They're Watching (2016) User Reviews

A standard found-footage movie that manages to surprise

[TdSmth5 · 7/10 · 2 April 2016]

A TV reality show crew is in Moldova following up on an American pottery artist who bought run-down house out in the woods. She married some local guy and now 6 months later the crew is there to film what they did with the place.

The format of this movie is POV, who knew they will still using that awful format. So you know what that means...irrational behavior, complete jerk characters, and green nightvision! And They're Watching doesn't fail to deliver on all three.

We get 2 nasty characters, the boom operator and the lady producing the show. We follow 3 kids, the boom guy, the camera guy and some intern girl as they meet up with the producer who's waiting for them with the local real estate agent who sold the house to the artist. So we actually get to see some sights of Romania, playing Moldova, as the crew drives to the town, then to the house in the woods, then back to town.

One day the camera guy and the intern go exploring and decide to film everything...a point they make repeatedly in this movie. They run into some church ceremony and go inside. It's a funeral for 3 children. After getting in trouble they go to the local (and only) restaurant bar to eat and drink. Of course locals everywhere stare at them creepily. They learn that the town burned a witch alive 100 years ago.

The next day the crew returns to the artist's house to film. Her husband is out of the country. And they've done a great job turning a wreck of a house into something nice. But then the creepy locals start surrounding the house. The dog ends up dead of course, as all dogs do in movies. The crew's car is destroyed, there's no cell phone reception, someone ends up dead, they discover some secrets and...let's just say that the town isn't quite done with the witch story.

I dislike found footage movies. I hate those that feature nasty characters; and green nightvision just infuriates me. I'm not a fan of movies that don't do much of anything for most of the time and wait for the very end to give us story and action. Despite They're Watching being predictable in doing everything I dislike about POV movies, I'm going to give it a generous score. First, it features Romania and we do get to see some uncommon sights. The orthodox church ceremony scene, while short, was interesting. Unlike most of these movies that manage to cast only unattractive folks, They're Watching has the gorgeous and angelical Mia Faith...but it puts her most of the time...behind the camera!?! Dimitri Diatchenko does a great job as the colorful and likable local. 30 minutes before the end, things become deadly. 20 before the end we start getting some horror and gore. And for the last 10 minutes the movie goes completely bonkers. There are some real cool deaths and also some cheapo CGI gore and blood. Aside from the enthusiastic and strong ending, this movie also surprisingly has a musical score and more visual effects than any other POV horror movie I've seen.

Overall, a strong entry in this dreadful genre, that could have been even better had they set aside all the dumb stuff that these POV movie directors are apparently obliged to maintain. Of course had they ditched the format altogether they would have had a much better movie.

A quite good horror movie that falls in the last 15 minutes

[bachemar · 7/10 · 3 December 2018]

What a shame. I shrugged when I saw the rating on here and figured I'd be in for a pretty terrible movie. However, up until the last 15 minutes or so I thought this was a really fun and entertaining movie. The acting is good, the script is decent and I was enjoying the movie quite a bit. Unfortunately at the end the filmmakers decide to pull out all the stops and throw in quite a lot of cgi/special effects that, due to the budget, are quite terrible. It turns a quite enjoyable movie into a bunch of schlock. . The actual ending itself isn't necessarily bad either, it's just the effects that will make you cringe. 7 rating for the whole film. 2 rating for the cgi.

The ending is the cherry on top

[rinsyn · 7/10 · 22 October 2018]

It was no jewel, I mean your typical terrible movie, wannabe spooky creepy stuff,but as everything was revealed, boy oh boy did it become sooo bad that it's good. I was blown away with the terrible but awesome effects. So if you're into the so bad it's good type, then the ending will not disappoint. That ending alone deserved the 3 stars

Promising at first, dreadful climax

[Amthermandes · 5/10 · 1 August 2018]

They're Watching isn't bad, but isn't good either. It's a good time-waster. A movie about a small film crew doing a special in a small Romanian town full of superstitious and suspicious people, it starts off quite good with the only exception that one of the characters tries WAY too hard to be the stereotypical annoying smart-mouthed guy that everyone wants to see die. I mean, he's so unbelievably annoying and unrealistic that I almost had to shut it off.

