Wow! Such a good movie.

Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply Perfect

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The Changeling (1980) **** (out of 4)Composer John Russell (George C. Scott) has his world turned upside down when his wife and daughter are killed in a traffic accident. A few months later he moves to Seattle to get some work done and moves into a mansion that hasn't been lived in for years. Before long he starts to hear strange noises and he quickly believes that a ghost is there. With the help of a local woman (Trish Van Devere) he quickly uncovers a dark secret.From what I've read THE CHANGELING wasn't a hit at the box office and in fact it was in and out of theaters very quick without too much press one way or another. The film pretty much went away but over the years it slowly built up a cult following and today it's considered one of the greatest ghost films ever made. While there are a couple flaws here and there and while it doesn't reach the same greatness as THE SHINING, there's no question that the film deserves its new found fame because it really is a great one.I think what I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it really does take its time to get the atmosphere right, slowly build up the scares and in the end it really delivers. A lot of credit has to go to the screenplay because it actually delivers a very good story for us to follow. Every ghost story going back to the 1930's usually had some silly story just to get the ghosts on the screen. I will avoid spoilers but the story here is a very detailed one and one that is highly entertaining and works perfectly as a mystery.Director Peter Medak does a marvelous job at building up the atmosphere and slowly building up the suspense and terror. There aren't any cheap scares here but instead we get a slow-burn effect of the haunting completely taking over the lead character as well as the viewer too. I really loved the art design in the picture and there's no doubt that the music is flawless and one of the most effective scores you'll ever hear. The look of the house was terrific and in many ways it became its own character.Of course, it also helps that you've got an actor like George C. Scott in the lead. Scott was one of the greatest actors in history and he really does deliver a rare emotional performance here. He was great at playing anger and he was always a very strong actor but I really thought he showed off emotions here that we typically didn't get to see from him. The actor perfectly nails the part as well as the various emotions going on with the character. Van Devere is also extremely good in her supporting role as is Melvyn Douglas in his few scenes.THE CHANGELING really is one of the best ghost movies ever made with several extremely creepy moments.

I saw this movie as a kid and it stuck with me enough that I bought the DVD many years later, probably 2001 or 2002. I forgot about the film until this past October (2017). My kids are getting older and they now want to see scarier movies, but there is just too much blood and gore in most movies these days. I am glad I remembered I had that DVD in storage somewhere. Every-time I see the movie it holds up well and remains surprisingly good for being produced in such a different era. The only thing I will mention; which is probably a spoiler, is the ghostly voice saying "Father" "My Father." It still produces the same chills that are rarely commonplace in most of today's horror films.

Haunted mansions persist as mainstays of ghost stories to this day, as they should. They exude shadowy atmosphere and hold such promise of fright--only, however, when handled with subtlety. The Changeling, unfortunately, delivers an in-your-face presentation of a haunted house.The mansion works visually, but Director Medak doesn't tease the audience. For example, Scott composes at the grand piano and discovers a broken key. He subsequently leaves the the room, and the camera slowly zooms in on the keyboard where the "broken" key suddenly plays unassisted by a living hand (as so predicted by the lens's focus). Had the camera panned away from the piano, and just before the change of scene there floated the faintest possibility of that key mysteriously delivering a note, the viewer would have wondered: "Did I just hear that or not?" That ambiguity would have instilled a sense of disquiet, exactly what a well-made horror film should do.Other missed fright opportunities abound. A wheelchair careens after Van Devere, ostensibly to drive home the proof of a spirit. Really? Wheelchairs have built-in negative connotations, but their ability to accelerate frantically hardly qualifies as one of them. Why couldn't the chair simply have moved a few feet from its last observed location, or perhaps have changed directional orientation toward the music box or such? At another time, the last fond memory of Scott's deceased daughter, a rubber ball (A rubber ball? Most young girls have favorite dolls or stuffed animals, don't they?), bounces down the staircase of its own accord. Scott takes this treasured memento, drives to bridge, and throws it into the river, tired of the damn thing bouncing around the house and obviously disregarding its sentimental value. Low and behold, the screwy ball comes bouncing down again. Scary? No. A clumsy attempt at scariness? Yes.The list of squandered opportunities goes on and on, but the loss falls short of totality. The genuinely haunting voice of disembodied Joseph remains as the one truly eerie element of this film. The rest of The Changeling simply fails to deliver.

I first saw the Changeling in 1981 I was 11 years old and this movie has stayed with me ever since. a Better horror story then the Amityville horror . And a greater ghost story then the Haunting.John Russell is a world famous composer and conductor who loses his family in a tragic auto accident. four months later Russell decides to make changes in his life. He is given a teaching job at a university in Seattle. Russell decides to look for a house providing the rent is cheap and a friend suggests the historical society that would rent him a older historical home cheap. With the help of the lovely historical society agent Claire Norman John finds the perfect house at Chessman park road. t s a sprawling four story mansion. The kind they don't make anymore. Russell falls in love with the house and signs the lease. Almost as soon as he moves in mysterious things happen. And these things lead to a unthinkable end. John finds a old room a child's room hidden in a attic. a wheelchair fitted for a small boy sits in a corner. the ghost shows John how and reveals why he was murdered and demands vengeance even at the cost of John's life.The Changeling is that rare instance of a horror movie so full of suspense and fear. and it stays with you. the originality of it is still fresh even 35 years after I first saw it. a true guilty pleasure. Very few films in my mind can even equal it. Worth seeing again and again.