Watched! (USA, 1972) 93 min color DIR-SCR: John David Parsons. MUSIC: Bob Carpenter, Weather Report. DOP: Kevin Keating, Ed Lynch, Hart Perry, Jack Wright. CAST: Stacy Keach, Harris Yulin, Brigid Polk, Denver John Collins. (Vestron Video)
Proof positive that any 1970s movie rated BOMB or *1/2 in Leonard Maltin’s movie guide must have something going for it, Watched! is representative of how even terribly flawed films from that era usually have some kind of original concept, that while not entirely successful in the result, are still way more adventurous than the bland crap that Hollywood green lights today.
This is another of the strange pictures that Stacy Keach made in the early 1970s (End of the Road; The Travelling Executioner). Initially set in “1980”, Keach watches old films, or listens to tape recordings, of himself as a lawyer in Haight-Ashbury during the counterculture era, where he began to feel a kinship with the people he was supposed to be prosecuting. His police friend and soon-to-be nemesis (played by Harris Yulin, also his co-star in End of the Road and Doc), realized that Keach was purposely screwing up his busts, and to this day is seeking to arrest him for obstruction of justice. However, Keach uses a multitude of disguises to elude his captor.
Most interesting in this very cheap movie is its look at Haight-Ashbury well beyond its days of peace and love, as a decaying crash pad, perhaps even surpassing Rush in its depiction of early 1970s counterculture burnout. Nonetheless, Keach sympathizes for these people that Yulin militaristically attempts to bust, and thereby burdening the legal system all over a joint in a pocket. Another pleasant surprise is the casting of a former 60s “superstar”, in ex-Warhol alumni Brigid Polk, who is startlingly good as an undercover cop who mutters about her failed attempts at trying to “make” Keach.
Watched! is a strange melange of failed experimental film (with scenes shot in various filters) and Orwellian crime picture (as many scenes have tape counter onscreen). Even when these pieces don’t all gel (the wraparound “1980” footage is less interesting), the film is to be admired for the attempt. Plus, there’s an “of its time” trip sequence for good measure, and the opening “cop show funk” music is by none other than Weather Report!
Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #8. A little context. This is one of several capsule reviews I had included in “Short Takes”, made possible by stores blowing out a lot of VHS titles for cheap to make space for DVDs. Many of these VHS acquisitions were never re-released in digital format.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.