busy with no filler, has summa-dis and summa-dat (no sex), is unusually free of plot holes, keeps you awake and thinking while still being a no brainer, and wraps everything up neatly in a 5 minute bomblastic conclusion. An excellent sofa spud watch circulating on cable. (B-)
Joel Campbell (James Spader) is an FBI agent on leave. He literally "left" his home base in Los Angeles, defeated, because of a particularly hairy case involving an unusually devious, crafty and risk-loving serial killer who went by the name of David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves). The Watcher begins with Campbell resettled in Chicago, trying to put his life back in order. But what will happen when Griffin shows up in the Windy City? This is an unusual film in many ways. Although on one level it's a fairly standard thriller with Reeves playing a subtly twisted baddie, it's really a complex psychological portrait that focuses more on Spader as Campbell.
THE WATCHER / (2000) ** (out of four)