But I endured, because the rest was pretty good. Things start picking up, the movie's paced fairly well, interesting stuff happens, there's an obvious and passable storyline, but then goes to cheese-town at the end. An over-abundance of cheap CGI effects, does not a good horror, make. Leave that to the Sharknados of the cinema world. Watching this movie was like watching an expensive firework fountain put on a good show for 30 seconds, then when things start to look like it's heading into its finale, it turns into a large snake (look up snake firework in case you're unfamiliar with the worst firework in existence).

CGI tends to be a crutch, and can easily ruin a good film if used incorrectly, with this movie being a perfect example. Even if it's only in the last ten minutes.

Fun ride!

[saphira_dragon-80270 · 7/10 · 14 January 2019]

It's spooky, it's funny. It's a fun little ride with a good twist!

Nothing Happens Until The Last Twenty Minutes

[HorrorOverEverything · 4/10 · 25 March 2016]

So the movie opens with a glimpse at the end of the movie, and I can understand why they did this because the end was the only good part of the whole film. What follows is an hour and twenty minutes of pointless filler.

The TV crew goes to their hotel - Nothing happens

The TV crew goes to a house in the woods - Nothing happens

The TV crew goes to a restaurant - Nothing happens

Then that repeats, the TV crew goes to those three exact places again and again nothing happens.

Finally in the last twenty minutes things pick up, and honestly it is pretty cool. The FXs are not perfect but the chaos is pretty awesome & fun to watch. However, as cool as the last twenty minutes are they really don't make up for the fact that 80% of the movie is really nothingness. There are no great characters, there is no interesting dialogue, there is a love story that goes no where, and that is really it.

In my opinion this would have worked better as a segment in the "VHS" movie franchise, there just wasn't enough content here to make a full length film. The ending is cool, but the rest of the movie is very boring.

4/10

It's really bad, but I still enjoined it.

[subxerogravity · 6/10 · 31 March 2016]

When I saw the poster for this horror movie at a local theater I felt I give it a shot.

I was already not on the films side when I saw that it was a found footage film. It has to be really good to win me over now. It wasn't.

As...Interesting as it was to watch a reality TV show crew film an episode about some artist who has fixed up a crappy house she brought, located outside of an Eastern European village, and they were an interesting set of horror Archetypes, I'll give them that much, the whole thing ate far too much time and did hardly nothing to built up a movie that's suppose to be in the horror genre.

It's not like the horror movie, The Which that creeps you out for an hour than hits you with the strange, it's more like from Dust till Dawn where it starts as one movie and becomes another. Although comparing this movie to From Dust Till Dawn is an insult to From Dust till Dawn.

Once the horror begins, the cheese is layered on far too think on this Ham sandwich. I saw this at a movie theater. I'm wondering how a film with the type of special effects I've seen done far better by kids on You Tube videos gets any sort of theatrical run. It's embarrassing for everyone involved.

But I have to give the movie some credit. After the smoke cleared and everything was all over, I could not help but to laugh out loud by how God awful this picture was. I sure hope that it was the filmmaker's intention to make the movie this campy, because all this "horror" film is worth is a good laugh.

I think I can put this in the so bad it's good category. I totally recommend you see it, cause in the end it was an enjoyable bad.

Just terrible

[erika_pattison · 1/10 · 26 March 2016]

This is awful. Just awful. The special effects at the end are so bad they are bordering on offensive. By the end of this film I was wishing the witch would jump out of the screen and just kill me so I didn't have to watch it anymore. How did this complete pointless nonsense even get the funding to be made? My favorite part was the credits at the end would of rather watched two hours of them. The acting was dire, the storyline was like something rejected by a true movies specials marathon. Seriously do yourself a favor and watch something else. Maybe a documentary about paint drying or how they make church steeples or just go to bed. If you like films this is not for you, this is not a film it's a pile of pants.

