Sent to prison on trumped up charges, an American Army officer named "Paul Ferguson" (Wings Hauser) is given a chance to receive a full pardon if he agrees to undertake a top-secret assignment. Essentially, a genetically engineered monster known as "the Outsider" (Carlos Gonzales) has gone on a killing spree in the jungles of South America and a squad of convicts are sent in to engage the creature. What they don't know is that they are nothing more than dispensable test subjects sent in to gauge the ability of the government's creation. Fortunately for them, a genetically enhanced Labrador retriever is also in this vicinity and it knows the Outsider better than anybody. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film is basically a low-budget clone of the movie "Predator" but with a few items incorporated from "Watchers" and "Watchers II" to preserve its integrity. Unfortunately, the melding of "Predator" and "Watchers" doesn't really work nearly as well as it should due in large part to the low budget and poor acting overall. Even so, I didn't think it was terribly bad and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Horror novelist Dean R. Koontz has expressed unhappiness about several cinematic adaptations of his novels (like with HIDEAWAY). Though I haven't heard what he thinks of what Roger Corman did with WATCHERS, I think it's pretty safe to assume that he's appalled, especially since Corman has used the rights to the novel to make several awful movies, including this one. Where to begin? Well, even though the end credits reveal this was filmed in South America, it sure doesn't look spectacular. The various jungle locations look bland and all alike. The story is pretty slow, with not that much jungle action and gore for the first half of the movie. When we *do* see the monster, it's a shockingly bad creation - just imagine the monsters you have seen in 1950s Corman movies, and you'll have a good idea as to how this unconvincing creation looks like. I guess some of the gore effects aren't bad, and it's always good to see Wings Hauser, but the movie ends up being overall a bad and boring imitation of PREDATOR. With PREDATOR freely available for rent or purchase, there's no reason to see this third-rate imitation.

Watchers III starts over the harsh isolated jungles of Central America where a military plane drops two boxes which parachute down to the ground, one of the boxes opens & a large slimy clawed hand emerges... Nearby a young native boy (Ider Cifuentes Martin) is surprised to see a cute golden retriever just sitting there so the boy befriends him. Cut to a rebel camp & a genetically created killing machine does what it does best, it kills everyone in sight. Now cut to 'Leavenworth Military Prison, Kansas' where Major Ferguson (Wings Hauser) is being detained on false charges after he was involved with 'Project Aesop', the project that created the ultra intelligent golden retriever Einstein & the psychically linked genetically created creature known as the Outsider who were supposed to be the future of warfare. Colonel Sratten (Frank Novak) tells Ferguson that he needs him to head a team of marines into the jungle for a clean up operation & if he accepts all charges will be dropped & he will be free, Ferguson agrees & it's not long before he & his team, Benetti (Gregory Scott Cummins), Nat (Daryl Keith Roach), MacCready (John Linton) & their guide Gomez (Lolita Ronalds) are in the middle of the jungle & being systematically stalked & killed by the Outsider in a deadly experiment. Major Ferguson realises himself & his team have been set up & decides the best form of defence is attack...This Peruvian American co-production was directed by Jeremy Stanford & was the third entry in the Watchers series of films which at the moment total four, Watchers III is watchable but hardly outstanding. The script by Michael Palmer was supposedly based on the novel by Dean R. Koontz but I'd say it was based more on the film Predator (1987) which Watchers III is a complete total & utter rip-off of. Everythings here, the Central American jungle, the fake mission, the team of marines, lots of shooting, the monstrous creature hunting the marines, the climax where the hunter becomes the hunted complete with exploding arrows & bobby traps, the native & even a scene when the creature tries to mend a wound & screams out in pain which echos around the jungle, it's all here including some very familiar character's & situations as well. It's generally considered that Predator is a damn fine horror/action/sci-fi film with a decent cast, good special effects, a cool monster, top-notch action scenes, a big budget & great entertainment value. Unfortunately Watchers III has none of those things, it has a cast of nobodies, it has horrendous special effects, one of the lamest monsters I've ever seen, cheap action scenes, a really low budget & it isn't going to have anyone on the edge of their seats. No, what Watchers III has is an ultra intelligent golden retriever, thanks a lot guys. Having said that I thought it was an OK film, it's not particularly bad but it's not particularly good either. It moves along at a fair pace & some fun can be had if you have low enough expectations.Director Stanford does an OK job, the jungle location looks nice & lush & it gives it a certain atmosphere. He doesn't fair too well with the action scenes & they are far from exciting. Now onto the Outsider, this has to be one of the worst looking monsters I've ever seen, it has over-sized hands & fingers which just droop down & bend, it has huge feet, a normal body & a huge head which resembles a triangle of mud. It comes as no surprise that Gabriel Bartalos was the man responsible. There are a few decent gore scenes, a couple of cool decapitations, some mangled corpses, the skin is torn from someones chest & a fair amount of blood spilled in various ways.Technically Watchers III is alright apart from that truly awful monster suit which has to be seen to be believed just how bad it is. Otherwise it's generally quite well made & competent throughout. The acting isn't up to much & my vote for best performance goes to Einstein the dog.Watchers III is an OK way to pass 90 odd minutes, it's nothing new or original but it's watchable & I've seen a lot worse. To add to his seemingly infinite list of credits Roger Corman executive produced. The other Watchers films are, Watchers (1988), Watchers II (1990) & Watchers Reborn (1998).

I saw this Sunday afternoon and thought that there must be something else better on... like bass fishing with no bass in the lake! Then I saw a commercial that announced that George Lucas remade the Poseiden Adventure (calling it simply Poseiden). I guess that was worth watching this unwatchable movie.Hey wait a minute ... I just realized that there IS something worse than Tim Burton's destruction of "Planets of the Apes" - WATCHERS 3...And what's up with 3??? Does that mean there were TWO OTHERS?!?! Wow...1/10-ZafoidPS: I have always wondered who makes films like these. They are straight to video, and then not even worth watching by anyone - including the director! So why are these made? Is this a "learning experience" for the some of the crew? ... the director? ... the actors? I just don't get it. Then again, why do I watch them!? :)-Z