Waste of time

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Believe it or not, I have now seen all four of the Roger Corman-produced WATCHERS films. The best of the series was the mediocre WATCHERS 2, though as mediocre as it was, it looks like a masterpiece compared to this fourth entry. Things don't start well with the first few minutes seemingly consisting of stock footage, and things just get worse from that point on. Mark Hamill (who was one of the producers - did he really think this project was worthy?) looks and sounds very tired, like he had been sleeping in an alley for a week before coming onto the set. Actually, Hamill isn't really to blame, because the screenplay has various plot points and plot turns you have seen in the previous WATCHERS movies. There isn't really anything new here, which will make you wonder why Corman decided to do the same old things once again, especially since it looks like he had less money to spend than in the previous films. Even if you were involved in the production of the movie, there's no compelling reason to watch these end results.

Man, Roger Corman certainly got his moneys worth out of the film rights to the Dean Koontz novel WATCHERS. This, the fourth entry in the series, continues the saga of Einstein the Golden Retriever and his mutant buddy/stalker The Outsider. The Outsider breaks out of a Government facility where he and Einstein are being tested on. The duo are on the loose and The Outsider kills off a zoo security guard. Det. Murphy (Mark Hamill) is on the case and quickly discovers the dog and scientist Grace (Lisa Wilcox) snooping around. The mean Feds (led by Stephen Macht) are also on the case and want to kill everyone associated with the project to keep it hush-hush. Naturally, that means kill them in public.Despite an offer of new ideas (REBORN), this is the same ol' WATCHERS. Man finds dog. Dog is smart. Monster chases dog. Dog saves lives. The end. And what does it say about a film when the best actor is a dog? I'm not kidding. Einstein, who gets no screen credit, displays better emotions than Hamill ever does. Director John Carl Buechler keeps things moving fast enough and the kills are all gory so I guess it has that going for it. The end tries to go for a sympathetic Frankenstein's monster twist but it isn't working when your monster looks this bad. "Pet me," he cries at one point to great comic effect. Wilcox, who played Alice in ELM STREET 4 & 5, sports blonde hair in this and looks like a dead ringer for Barbara Campton. As always, Macht gives a solid turn as the heel. He must be filed in all Hollywood Rolodexes under "Bad Guy."

Watchers Reborn starts in a science lab where Dr. Grace Hudson (Lisa Wilcox) has been experimenting with DNA to create a mutated monster known as the 'Outsider' & a super intelligent Golden Retriever named Einstein who are telepathically linked to each other. Since everyone likes Einstein & give him pats on the head, they talk to him nicely & spoil him with lots of dog biscuits the Outsider becomes jealous & resentful of him. The Outsider manages to escape in an attempt to kill Einstein but the clever little fella he is Einstein manages to crawl through an air vent & to the safety of Los Angeles outside the lab, however the Outsider is still on his tail (Ha!). Homicide Detectives Murphy (Mark Hamil) & his partner Gus (Gary Collins) are called to a murder & discover a horribly mutilated security guard together with Einstein, Murphy takes a liking to Einstein & decides to take him to the pound (!). Gus isn't having any of it & takes Einstein home with him but is soon killed by the Outsider in it's relentless search for Einstein, as Murphy investigates he becomes aware of the truth & a target of NSA agents who want to keep the whole thing quiet...Directed by John Carl Buechler who also is credited with the special creature effects Watchers Reborn is the fourth entry in the Watchers series of films & to date the last. The script by Sean Dash is based on the novel by Dean R. Koontz but I'm not sure how closely. The film moves along at a fair pace, it drags a little in the middle but it passed the time well enough & just about enough happened to maintain my interest. Watchers Reborn isn't exactly the best film ever made that's for sure but if your expectations aren't too high & you like cheap horror films you could do a lot worse. Watchers Reborn features telepathic monsters, shadowy Government agencies, DNA experiments, a trial of Oranges, a Golden Retriever who appears to be more intelligent than half the people I know (& he can write better too) & the one & only Luke Skywalker. What more do you want? I've seen better but I've also seen worse.Special effects man turned director Buechler does an OK job, the film isn't much to look at but then what did you expect? I've noticed that the Outsider in each Watchers film looks completely different to the one in the previous entry, this time the Outsider looks more like a Werewolf & in certain shots like a Gorilla, overall it's a pretty cheap looking monster suit. There's some reasonable gore, someone has their eye pulled out, there are plenty of spilled guts & blood, severed hands & arms. The action scenes are dumb & not that exciting, it's not scary & I don't get why the Outsider never kills Murphy? The Outsider kills everyone else he meets but not Murphy it just hits him & knocks him out, answers on a postcard please.Technically Watchers Reborn is pretty cheap looking, it's OK but that's about the best I can say about it. The acting isn't up to much & what the Hell happened to Mark Hamil after Star Wars (1977)? How did he end up in something like this?Watchers Reborn is an OK time waster, it'll pass 90 odd minutes but little else. The other Watchers films are Watchers (1988), Watchers II (1990) & Watchers III (1994) which I personally think is the best of the bunch even though that ain't saying much.

I feel The Watchers-Reborn is a very well acted movie. Mark Hamill isn't a kid anymore. He grew up and did a fine piece of acting. It is a bit graphic in places and not well suited for younger viewers but the story-line is interesting and well written. Follows Dean Koonz's book far more than the first Watchers. See this film but don't expect to see Luke Skywalker!