The Changeling

Rating:
Summary: One of the all time scariest movies
Review: This has gotta be one of the scariest movies ever made. It is totally terrifying. It is just plain scary, creepy, horrifying, shocking,frightening and eerie.
It starts out with the main character(played by George C. Scott), his wife and daughter pushing their broken down car down the street. Then his wife and daughter get hit by a truck. About 5 months later, the main character rents a house. But he soon finds out the the huge house is not unoccupied and that its ghostly inhabitant is not at rest.
But this is more than just another haunted house film. It is a truly frightening ghost story. There are some scenes that are just totally horrifying. The scene with the sceance recording and the voices is pretty creepy. And there is one scene I just can't watch(I'm serious, I was afraid to see it). I won't tell you which scene. I'll just say that it has to do with the girl and the well (see this movie and you'll see). There is one scene which, in my opinion, has one of the best portrayal of fear in horror films. This is a truly terrifying film. If you like horror movies, then see The Changeling. Trust me, it's scary. Very Scary. If you can't take horror, then I wouldn't recommend you see this(you might just faint).
I've seen this movie twice. Both times scared me(though it's never as good the second time). I know I've said this about other things, but this time I really really really really mean it...I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

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Rating:
Summary: The ultimate in ghost stories finally gets a DVD release!
Review: Well it was a long time coming, but Peter Medak's 'The Changeling' comes to DVD at last. This film is one of the few that manages to frighten and unnerve, without the obligatory gorefest seen in modern horror flicks.

George C. Scott turns in a top-notch performance as John Russell, a composer who moves from New York to an old house in Washington state, after his family are wiped out in a road accident. Over time, he realises that something from the past is trying to communicate with him, reaching out from beyond the grave.

I won't give any more plot details away, but the story is a clever interweave of mystery and the supernatural, complete with seances, nocturnal grave diggings and ghostly revenge!

The DVD transfer is pretty good, a little grainy in places, although - for the first time - a Dolby Surround soundtrack more than compensates. Extras are sparse - chapter selection and cast/crew bios - but this is a minor gripe.

If you're a fan of this genre, 'The Changeling' is one of those flicks that your collection just shouldn't be without!

Rating:
Summary: Good movie, crappy CARDBOARD dvd case
Review: Quite a tidy haunted house movie. My major gripe is with the dvd packaging, I can't stand the crappy cardboard snap-shut cases.

Rating:
Summary: "HELP, HELP, JOHN, HELP"
Review: Made in a period when most horror films were of the slasher and blood-and-guts variety, THE CHANGELING dramatizes that the best scares come from unsettling understatement rather than from easy gory shocks. George C. Scott stars as a wealthy composer whose wife and daughter have died in a sudden horrifying incident; he moves from New York to a large abandoned historic mansion in Seattle to work and recuperate from his losses. As time passes, he becomes aware of a presence within the house that seems to settle in a hidden attic room.

While not quite in the highest echelon of haunted house films (such as THE HAUNTING and THE INNOCENTS) due to a needless Watergate-inspired conspiracy subplot and the silly De Palmaesque sequence relating the deaths Scott's wife and daughter near the beginning of the film, THE CHANGELING is certainly close to that high level. There are several classically creepy sequences, including the playback sequence, the dripping water sequence, and the scene of the young girl and the vision under her bedroom, that showcase what magnificent film editing (and sound editing) can do. The very best of these is the famous seance, probably the best ever filmed: the quickening tempo of the editing, the medium's creepy lack of affect as she intones her questions to the dead child, and the eerie sounds of her automatic writing scratching against the page (punctuated by her husband's one-word readings of the messages the child leaves) leaves a very haunting effect after the film is over. An interesting sidenote: clearly Stephen King borrowed heavily for this film for his 2002 miniseries ROSE RED, which lifts many details (the aforementioned automatic writing sequence, the Seattle setting for the haunted house, and the visual imagery of the tower room and the staircase leading up to it) wholesale from THE CHANGELING.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Ghost Story Films made to date!
Review: Long before scary movies involved blood and gore, George C Scott starred in this horror film that is very spooky, indeed! Scott plays a composer who, having just lost his wife and daughter, moves into a very atmospheric old house in New England to get some serious writing done. Shortly after moving in, Scott is contacted by the spirit of a young boy who died in the house. But what is it the boy is trying to tell him?

There are scenes in this film that never cease to make my hair stand on end, no matter how many times I have seen the film (and that's alot of times...). The scene with the ball which belonged to Scott's daughter which wont go away, the chair at the top of the stairs, the ghostly voice superimposed on the tape recording of the seance, the chase through the attic... my skin crawls even now.

