The Changeling (1980)

Very best movie i ever watch

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

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.

The Changeling is without a doubt the most frightening movie I have seen to date. The only other that comes close is Dark Night of the Scarecrow which is very hard to find...I find that most movies today classified within the horror genre are just blood and gore...I can go to the local butcher shop for that.....I couldn't sleep after seeing the Changeling as I found it unnerving..and creepy...It is probably the last of the great horror films that accomplish an atmosphere of horror through suggestion of imminent danger with only sound,minimal chilling visuals and acting....actual acting, not the histrionics of individuals qualifying for anger management therapy. One will not be disappointed by this film,..I have not seen another like it

I quite enjoyed this movie. OK the story or mystery isn't what I would call the most clever thing I have ever seen but it was passable. The first part with George Scott wandering around in the old mansion seeking to find out what dark secret it keeps certainly was very interesting with the best thing the séance and eventually the revelation of the drama to the main character in some kind of dream sequence. Once the truth is revealed the movie becomes more of a crime movie and a lot less interesting and also too long. Good atmosphere and camera-work whenever we are in the house. The way the scenes are put together and going from one scene to another seems quite unfitting at times and rushed. Except for main character John the characters stayed rather bland including his female colleague played by Trish Van Devere. I wished they did something more with the drama of John losing his wife and daughter, some flash backs would have helped this movie. The girl who also could see the dead boy it's a pity that is such a small part of the movie. the ending for me was not really satisfying. Enjoyable but could have been much better.

John Russell (George C. Scott) loses his wife and daughter when their car breaks down on the side of a snowy road in upstate NY. He rents an old house to write music and recover from the loss. The large mansion turns out to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered child. Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere) from the historical society helped him get the mansion. She helps him in finding and solving his spirit problem. They discover a book from 1904 in the sealed attic room. The boy had been killed and replaced with another boy who is now Sen. Joseph Carmichael (Melvyn Douglas). There is something cold and desolate about the style of this horror. It's old fashion. There are some funhouse stuff especially with the wheelchair. There isn't much blood and gore. It's a solid ghost story. The mystery is a little bit obscure. The movie needs an extra scene where Russell explains the entire story to Claire or somebody. George C. Scott holds it all together with a solid performance.