THE CHANGELING

This site is dedicated to bad horror movies, without a doubt.  But once and awhile comes along a movie you expect to be bad, but ends up taking you by surprise.   I expected THE CHANGELING to be an early 80s cheese-fest.   A low-budget haunted house movie from Canada featuring George C. Scott cashing a rent check? I mean, who would expect quality out of that?  Well, with the exception of a relatively cheesified ending, quality is what I got out of THE CHANGELING.  In general, I love, I mean, love haunted house movies. Two of my favorite movies are the original, black-and-white films THE HAUNTING and THE INNOCENTS.  Unfortunately, very few films come close to being as scary as those. Far too often they must reveal every secret and show every ghost.  THE CHANGELING does indeed reveal many of its secrets, but it somehow manages to remain genuinely frightening.

The movie begins with a truly shocking scene. George C. Scott and his wife and daughter are moving their stalled car to the side of the road. Scott goes to make a phone call (we’re in the pre-cell era) and then watches in horror as a truck comes along and kills his family in one fell swoop.  Now an understandably morose widower, Scott decides to leave New York and head to Seattle, where he has a position waiting as Professor of Music at the University. Once he arrives in Seattle, he decides to rent a house where he can spend his time composing music. With the help of a woman from the historical society, he finds a grand old house and moves in.

Guess what? Surprise surprise, something is a little weird about the house. It begins with a banging noise which wakes Scott up early morning. Before long, he discovers a hidden stairway to a cobweb-covered room. In this room there is an old-fashioned wheelchair and an old book with some initials on it. Hmm? What could they mean? The film does a great job of raising questions without answering them too quickly. Other than that, however, life pretty much goes on as normal for Scott, who spends his time writing music and mourning his wife and daughter.

Before long, however, Scott can no longer bear the mysteries of the house and needs to discover if it is truly haunted. So, he invites his friend from the historical society as well as some spiritual mediums to hold a séance. The séance scene is indeed creepy, but the one following it is even more frightening – and gave me real goose bumps. Let's just say that Scott recorded the séance and the tape picks up some sounds which weren't heard before.  It’s worth watching the film for this supremely creepy moment. It was at this point that I knew we had a winner.

While the film was frightening on a basic level, the plot began to get more complex and the mystery of the house became more sinister and interesting. In fact, three-quarters of the way done, Scott figures it all out. I was left thinking at this point, "Since I know everything now, it probably won't be scary anymore."  Wrong I was. The scope of the mystery expanded and I was left with an image as creepy as the one after the séance: the image of a boy trying get out of a floor. I know that doesn't make much sense, but see the film and you'll see exactly what I mean.

THE CHANGELING is quite simply a terrific film. Unassuming and quiet at first, by the end, I was struck by how much of it stuck with me. Its plot is excellent, complex, and holds one's interest throughout.  I mentioned the somewhat cheesy end, and this is true, but it doesn’t leave a bad taste in the mouth.  The film is still extremely satisfying. There are some good special effects, but not many at all, and that makes the film even better. THE CHANGELING does not rely on shock effects or blood and guts. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for that sort of thing, but not in a haunted house movie.

BUT, there is a very important rule for watching this movie. You MUST turn out the lights and watch it in the dark. If you do that, I guarantee that you will be frightened. I was, and that doesn't happen to me easily. THE CHANGELING is a triumph in a forgotten genre. I wish there were more movies like it.

Rating: *** and a half stars (out of a possible 4)

Comments

[385-horror]

I had the same expectations - bought it in shopping spree, and it turned out that it was much better than the other movies bought that day. The thing is that haunted houses are the lowest on my ladder of horror movies. The Entity, old Haunting, Poltergeist 2 are still sitting on my DVD shelf waiting and waiting. Changeling had some good scares, interesting story so altogether it was 90 minutes good spent.

[Dan]

And you gotta admit, that seance scene was freaky.

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