The Watcher
[Warning: Spoilers]
And we're back to our regularly scheduled programming. Today's movie is The Watcher.
A thriller/suspense film more than a horror movie, The Watcher tells the story of retired FBI agent Joel Campbell. Having moved from LA to Chicago, he is going through therapy after his last case. He seems to struggle with mental and physical side effects, presumably from PTSD. He is withdrawn, and doesn't share much, even with his therapist, Polly. He also exhibits symptoms that seem like withdrawal. He becomes weak, he has a lot of headaches, and sometimes gets sick to his stomach.
One day a young woman in his apartment building is killed. Joel rarely checks his mail, but as he finally goes through the growing pile, he finds a picture of the victim that had arrived three days prior. Thus, he alerts the local police. They decide that it is the same killer that he had last been chasing in Los Angeles, but he turns down the FBI's request to have him return to the case.
One night the killer, David Griffin, calls him and informs the agent that he followed him here, wishing to continue their chase. He prefers dealing with Campbell, somehow feeling that he was the only person who understood him properly. He says that he will send another photo in the morning, and Joel will have until 9 p.m. to find the girl.
Campbell joins the case, and the FBI dissect the photograph, doing anything they can to figure out who she is and where to find her. Unfortunately, they figure it out just a little too late. The game continues the next day with a new girl. This time, they get close enough to trap him, but Griffin kills the girl and escapes.
The next photo to arrive is of Griffin's last victim in LA, Lisa Anton. The backstory of Joel dealing with Griffin has been revealed in pieces, but at this moment the whole scenario is played out. Griffin had captured Lisa, and tied her in a room surrounded by candles. Lisa was Joel's lover, but she was a married woman. Joel makes sure she's okay, but then runs off after Griffin, leaving her unable to escape, and then the room catches fire, and the house burns down with Lisa inside. Joel is close enough to catch Griffin, who stops running, but he leaves the killer alive in order to run back and try to rescue Lisa.
Joel goes to Lisa's grave (the reason he moved to Chicago) and finds Griffin, who has taken Polly captive. They talk, and Griffin finally takes Joel to see Polly (for whom we realize he has started to develop feelings). While in the car, Griffin discusses his relationship with Joel, and Joel calls the detective so that the police can hear everything and track them to the soon-to-be crime scene.
Polly is, like Lisa, tied up in a room surrounded by candles, with the added danger of gasoline and flammable materials. Griffin and Joel fight, Joel trying to free Polly before Griffin burns the place down. This is actually the first scene as well, depicted from outside the doors as the officers break into the room. The place goes up in flames, but Joel and Polly manage to get free and jump out the window into the river. They are somewhat injured, but otherwise unharmed. Griffin comes out the window behind them, his whole body in flames. He, thankfully, does not live.
This sounds like a great storyline, and it was pretty good, but there were some very exaggerated chase scenes that made this more action and less suspense. Also, the acting wasn't anything special. It was good, it just wasn't great.
There isn't really much on-screen violence or grotesque imagery, so it is far more appropriate for younger audiences than most horror films. I appreciated that. And they still added the suspense of coming doom by depicting all the women walking around in their dark apartments while his shadow followed them around, until they shut off a light and he killed them in complete darkness.
I don't know if this is a movie I would recommend, but I don't regret watching it. Interestingly, there really isn't much else I want to add to this commentary. There weren't any obvious over-riding themes or symbols that stood out, nor was it a spectacular mystery. The killer is slowly revealed right from the start, and it doesn't take long before we know exactly who he is. Even Joel has seen the man before, so trying to find him is more a matter of getting one step ahead of him than trying to figure out who is behind any of it.
The close relationship between killer and cop is unique, but I'm not sure looking back why exactly it was that Griffin felt that Joel understood him. Initially, I had assumed that he was playing this game with Joel because the agent had let him live in order to save the victim. Thus, he felt that Joel didn't want him punished as badly as other agent. Or perhaps he felt that Joel valued the victims' lives more, and followed him in order to play a game of save-the-victim over and over, just to make Joel run wherever he wanted, and taunt him with the ability to stop their deaths without actually letting him succeed. Maybe that still is what he was doing, but that's not what he says. Of course if that was the game, then he would not have taken Polly. It seems that she was the final move in the game, and he was hoping to defeat Joel once and for all. Then again, he might have planned to end himself too, because he didn't want to keep running if he wasn't being chased by Campbell.
