James Watkins Movies
A romantic weekend in the woods turns into a bloody struggle for survival when a vacationing couple finds their campsite surrounded by an aggressive gang of obnoxious adolescents in the feature directorial debut of My Little Eye screenwriter James Watkins. All nursery school teacher Jenny and her boyfriend, Steve, wanted was a quiet weekend alone, and what better setting for such a romantic retreat than a quiet lake surrounded by a vast forest? Just as Steve is preparing to propose to Jenny, however, their blissful moment of peace is rudely interrupted when their campsite is encircled by a gang of particularly unruly teens. After the kids provoke the couple by stealing their belongings and vandalizing their car, the situation turns deadly serious as Steve attempts to confront them and suffers a terrible beating. Now it's up to Jenny to flee from her tormentors under the shroud of darkness and make her way to the nearest town, though what she finds there may well be worse than what's waiting for her back in the woods. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, (more)
- 2006
The Ringan Ledwidge-directed, Andrew Upton and James Watkins-scripted psychological thriller Gone (a U.S.-British-Australian co-production) follows in the footsteps of such shockers as The Company of Strangers and Kalifornia, as several innocent, unwitting young travelers inadvertently find themselves at the mercy of a psychotic outsider who poses as a Good Samaritan. The story unfolds in the Australian outback, with Alex (Shaun Evans) en route to visit his girlfriend Sophie (Amelia Warner) in Byron. His intended plans take an unexpected left turn, however, when he misses his bus and accepts the offered assistance of another traveler, the seemingly benign American Taylor (Scott Mechlowicz). The men agree to spend the evening together and partake in a night of drunken excess with several women, but the next morning, Taylor takes a potentially incriminating Polaroid of Alex in bed with one of the girls. He nonetheless assures Alex that he has destroyed it, which assuages Alex's fears temporarily. When the men decide to remain together and travel across the outback with Sophie and her friend Ingrid, however, signs of duplicitous and shady behavior emerge from Taylor - including his overt sexual interest in Sophie, the threatening resurgence of the Polaroid, and Ingrid's sudden, inexplicable disappearance. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Mechlowicz, Amelia Warner, (more)
Picking up where the multitudes of late '90s/early 2000s reality-based television shows left off is the unexpectedly shocking horror film My Little Eye, from director Marc Evans. Five twentysomethings are assembled to live together for a period of six months in a house specially outfitted with a bevy of webcams in order to collect a one million prize. The one major caveat being if anyone abandons the house prior to the end of the six-month period, no one will win anything. After introducing the different characters -- intelligent Danny (Stephen O'Reilly), slacker Rex (Kris Lemche), frat boy Matt (Sean CW Johnson), good girl Emma (Laura Regan), and actress wannabe Charlie (Jennifer Sky) -- the story jumps ahead to the last few days before the scheduled end of the contest. At this point, it becomes apparent that outside forces are somehow manipulating certain events within the house, and the household is sent into chaos as one of the participants is found dead. Another participant receives an ominous note, and shortly thereafter, the remaining participants begin to realize the true intensity of their mortal peril. My Little Eye premiered at the 2002 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean CW Johnson, Kristopher Lemche, (more)