A comedy with a twist!!!

[Priest6 · 7/10 · 19 April 2016]

Just finished watching this film and I have to say... it's decent.

I started my rating at a 6/10 and would tick off or add on .5 points every time I saw something I disliked/liked. There were many details that this film failed with that kept it from being higher than a 7. Small details such as the film experts complaining about how expensive the equipment is, then laying it in the middle of the ground and leaving it shortly after. Small details such as a woman standing outside of a window for twenty straight minutes and no one thinking that something might be up.

To keep things short, this movie is a Comedy. Dark Comedy? Maybe. Horror? Definitely not. The only thing horror about this is the creepy glances that the natives give the visitors every once in a while, and even those aren't scary.

Should you watch this movie? Yes! I found a lot of the humor, well, humorous. Which is rare in most "comedies" nowadays. Even in the last quarter I found myself laughing (when a certain someone dies and Alex runs back into the house, that was absolutely brilliant). A lot of people are saying "nothing happens until the last twenty minutes" but they're wrong. A lot happens, it's just not what they wanted to happen.

Also, kudos to the actors for giving life to what would've have been a complete failure of a movie! Even Mia Faith brought character to a stereotypical Spoiled, Rich Blonde character.

What?

[iamtherobotman · 4/10 · 8 December 2016]

I've given this a 4 out of 10 mainly due to the ending of the film. Up until that point the story was OK, obvious, but OK. A Witch legend in darkest, deepest Eastern Europe. It was generally handled quite well, never scary or overly suspenseful but pleasant enough to watch. We had the standard characters - The bitchy boss woman, the arrogant stoner, the woman's man and slightly ditsy blonde as the film crew, all played their parts well enough. Outwith that we had the lovable local the Artistic woman deciding to leave the big City for country life and the Footballer Boyfriend who came across more of a cocksure Boyscout than a Professional Footballer.

As i say all was going along as expected until the last five minutes and for some reason it decided to go all Disney on us. It just didn't fit with the rest of the film and had the feel of a Script writers child had got their hands on the final draft and rewrote it as a five year old would have a film end. It was never a great piece of film making but the ending just completely ripped it apart and ruined it totally.

Fear the Frogs!

[scythertitus · 8/10 · 30 April 2016]

Great found footage movie that doesn't get bogged down in over- seriousness and has a sense of fun, while at the same time being really creepy. The characters are likable enough and the dialogue works, you can really tell that a lot of thought went into the filming and that the whole thing must have been a lot of fun.

As for the story itself, it evolves at a nice pace and plays with audience expectations a bit, especially towards the end. There is something creepy going on at least every few minutes but a lot of it is in the background so you also get to know the characters quite a lot as the film progresses.

Overall this is a smart and enjoyable horror with a decent amount of comedy and character work thrown in. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't hate found footage movies and also say that for the most part the filming is actually important to the story in this case.

Precious jewel

[rinsyn · 7/10 · 22 October 2018]

So bad it's good content,enjoy the sheer terribleness that makes it so awesome. Your mind will be blown.

Another Awful Found Footage Horror Film

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 17 October 2016]

The American artist Becky Westlake (Brigid Brannagh) buys a derelict house in the countryside of the remote Moldova in the Eastern Europe to work with ceramics and to live with her boyfriend, the football player Goran Potsnik (Cristian Balint). Six months later, the American producer Kate Banks (Carrie Genzel) and her crew consisting of the cameraman Alex Torini (Kris Lemche), the audio operator Greg Abernathy (David Alpay) and newly hired assistant Sarah Ellroy (Mia Faith) arrive in Moldova. The local real estate agent Vladimir Filat (Dimitri Diatchenko) guides the group to Becky's house and they schedule the shooting. Meanwhile, Greg, Alex and Sarah do not respect the residents and they film everywhere, including a funeral, irritating the locals. On the night before the final shooting, they go to a bar to drink with the locals to make peace. However, Sarah is drunk and shouts "witch" to Kate and they need to flee to the hotel. On the next morning, they go to Becky's house and their van is completely destroyed and they are stranded in her house. Further, Vladimir was killed while seeking for help and during the night, they discover that they are under siege of the villagers. What will happen to them?

