SYNOPSICS
The Changeling (1980) is a English movie. Peter Medak has directed this movie. George C. Scott,Trish Van Devere,Melvyn Douglas,Jean Marsh are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1980. The Changeling (1980) is considered one of the best Horror,Mystery movie in India and around the world.
It was the perfect family vacation for composer John Russell and his family when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. Mammoth in size, the house seems all the room that John needs to write music and reflect. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a child who has homed in on John's despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them.
More
The Changeling (1980) Reviews
First-Rate Haunted Horror
George C. Scott loses his wife and daughter in a car accident, moves to Seattle, and rents a gigantic old mansion with a haunted secret past. This film is skillfully directed by Peter Medak who gets more that even he probably bargained from a solid cast of actors, a wonderful script, and one great-looking eerie old house. Medak creates tons of suspense with the barest sight of blood. This film reeks atmosphere. The house reeks atmosphere. Scott's performance and that of veteran Melvyn Douglass reek atmosphere. Doors creak, balls mysteriously bounce, water runs, windows break in the old house trying to tell Scott about the secret of a young child that once lived there. The script is fanciful yet well-written and very creative. Scott gives an atypically subdued performance that suggests passion, heartbreak, and tenacity. The rest of the performers are very good too. I cannot remember the last time Mr. Douglass gave a poor performance. Some of the scenes that really stand out in my mind are flashback sequences showing the terrible secret that has been hidden in the house for over 70 years. Medak doesn't have a huge budget to work with here, but this movie beats out newer haunted house films like the remake of The Haunting by leaps and bounds. This is one classy scare film!
Chilling ghost story
"The Changeling" tells the story of a composer (George C. Scott) who, as the film opens, loses his wife and daughter in a tragic accident. Getting away from it all, Scott buys an old home to get his mind right and to get back to doing the work he loves. Soon he discovers that his house is haunted and filled with secrets waiting to be revealed. To say much more then that would be unfair to the first time viewer. Suffice to say this is a chilling film with several good scares that aren't achieved by manipulating the audience. By that I mean loud chords of music on the soundtrack or the unexpected cry of a cat or something like that. "The Changeling" works for its scares and succeeds. Another big reason the film is so well done is the performance by Scott. For a change the hero in a ghost story is not a wimp but a strong, self assured man who is going to fight to the bitter end to find the truth and get his life back. Very few actors could have pulled it off better then Scott. The supporting cast is headed by Melvyn Douglas (in one of his last roles) and Scott's wife, Trish Van Devere who projects a look of total terror as well as anyone I have seen. Two moments that stand out are the séance scene which is eerie and the unexpected arrival of a child's toy ball. This film will give you shivers. If you are a fan check it out and make sure to watch it with a loved one cuddling up against you with all the lights turned out.
A Real Haunted House Thriller!
Horror films have become caricature's over the years. They contain characters, situations, and elements you've seen before. The exceptions have been THE SIXTH SENSE and SCREAM. THE SIXTH SENSE cleverly turned the ghost genre on it's head and SCREAM mocked the slasher genre while still providing some good thrills. However, there is only one film when it comes to the haunted house genre. Peter Medak's THE CHANGELING is everything a horror film should be. It's suspenseful, well acted, contains an intelligent plot, and uses no special effects or gore to obtain it's objective. It generates real fear. George C. Scott plays John Russell. He's a man trying to endure the tragic loss of his wife and daughter. He rents a mysterious, old house from the Historical Society where he can compose out of. He's an accomplished piano player and takes a job teaching piano at a University. He's got quite the reputation as the size of the class is monstrous. Soon, things begin to get strange. Every morning there are loud, banging noises from upstairs in the house. These noises lead to a bedroom where a child's wheelchair is found and an old music box that plays an identical song to the one Russell's been composing. It gets even more terrifying from there as Russell investigates the history of the house with the help of Claire, a beautiful member of the Historical Society, played by Trish Van Devere. Scott and Van Devere have a natural chemistry and it may be due to the fact that they were really married. Russell finds out some surprising secrets after a terrifying Seance. The secrets lead him to Senator Joseph Carmichel, played by the great Melvyn Douglas. Carmichel tries to keep everything quiet but the dead have a way of tormenting the living and keeping old secrets alive. A great horror film can derive fear from even the simplest things. In this film a child's ball rolling down the stairs will make your hair stand up on end. There's also a piano striking a chord without a player, and a glass flying off a table and shattering during a Seance. This film is filled with those simple things and a whole lot more. Today's films are filled with quick cuts, computer generated effects, and loud scores. This film achieves it's objective in a much more subtle fashion. It's characters are real people and not just reactors. It's story is intelligent and well told. Finally, it's effect is chilling and stays with you long after the experience, the mark of a truly great horror film.
Very scary and atmospheric horror film
In this sadly forgotten horror film, George C. Scott plays a music composer who has just moved to Oregon to escape the painful memories of his wife and daughter who were killed in a car crash. He rents an old and secluded mansion from the historical society as a place to live. Soon after he moves into the house, strange occurrences begin. This is one of those horror movies that can be scary without being bloody and gory. It simply relies on atmosphere and frightening, but subtle images to deliver its chills, and it works. I will never be able to understand that "R" rating mainly because there is only very mild profanity and there is no blood or gore. Anyway, I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good scary ghost story. 8/10.
A powerfully shocking movie if you let it be
I first saw 'The Changeling' in the mid-eighties and it has lost none of its edge. A few of the reviews I see below seem to be written by those who have read glowing reviews but just didn't get it: Comparisons with 'The Exorcist', a story of demonic possession, are inappropriate. This movie isn't a visual shock feast nor a gore fest, this is a powerful psychological drama. The penultimate ghost story. If you just sit back in a defensive posture and challenge the movie to scare you, you will lose out completely. If however you choose to get involved, you will find yourself going for one hell of a ride. Few scenes in moviedom rival the poignancy, for instance, of the disbelieving George C. Scott character when he is reviewing the tape of the seance and comes upon the inescapable evidence that there IS a paranormal presence in the house. Here I will make my own inappropriate comparison: In the context of this story, Scotts ultimately human and believable response and the collapse that follows is far scarier than Exorcist's Reagan spewing green puke, by a long shot. And the little girl going alone, summoned into the haunted room in her house at night? Forget about it. My hair stands on end. If 'The Changeling', watched at night doesn't give you a fright, then there are at least six 'Hallowe'en' movies on the rack that should suit your particular needs. The Changeling is something else: the fear of the spiritually macabre.