B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping 

Ishana Shyamalan’s The Watchers into the ol’ VCR.

Friends, I’ll be honest with you… 

Based on some of the reviews I’ve seen, I was fully prepared to tear this movie to shreds; I basically clicked my pen open as I sat down in the theater. 

However, I thought it was fine. 

I don’t think it’s a revolutionary horror movie by any means, and I probably wouldn’t watch it again, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

Before we go any further, I feel like this is a good time to throw out one of my trademark disclaimers: 

The great thing about movies is that we can discuss and debate them. Just because I think a movie is great doesn’t make it a good movie, and just because I think a movie is awful doesn’t make it a bad movie. Also, making a movie is extremely difficult and incredibly badass, and I don’t want to detract from the process. 

Moving on. 

Let’s start with the positives. 

I think the women in this movie are INCREDIBLE, and I hope the studio is paying for their chiropractor bills as they carry this entire film on their backs. 

I also don’t mind the direction we took with the big bads. Truly. 

In fact, I think the lore is kind of cool. 

Additionally, I think it was really ballsy for Ishana Shyamalan to choose a book adaptation for her directorial film debut. Movies based on books always tend to be held to a higher standard by fandoms, and you’re never going to please everyone. 

Now, let’s get to the negative. 

First and foremost, I think this might be another case of “this would be better as a series” for me. I think we could’ve taken deeper dives into the lore and gotten more info about Dr. Rory Kilmartin (John Lynch). 

Tbh, pieces of this really feel like a 2000s Sci-Fi series to me, and I think it could’ve really leaned into that genre more. 

Secondly, there’s way too much CGI. I understand that only using practical effects wouldn’t be plausible for this content, but I do think we could’ve either toned-down or fine-tuned the CGI. 

Thirdly, and I know I’ve had this critique with several movies lately, but the writing feels stiff. I’m not sure if AI was used to start some scripts during the strike or as a jumping-off point, but there have definitely been some noticeable issues with dialogue being unnatural in several movies I’ve seen lately. 

My final critique is that the end was a bit predictable for me. I’ll keep the spoilers to myself, but I did see a lot of what happened coming from a mile away. 

I know it may not seem like it, but I would definitely see another movie that Ishana Shyamalan directed. I think the bones were there in The Watchers, but it just needed some tweaks. 

All in all, I think The Watchers is an okay way to kill an hour and 40-ish minutes on a day off or a Sunday afternoon.

Just, y’know, maybe leave if anyone looks they just drove in from the uncanny valley.