Watcher (2022)

[unberechenbar]

Thought this was decent. The "jump scare" took me by surprise and the finale was deafening. It did drag a bit in the middle and there weren't enough tense scenes in my opinion. The opening title was quite memorable.

[MazeRunner]

I'm really glad I never watched the trailer because a few things would've been spoiled.

Also the men in this movie were fine as hell. Her boyfriend, the grocery store worker, the cop.



^^me during the makeout scene in the opening credits.

[BloodshotUSA]

Finally watched this one. It's reminiscent of Hitchcock's Rear Window or John Carpenter's Someone's Watching Me!. I really wish it hadn't taken me so long to decide to watch this.

Maika Monroe is Julia, a woman whose husband got a job in Romania and she has moved with him. As a foreigner who doesn't speak the language and is left alone by her husband for long periods of time, she begins to suffer from isolation and loneliness. Then when she suspects a neighbor living across the street is watching her, she mind begins become paranoid that her life is in danger. The fact that there is a serial killer on the loose, targeting woman, doesn't help Julia's mental state.

The movie is 91 minutes long and some people might watch the movie and think "nothing happens". But this movie uses every minute of its runtime perfectly. The movie is constantly escalating the tension for its main character. Every scene makes you (and the character) wonder if she is being followed or if everything is in her head. It's a massive slow burn until everything boils over in the final 10 minutes or so.

Maika Monroe is great. She carries the movie and is on screen for the entire runtime of the film. Karl Glusman is good as Julia's husband, who spends most of the movie offscreen and is incredibly patronizing when he is on screen. Burn Gorman plays the neighbor, who doesn't really good at straddling the line between a dangerous creep and just some lonely introvert. You really can't get a read on his character. There is also Mădălina Anea, who plays Irina, Julia's next door neighbor and stripper. She's probably the only person in Bucharest who is friendly to Julia, including her husband.

I think Maika Monroe is one of the best actresses working today. I like that she chooses these low budget type of films to work on like The Guest, It Follows and this. She did make Independence Day 2 but seems to avoid the big Hollywood machine for the most part.

Question for anyone else on the ending.

[Show spoiler]Was the plumber who was arrested the actual Spider serial killer and Daniel was a different killer? The news reported that they found victims clothing in the plumbers apartment but are we supposed to believe that Daniel actually set that guy up? Or were there 2 separate serial killers working that neighborhood in Bucharest?

10/10.

[unberechenbar]

Originally Posted by BloodshotUSA

Question for anyone else on the ending.

[Show spoiler]Was the plumber who was arrested the actual Spider serial killer and Daniel was a different killer? The news reported that they found victims clothing in the plumbers apartment but are we supposed to believe that Daniel actually set that guy up? Or were there 2 separate serial killers working that neighborhood in Bucharest?

[Show spoiler]I was under the impression that there were two serial killers.

[VictoryAtNight]

Watched this @ my sister’s house.

It takes awhile until the movie gets interesting. Only when

[Show spoiler]Julia/Maika gets her throat slit at the end.

[MifuneFan]

Really enjoyed this one. Great atmosphere, and some really excellent camerawork, and compositions. I was reminded of both Rosemary's Baby, and Possession during some moments, particularly for the feelings of isolation, and marital issues that they all share to some degree. The movie isn't as tense as I'd hoped, but still a very well-crafted film, and one that I can see having solid replay-value.

3.5/5

[RandomMovieFan]

I hope this gets Blu ray release.

[HorrorBlu]

Originally Posted by RandomMovieFan

I hope this gets Blu ray release.

I'm sure we'll get one from RLJE / IFC in the fall. I know I'll be buying it.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by RandomMovieFan

I hope this gets Blu ray release.

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I'm sure we'll get one from RLJE / IFC in the fall. I know I'll be buying it.

It is getting a BD release on October 4th. I made a thread for it a few days back

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=353475

Some pre-order sites:

https://www.bullmoose.com/p/35504351...-bd-watcher-bd
https://www.deepdiscount.com/watcher-bd/014381150476
https://www.importcds.com/watcher-bd/014381150476

[HorrorBlu]

I'll also add that this is coming to SHUDDER on Friday, August 26th.

[The Debts]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I'll also add that this is coming to SHUDDER on Friday, August 26th.

