Year: 1980
Country: Canada
Subgenre: Haunted House
Runtime: 107 minutes
Director's: Peter Medak
I don't think it's overboard to say that this is the holy grail of haunted house films. At the time of it's release, the world was still enthralled with The Amityville Horror which had only come out the year before. Unlike The Amityville Horror, The Changeling hewed closely to the less is more principle. The result as far as I am concerned is a movie that is far and away scarier. Both films upon release were marketed as based on true stories, and while it has been endlessly debated over the years in public whether the Amityville haunting was real or not; it was not until several years later that playwright Russell Hunter admitted that his story of the changeling ghost was at best an embellishment of (or a complete fiction) of "experiences" that he had at a Cheesman Park mansion in the 1960's. I doesn't matter...real or not, the film is a real chiller! Though the story is transplanted in the film to Seattle, the rest of the story is completely intact from the Denver location of the original. George C. Scott, at times known for his overacting, is excellent (and understated) in the role of John Russell a composer who is coping with the crippling grief of the loss of his wife and young daughter. Also appearing is Trish Van Devere, Scott's wife. Veteran Melvyn Douglas, as Senator Carmichael, is convincing as the entitled rich man (Douglas BTW was in another ghost film the following year: Ghost Story, his last film). Add in an excellent understated soundtrack by Rick Wilkins (no small feat in a film with musical composition as a back story) and the whole experience will "get you" every time. Very sad, VERY scary story. There is NOTHING more worse than ghost children!!
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