And we're back to our regularly scheduled programming. Today's movie is The Watcher.
A thriller/suspense film more than a horror movie, The Watcher tells the story of retired FBI agent Joel Campbell. Having moved from LA to Chicago, he is going through therapy after his last case. He seems to struggle with mental and physical side effects, presumably from PTSD. He is withdrawn, and doesn't share much, even with his therapist, Polly. He also exhibits symptoms that seem like withdrawal. He becomes weak, he has a lot of headaches, and sometimes gets sick to his stomach.
One day a young woman in his apartment building is killed. Joel rarely checks his mail, but as he finally goes through the growing pile, he finds a picture of the victim that had arrived three days prior. Thus, he alerts the local police. They decide that it is the same killer that he had last been chasing in Los Angeles, but he turns down the FBI's request to have him return to the case.
One night the killer, David Griffin, calls him and informs the agent that he followed him here, wishing to continue their chase. He prefers dealing with Campbell, somehow feeling that he was the only person who understood him properly. He says that he will send another photo in the morning, and Joel will have until 9 p.m. to find the girl.
Campbell joins the case, and the FBI dissect the photograph, doing anything they can to figure out who she is and where to find her. Unfortunately, they figure it out just a little too late. The game continues the next day with a new girl. This time, they get close enough to trap him, but Griffin kills the girl and escapes.
The next photo to arrive is of Griffin's last victim in LA, Lisa Anton. The backstory of Joel dealing with Griffin has been revealed in pieces, but at this moment the whole scenario is played out. Griffin had captured Lisa, and tied her in a room surrounded by candles. Lisa was Joel's lover, but she was a married woman. Joel makes sure she's okay, but then runs off after Griffin, leaving her unable to escape, and then the room catches fire, and the house burns down with Lisa inside. Joel is close enough to catch Griffin, who stops running, but he leaves the killer alive in order to run back and try to rescue Lisa.
Joel goes to Lisa's grave (the reason he moved to Chicago) and finds Griffin, who has taken Polly captive. They talk, and Griffin finally takes Joel to see Polly (for whom we realize he has started to develop feelings). While in the car, Griffin discusses his relationship with Joel, and Joel calls the detective so that the police can hear everything and track them to the soon-to-be crime scene.
Polly is, like Lisa, tied up in a room surrounded by candles, with the added danger of gasoline and flammable materials. Griffin and Joel fight, Joel trying to free Polly before Griffin burns the place down. This is actually the first scene as well, depicted from outside the doors as the officers break into the room. The place goes up in flames, but Joel and Polly manage to get free and jump out the window into the river. They are somewhat injured, but otherwise unharmed. Griffin comes out the window behind them, his whole body in flames. He, thankfully, does not live.
This sounds like a great storyline, and it was pretty good, but there were some very exaggerated chase scenes that made this more action and less suspense. Also, the acting wasn't anything special. It was good, it just wasn't great.
There isn't really much on-screen violence or grotesque imagery, so it is far more appropriate for younger audiences than most horror films. I appreciated that. And they still added the suspense of coming doom by depicting all the women walking around in their dark apartments while his shadow followed them around, until they shut off a light and he killed them in complete darkness.
I don't know if this is a movie I would recommend, but I don't regret watching it. Interestingly, there really isn't much else I want to add to this commentary. There weren't any obvious over-riding themes or symbols that stood out, nor was it a spectacular mystery. The killer is slowly revealed right from the start, and it doesn't take long before we know exactly who he is. Even Joel has seen the man before, so trying to find him is more a matter of getting one step ahead of him than trying to figure out who is behind any of it.
The close relationship between killer and cop is unique, but I'm not sure looking back why exactly it was that Griffin felt that Joel understood him. Initially, I had assumed that he was playing this game with Joel because the agent had let him live in order to save the victim. Thus, he felt that Joel didn't want him punished as badly as other agent. Or perhaps he felt that Joel valued the victims' lives more, and followed him in order to play a game of save-the-victim over and over, just to make Joel run wherever he wanted, and taunt him with the ability to stop their deaths without actually letting him succeed. Maybe that still is what he was doing, but that's not what he says. Of course if that was the game, then he would not have taken Polly. It seems that she was the final move in the game, and he was hoping to defeat Joel once and for all. Then again, he might have planned to end himself too, because he didn't want to keep running if he wasn't being chased by Campbell.
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