WATCHERS

Canada, 1988, 91 minutes, Colour.
Corey Haim, Michael Ironside.
Directed by Jon Hess.

Watchers is a thin adaptation of the complex thriller by Dean R. Koontz. The film takes the skeleton of the plot (and adapts the adult characters to teenagers). It thus becomes just another variation on a monster movie, menace with a touch of science fiction.

The film was executive produced by Roger Corman, producer of so many small-budget thrillers. It is a Canadian production and stars Canadians Michael Ironside and Barbara Williams. Corey Haim is a sympathetic hero.

1.Entertaining thriller? Animal menace? Horror and science fiction?

2.The work of Dean R. Koontz - and the use of the skeleton of his plot, the lack of subtleties? The adaptation of a novel for the screen?

3.The title - the animals, the humans, the government? The dog and the monster watching each other, telepathy link? Loyalties and treacheries?

4.The opening, the research centre, the explosions? The experiments, the mutations? The dangers and the consequences?

5.Furface as the talented dog, the perfect dog? Oxcam as the experiment gone wrong? The monster? Symbols of good and evil, help and violence? Telepathy and tracking?

6.Lemuel Johnson and Cliff, their connection with the centre, the experiments? Tracking the animals? The encounter with Tracy, her dead father? The deaths, the police? The confrontation with the sheriff? Johnson killing the sheriff like the monster? Working with Norah, letting her see Tracy, letting them escape, following them? Johnson revealed as an experiment? Killing Cliff? The final struggle, his destruction and the conflagration?

7.Travis and Tracy as teenage hero and heroine? Their friendship, lifestyle? Travis and Furface, liking each other? Norah and her friendship, love for Tracy? The town, home, school? The dangers and the deaths? The dog using the word processor to warn them? Their escaping, the pursuit, the motel? The hideaway in the mountains? Norah keeping Johnson away, Tracy and the drugs, the escape? Johnson pursuing them? The struggle and the heroics? The younger generation as hero and heroine?

8.The sympathetic dog, audience response to dogs, generous, saving those in danger? The contrast with Oxcam and his cruelty?

9.The sketch of the victims, the father, the people at the school, the motel - random victims?

10.The blend of horror, animal menace and science fiction?