"They're Watching" is another awful horror film in this dreadful and lame found footage genre. The story, screenplay and edition are also terrible, with stereotyped characters and senseless plot point. Americans are arrogant, disrespectful and stupid; locals are underdeveloped and superstitious; and the lead character is a powerful witch without any explanation. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Entertaining with a mediocre ending

[LittleLotti · 5/10 · 21 September 2020]

The first few minutes of this movie had me wondering if I should even bother but I quickly gained interest and didn't think it was too bad for most of it. However the last 10 or 15 minutes went a little too bonkers for my taste. The low budget effects did not help either. It wasn't a horrible movie but not one I personally find worth watching.

From the writers of Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Spongebob Squarepants

[mamporrero · 6/10 · 14 August 2022]

I had to write a review for this, if only to highlight that utterly ridiculous tagline from the movie poster.

As for the film itself, it's pretty standard fare for the most part, with a good portion of its runtime dedicated to making a mockery out of the backward locals in a way that would get everyone involved banned from the industry if it were set anywhere else.

Does it try to make the footage believable? Hardly. Does it give a good reason for the cameras to be running at all times? Not at all. On the other hand, it looks professionally made and acted, there's little running around in the dark, and it makes for an easy watch with its light tone and sizeable cast for the genre.

As many others pointed out, it does turn into a cartoon at the end, but whether that's a good or a bad thing is a matter of preference.

Drastic Home Makeover...

[azathothpwiggins · 24 October 2023]

THEY'RE WATCHING starts out in a very light, fun way, with a crew from a TV home improvement show filming the sights of a small, Eastern European town. They also spend a great deal of time ridiculing the locals. Not surprisingly, as time goes on, things take a strange, more sinister turn.

This is another "found footage"-style horror film. So much footage is presented, that it plays more like a normal feature film. This is a bit of a weakness, because it takes the viewer out of the "reality" of the situation. Still, the tension builds nicely with spurts of humor throughout, though it does tend to drag in spots.

Have no fear, the totally-berserk finale is worth the wait...

Extremely poor

[mitchowdhury-mail · 1/10 · 9 August 2020]

Bad direction, with even worse acting and plot. The film had an average build-up, and an expected let down as it paced up. The final scene was so bad that it's hard to imagine someone would make a movie on this. How does it get 5.6 stars? Really?!

Doina

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 21 January 2018]

You might want to skip the first few minutes of the film as it is a plot spoiler the reoccurs at about an hour and twenty minutes. The film is almost all found footage, as a crew films the show "Home Hunters Global" hosted by Kate Banks (Carrie Genzel). The crew is in a remote village of Moldova, a Romanian culture. They have returned to film the house of Becky Westlake (Brigid Brannagh) who bought the "worst house in Moldova." Upon their return they find the house if magnificently restored as they stay in a nearby village being ugly Americans with their cameras. There is a story about a local witch being burned at stake about 100 years ago. There appears to be something significant about frogs too.

The acting wasn't solid. There was an attempt at humor, more towards the beginning, but there was nothing to indicate the film was a spoof. Alex (Kris Lemche) provided us with a few funny lines while everyone else was his straight man. The film takes over 50 minutes to get going, which maybe why the editors opted to splice a plot spoiler in the beginning. Mia Faith provides us with minor eye candy.

Guide: F-word. Brief sex. No nudity.

Note to self: Never yell "witch" in a crowded bar of Romanians.

Love Hate Love

[trnjamesbond · 5/10 · 9 August 2016]

Well after watching this film, I have many mixed feelings, but most in a good way.

