The Changeling (1980), by today's standards, is an outdated stab at the ghost story directed by Peter Medak and starring George C. Scott. Even in 1980, it was probably still outdated. With relatively little gore, no nudity, no sex, no f-bomb explosions, no CGI, no buckets of blood, and very little violence, The Changeling is like a throwback to a simpler time of grandpa's speculative tales about the fireside on a dark and inclement night.
It is outdated and greater than 98% of anything produced today.
After his wife and daughter are killed in a horrific accident along a slick, snow-covered road in New York, John Russell, a composer, takes a job as a lecturer at his Alma Mater in Washington. Looking for a place to live while he teaches and tries to move past the tragedy of losing his family, Claire Norman, an agent with the town's historical society (played by Scott's wife, Trish Van Devere) thinks she has the perfect place for him.
Owned and preserved by the historical society, the old mansion seems to be the perfect place for Russell to get back to composing. Then, like all things in life, the little peculiarities of the house begin to show themselves. Loud banging erupts throughout the house at 6:00 A.M., doors open by themselves, muffled noises like the cries of a child's voice call out to him—something or someone is reaching out to Russell for help. All of this leads to the discovery that Russell is not the only resident in the mansion and that there might have been a generations-old plot involving murder and deceit that still haunts the house.
Supported by a cast that also includes Melvyn Douglas, Scott tears through this script as only Scott can. He's great here, playing a father, at a loss to his family's tragedy, trying to piece together what has happened to cause this presence in the house to exist.
What makes this film outdated is the fact that the shocks and chills come from excellent tension, excellent sound scoring, an excellent pace, and perfect use of the viewer's own fears as the facilitators of the frights. There's great filmmaking here, with many little scares sprinkled throughout the first hour or so.
The only thing that perhaps hinders the movie from complete ghost story excellence is a somewhat sloppy final act, where the rush to politics that so many movies of its era delved into leads us so astray that it almost detracts from the greatness of the beginning. Then, as to make up for it, they put a twist on the ghost that relatively makes little sense to the trek of the plot but is a little bit of fun with the fright in mind.
The camera work here is decent, some of the shots at night are excellently dark, but even then, I felt, for two of the scares definitely, that they should have lightened it up just a tad more, because I honestly had to go back once to even see what the hell I was looking at.
The music is excellent. I love piano-led scores, and this one helps pace and intensify the movie in all the right spots.
Though the last little bit diminishes the shimmer just a tad, this is still a first-rate suspender of disbelief for about two hours. In all, Scott gives a great performance in a ghost story that provides enough chills to get us past some of the nagging questions in the end. But since I'm still thinking about these questions now, maybe it was intentional.
Though gore-hounds have pushed this type of film aside, sometimes the greatest things in life are just a little outdated.
For its Genre/Era/X: Awesome.
Overall: Great.
Rated: R. (I actually thought this was PG, but I am wrong apparently. Two scenes were very shocking at the time (still unsettling today) that bumped it up. Like I said, no nudity, little violence, no blood really, and no language.)
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Changeling Poster:
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