Excellent! Was thinking of renting this over the weekend but I can wait a few weeks for that instead.

[MifuneFan]

BD cover art

[OceanBlue]

Spotted in the Coming Soon section on Odeon's website earlier, a listing for Watcher. Hopefully it will be shown in all of Odeon's UK & Ireland cinemas (compared to horror anthology Trick 'r Treat, with my local cinema not being one of the cinemas showing it later this week). The release date stated (have checked Watcher's IMDb release info page and it's the same UK & Ireland release date) is a week on Friday (4th November).

[levcore]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Spotted in the Coming Soon section on Odeon's website earlier, a listing for Watcher. Hopefully it will be shown in all of Odeon's UK & Ireland cinemas (compared to horror anthology Trick 'r Treat, with my local cinema not being one of the cinemas showing it later this week). The release date stated (have checked Watcher's IMDb release info page and it's the same UK & Ireland release date) is a week on Friday (4th November).

Really hope this gets a UK blu ray.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by levcore

Really hope this gets a UK blu ray.

Have checked the BBFC's website for a listing for the UK cinema release of Watcher, and it states the distributor is "Universal Pictures International (UK)". Usually I don't go to the cinema often towards the end of the year, but if this does get shown at the local cinema I'll likely go and see it.

Personally, I'd like to see this get a UK Blu-ray release by Second Sight Films, but it may end up being Universal themselves releasing it on Blu-ray (hoping It Follows (also starring Maika Monroe) gets a spruced-up UK Blu-ray release).

[AaronWilson]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Have checked the BBFC's website for a listing for the UK cinema release of Watcher, and it states the distributor is "Universal Pictures International (UK)". Usually I don't go to the cinema often towards the end of the year, but if this does get shown at the local cinema I'll likely go and see it.

Personally, I'd like to see this get a UK Blu-ray release by Second Sight Films, but it may end up being Universal themselves releasing it on Blu-ray (hoping It Follows (also starring Maika Monroe) gets a spruced-up UK Blu-ray release).

Yeah i need this on Blu-Ray in UK too or Germany.

[samlop10]

Watched the blu ray a few days ago and what a pleasant surprise.

The film perfectly rides the line between “it could all be rationally explained” and there’s “a serial killer following her”. There’s a prime suspect from our protagonist’s point of view, but from our perspective we’re not sure if that is indeed the perpetrator, assuming there’s a perpetrator at all in the first place. And that’s I think what I enjoyed most about the film. The feelings of paranoia, uncertainty, and loneliness/isolation elevate the tension and psychological thrills to a great extent. The story nicely escalates the tension the closer it reaches its climax, getting more and more sinister towards the end without providing any clear cut answers until the bloody climax. Maika Monroe does for a great lead (just like, imo, she always does when she plays the main character). Wish I had seen it at the cinema but didn’t have a chance.

It’s also commendable the way the script explores some of its themes. There are least a few that could be said are ‘current’, but thankfully, the film never gets political at all. And while it deeply explores some of these more ‘current’ themes, it never calls them by their more popular terminology, choosing instead to create a lot of nuance within them, using them to anchor and support the story and characterization of our protagonists instead.



The picture quality is fine. There is mild banding throughout which could have been avoided with a more careful codec/compression. Otherwise it looks really good. The visuals are highly stylized, blending a modern/minimalist look with some of the more seedy and questionable aspects of a city. Audio is great as well. Setting an ominous mood for the full runtime with no issues I could spot.



Hopefully this will get a 4K release in the future. The film could look amazing with a better codec, even if the one here isn’t bad overall. It’d be a small miracle if it did, but in these days where stuff like Miami Connection gets the 4K treatment, a 4K of this is definitely not out of the realm of possibility. Highly recommended.

[prkchopexpress]

a real problem with marketing… this is a good but not great movie. i saw this in the theatre. i enjoyed it. i was interested and captivated the whole time. solidly made. solidly shot. maybe not overly stylish (no bava/argento lighting) but that’s just a personal preference.

it didn’t reinvent the wheel, but i didn’t need it to. this also had the bad time of coming out at the same time as top gun.

[Prog5000]

I liked this one, quite a bit actually.

4/5.

[OceanBlue]

Hopefully seeing Watcher at the local cinema next week.