We start out watching a film crew that seems to be based on a house hunting abroad type of show. With that being said, this film actually starts off kind of fun, mimicking shows like "house hunters international", and that's where the similarities end.

After the burst of humour in the first five minutes or so, I would suspect it would wear off, and it did, but not in a way of a "Scary Movie" type of film, but it just went in a different direction.

The next scenes we witness include really over the top acting, but about fifty minutes into the film it was actually not too bad, the acting seemed to get better as time moved on, we get the distracted feeling of prediction of the story itself, but for some reason on how it was implemented seemed to keep breathing new life into this film.

"They're Watching" is a well constructed film based on old values of folk stories, with a modern twist, in the end that modern twist could possibly time stamp this film, it did have at sometimes terrible CGI, but remember keep the budget in mind, and just use your imagination. If this film had a few extra dollars to spend on special effects, it would of helped the production tremendously, but since it didn't, get we get what is presented. So all in all, it was a fun watch. Thanks for reading.

Maria Shriver impersonator

[callalily-37519 · 7/10 · 1 October 2018]

Carrie Genzel/Kate Banks does ANYONE think she resembles Maria Shriver doing Investigative Reporting😱???

Pure, Unadulterated, Unrefined Trash!

[brandon_veracka · 3/10 · 21 February 2018]

I don't care if this is supposedly a comedy horror flick (as one review states), it's pure garbage. It begins like many found footage horror movies, but then it deadpans, and then suddenly decides not to take itself seriously. It just doesn't make any sense; none at all. There is zero entertainment value in this movie. It's an hour of awful acting (some of the worst I've ever seen), and then it snaps into some kind of wild horror art film. Definitely up there with the worst of those "I want my time back" films.

Give it 10 Stars for creepy Cleverness!

[rebeccax5 · 8/10 · 26 July 2016]

I've had to watch it twice. At first it seems very cheesy and idiotic. By the end it's BRILLIANT cheesy and idiotic! A real surprise, silly and bizarro. Meta-funny.

It don't want to give anything away, but i'll say you have to stick with it.

Yes, it is a scary movie and at first it seems VERY lame. By the end, it's BRILLIANT, very lame, a dark, funny comedy.

When I first put it on, after seeing a Netflx ad for it, I was immediately disappointed, so I started doing housework and barely paying attention. Then, I fell asleep and woke up halfway though. It was very trippy, so I restarted it and saw it actually paying attention. Very original and CLEVER,

The dark side of HGTV

[AlabamaWorley1971 · 7/10 · 22 August 2020]

I've long thought that the cable home renovation shows would make for great found footage horror/satire. And here's one that does it right! Likable group of crew members accompany horrible host to Moldova, to film the renovation of an old farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. You'll just love what she's done to the place...especially the basement! Great good fun.

Tepid Mess

[axiomatic-54930 · 1/10 · 24 August 2016]

None of this works

It isn't funny enough to be a comedy. It isn't scary enough to be horror. The movie never commits to it's idea, and we are left with a tepid, half-baked mess.

Now, I love a good fiasco. Few things are as entertaining as a well- intentioned, incompetent blunder with too much vision and no ability to edit. But you can't TRY to make a bad movie. You have to try to make a good movie and fail spectacularly in order for it to be funny. They're Watching is boring wannabe.

It tries to excuse the annoying characters, bad acting, horrible script and thin premise with "I meant to do that", and it doesn't cut it. It isn't entertaining enough to get away with it.

They're... doing nothing.

[Krackoon · 2/10 · 26 March 2016]

So, like most 'found footage' style films, you're in for about 80 minutes of bad character development, dialogue, and mediocre acting, before the 15 minute finale, which by then, you won't care about, anyway.

While the director focuses on character development for the first 80 minutes, he still can't manage to produce a single likable, or interesting character. Fortunately, most cult style horror films tend to go for the ever so ''shocking'' conclusion of... killing every character off. So, you have that going for you... maybe.

Random Ramblings of a Madman: So, yeah, the film is slow, full of bad dialogue, and dull characters. Enjoy!