Throughout history, there have been some movies that have been judged unfairly. They have a reputation for not being great, but while they may not be, they are pretty decent, if not quite good. Watchers, directed by Joe Hess and released in 1988, is one such film.

There is not a soul upon the Earth that will say this is their favourite movie or even rank it in their top twenty, but that does not discount it from being any good, and it has that Eighties sheen upon it, that feel-good temperament about it even if it falls under the science-fiction and horror banner. Hess gives it a cozy atmosphere, even when the villains are up to no good and when the alien is killing anyone it can get its hands on. The story follows a dog who escapes a research facility and is chased by an alien monster that looks like a space gorilla. The dog soon meets a boy named Travis, played by Corey Haim, and the two hit it off immediately. The dog is incredibly intelligent and proves it throughout the movie, alerting his new master to various things and saving his life more than once. Meanwhile, the alien leaves a trail of bodies wherever it goes, and despite all that, baddie Michael Ironside, who works for the government agency chasing the creatures, is more concerned with getting the dog back than stopping the monster. So yes, bad things happen, and people are on the run, and there are people getting killed throughout and yet, somehow, it still feels more like a family drama than what it should have been.

What horror there is is decent enough. Nothing is especially scary or frightening, though director Hess manages to inject a little suspense into the proceedings, which helps to keep things moving along at a decent pace. It seems the money that went into this picture went to the cast, because when it came to creature effects, the monster ended up looking a little sillier than it probably should have. That is more than likely why Hess and the producers kept the space gorilla off-screen more than on. That being said, having it finally appear in all its glory during the final act was a good thing, as viewers needed to know what these government experiments were all about and what they actually produced. It could have been better, a lot better, but if you immerse yourself in the production, you can overlook the ridiculousness as it brings the story to a close.

Corey Haim stars in this feature, and he does a great job of making his character relatable, while Michael Ironside always brings his best to the table, this time as the villain. Barbara Williams rounds out the cast as Haim’s mother, and both do justice to the provided script and story. With that in mind, the film did manage to diverge from the source material, the novel by Dean Koontz, and many will say this film is far inferior. In one sense, that is true, as they ended up being very different beasts with only a few similarities. As separate entities, Watchers is not all that bad and makes for a great popcorn flick.

3 out of 5