In 1988’s Watchers, a teenage boy befriends a special golden retriever and becomes the target of a monster and a hitman, adapted from Dean R. Koontz’s novel. The John Hess film comes to Blu-ray from Toy Robot this month.
Watchers is my second favorite Dean R. Koontz book. And I’ve read plenty. My mom was a big horror-and-sci-fi nut, both in reading and watching (that’s where I got it from). She wasn’t a big Stephen King fan, but she LOVED Koontz. I warmly recall a few baskets around the house filled with his paperbacks. I don’t think 1987’s Watchers was my first; I think it was Phantoms (where Afflack was the bomb, yo in the so-so film adaptation), but I read this one often. And it’s Koontz’s personal favorite. Mine remains Odd Thomas, which got an underseen film adaptation directed by Stephen Sommers. But I’m not here to talk about Koontz’s books or my nostalgia and general affinity for them. Today, I want to discuss the 1988 film adaptation of Watchers, directed by John Hess, produced by Roger Corman, and starring Corey Haim. Written by Bill Freed & Damian Lee, it’s not a great movie, but it’s a fun but flawed story of a boy and his special dog against a pair of murderous, bloodthirsty creatures: one human and one far from it.
Corey Haim plays Travis, a teenager who befriends a special golden retriever he calls Fur Face after Fur Face escapes an explosion at a genetics laboratory. Also on the loose is OXCOM, a gorilla-like creature filled with rage and covered in sharp claws. It wants the dog and will stop at nothing to kill FurFace. Also on the trail, hunting the dog, is Lem, played by genre character actor legend Michael Ironside, a conscienceless hitman there to clean up the mess. It doesn’t take long for Travis to realize something is different about Fur Face. The good boy is super intelligent, can communicate in unique ways, and knows something nasty is coming for him. Travis, Fur Face, and his mom are forced to deal with OXCOM’s trail of terror (in eye-ripping) and avoid Lem.
Corman produced Watchers, and it functions as enjoyable B-movie entertainment. Overall, it’s not that good; it’s murky to look at and muddled in its telling. But it’s got something watchable. It’s a decent chase movie, with a special animal performance from the dog and a passable human one from Corey Haim (as the interview with Lulu Sloatman, his co-star and girlfriend, notes, he was very addled with drug issues then). Michael Freakin’ Ironside does his best Michael Freakin’ Ironside, always a total joy. Of the humans, I want to give kudos to Barbara Williams as Haim’s mom. Watchers is the sort of flick you watch winding down on USA at like midnight; you can half zone out because it’s not going to strain you, but you can engage well enough and blame brain fog for inconsistencies of story and “does the creature look as bad as I thought?” (it does, sorry OXCOM looks silly; we are in a Corman film after all).
Outside the film, and noting my love of the book, I do have to say distilling the novel loses a lot. Travis shifts from a 40-year-old former special forces operative to a squeaky teen, losing a more adult take, and more of his connections with FurFace (previously Einstein) and the side characters get lost. I get it, a book taking time to develop such things is fine, but it gets repetitive and unnecessary for a 90-minute film. The book works in that connection, and in how they learn from one another, and with a full-on plot with a woman Travis saves and falls for (her name is given to Mom). She’s excised completely. There’s more time to take time there. Lem is a different character, acting as hitman Nasco. However, Watchers, it is slightly hobbled by losing the monster’s point of view. In the book, it calls itself The Outsider and has intelligence. The movie’s OXCOM is a mere id-monster. Like many King adaptations, the translation cuts everything that makes it stand out from a B-movie. And that’s what King and Koontz often do: give basic plots new life,
Apparently the second film, which I haven’t seen (this was my first time on this film), is closer to the novel, essentially readapting it, with the two sequels also retreading. But Watchers 1988 is a decent flick, giving enough, although we want more.
The Packaging and Presenation
Toy Robot puts Watchers on a single disc Blu-ray. The disc image is the poster with Haim and OXCOM, and the sleeve and O-ring slipcover match. The package includes 2 postcards. The case has a removable OBI strip with the Toy Robot logo and film info.
The disc opens with trailers for other Toy Robot films.
The transfer is fine, good enough, but hampered by how the film was shot. It’s often shot in low light to hide effects and mostly takes place at night. It’s Corman, so it’s cheap, which dulls the visuals in a way even the best restoration can’t fix. It’s still watchable, with good detail in the better-lit scenes. The audio is English with a solid 2.0 track and subtitles.
The Features
Toy Robot presents a series of new interviews. In many ways, they are more interesting than the movie itself.
Between Dogs and Monsters
Director John Hess talks about his career, getting hired by Corman, and working on this film. He’s the first, but not the last here, to get into the troubled production. Forthcoming talk about the various cooks of a film, working with just over teens and animals. (21m)
The Agent Experiment
Fuck yes, Michael Ironside. This is the best bit. Ironside makes no qualms about not trying to gilt his work on Watchers (“I’m having a hard time coming up with pearls”). But that doesn’t mean he just hits at it; instead, he uses it to talk about his job on productions as a noted, hard-working character actor, along with Haim and the sadness of Haim’s descent and loss. Ironside is one of those guys who can spin stories for hours, and I wish we had more than 18 minutes.
Working with Kids and Animals
Barbara Williams, who plays Nora/Mom has a nice little remembrance of the film and how she works, working with eventing and finding kindness. (12m)
They’re Watching
Lala Sloatman, who we just saw and heard in Tequila Sunrise, honestly pens her feelings from that time. See, while her role in the film was small, she dated Cory Haim through the late 80s. Thus, this interview is more about him and their relationship. Sad to hear how much she tried to help him but couldn’t, especially with her uncle Frank Zappa trying to adopt Haim to get him clean. Sad. 22m
Trailer 2 min
TV spot 30s
Stills
Production and behind-the-scenes. It has an 8m auto-play, about 5 seconds each.
Final Thoughts
Watchers is mostly forgotten, left on video store shelves with its 3 remake sequels. While not all that special, there’s something to the Corman quality that makes it watchable. A transfer limited by the film and a series of interviews give something to note for the film; but as this is the first time it’s made it to hi-def, you get what you get!