One can empathise with the rage of the spirit of a child, crippled and confined to a wheelchair in life, and his desperation and frustration when he tries repeatedly to convey a message which Scott, though all ears, continues to fail in understanding. Oh, and the film is supposedly based on true events.... hopefully dramatised for effect.

While the ending is not anywhere near as gripping in conclusion as the road to it, the film is certainly one you do not want to watch alone at night in a very big, spooky house.

Rating:
Summary: A truly frightening film, don't watch it alone!
Review: This film frightened the Bejeus out of me when I first watched it on video many years ago. I foolishly watched it on my own and got so frightened I had to call up my friend and make her come over for the night!

The wonderful George C.Scott plays a troubled musician, John Russell whose tragic past has made him crave solitude. He rents a beautiful but remotely located house that is hiding a terrible secret that calls out to him, begging him to help, to unearth a terrible sin committed by its previous owner.

What is causing the hollow banging noise that John hears nearly every night and why does a small wheelchair creak its way across the attic and the glimpse of a child that cannot exist haunt his dreams?

Forced by nightmares and a compulsion that he cannot ignore John starts to dredge up the past but in doing so he is taking on a powerful man, a man whose very childhood is built on lies, lies that he cannot afford to be exposed because if they are, a horrific crime will be exposed and his world of privilege and wealth will come tumbling around his ears.

A truly frightening masterpiece with a haunting musical score and all round good acting from the talented cast which includes Barry Morse and Jean Marsh.

Rating:
Summary: The Changeling
Review: Although I have heard much praise for this movie over the years, I had not seen it until a few weeks ago. And I can see where all the positivity came from. The movie was dead on with the idea that you don't have to do anything visually appealing to score a hit with your audience. Although it had its visual moments (such as it's haunting finale), a lot of it was due to eerie noises and subtle reactions (with no annoying overacting) from star George C. Scott. One way I identify a good horror movie is if the movie (or part of the movie) sticks with me for a while. This movie did that with the brief shot of the wheelchair sitting at the top of the stairs, looking down at the 2 of them. It's very creepy, and it stays with you, along with a few other moments in the film. The dvd transfer is great (as i had rented a vhs version as well and compared the two), it has wonderfully dark scenery and great sound. Unfortunately the disc has only bios, but to have the movie in such great quality, it's no big deal. More people should see this movie, it's not getting the right amount of attention. Rest assured, you will definately get your money's worth with this one. And stay out of the attic.

Rating:
Summary: The BEST ever suspence horror film!
Review: It is not gory, sorry, I like gore, but at the same time gore need not be a crutch to mess with people's heads, you can acheive the same effect with Skinny Puppy, a walk down a long dark windy woods, or watching a movie like this. I've yet to see one better in the Ghost Story Genre.
6th Sence and Legend Of Hell House do not compare!

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Summary: Its just a bore, folks, so WAKE UP!!
Review: The three best horror films of all time are Horror Hotel, Carnival of Souls, and Circus of Horrors.
The Changeling is noteworthy for Trish Van Devere, who is a "looker" and who GC scott was wise enough to nail as a marriage partner in real life, but the film itself is just another exploitative attempt to cash in on the haunted house craze that followed with such awful films as Burnt Offerings and The Amityville Horror. ANY film as popular with as many reviews as The Changeling should be suspected of overrated hype.

Rating:
Summary: The Changeling (1979)
Review: Director: Peter Medak
Cast: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh, Barry Morse.
Running Time: 109 minutes.
Rated R for violence and some language.

At a time when the horror genre was shifting away from the suspenseful notions of such classics as "Psycho", "Rosemary's Baby", and "Halloween", this film is a pleasant surprise of a horror-thriller due to its firm, gripping script, excellent musical and orchestrating score, and fine performances from the entire cast. Medak presents George C. Scott's character as a rigid puzzle piece searching for the rest of the connection as a lonely, old composer who thrives on seclusion. Attempting to get on with his life after his wife and child are tragically killed, the music lover buys a new home and looks forward to the new chapter of his life; however, an evil presence lurks in the halls.

As the horror of "The Changeling" proceeds, Scott's character is transformed into a soul searching for the reasons for his failures and short-comings, all the while trying to survive in a haunted estate. A truly ghoulishly fun film that gladly mimmicks the work of previous classic films of the genre, in turn producing a very enjoyable thriller that deserves much more respect than it has received. One of the better supernatural thrillers of the late 1970s.