The Changeling

The Changeling (1980)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Peter Medak

Starring: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Madeleine Sherwood

From: Chessman Park Productions

This is another movie I hadn't seen in ages; at least for me this holds up: 

Once again this is one of those movies that fall into the category of “motion pictures I hadn't watched in at least 20 years”; the circumstances of how I first saw this are odd... as this was viewed over the span of a few days in a high school English class! I don't know why either, but what little I recalled about this, they were positive memories. Naturally I recalled the most famous bits, involving the wheelchair and the bouncing ball. With some of the horror I've watched in recent years, genre filmmakers for certain remembered the latter and have alluded to it in various ways.

George C. Scott plays John Russell-no relation-a composer who in the opening scene loses both his wife and young daughter in a horrible accident; this is a plot point as he moves to Seattle (although this was mostly filmed in Canada) and a Victorian mansion that hasn't been lived in for more than a decade... and turns out, it is haunted by a paranormal entity. The movie takes its time and yet it is always intriguing; it helps that the lead is a great actor like Scott, who sometimes can be subtle and other times he does yell and shout, which he is known for in some circles. Anyhow, a pair of mediums I'll call “Not Ed and Lorraine Warren” help him figure out this conundrum but Russell has to do a lot of work on his own also.

He is assisted by a lady friend (Trish Van Devere) and even though she was played by Scott's longtime wife, their relationship does not blossom into a romance; once you find out what the plot is all about, it probably isn't the time for love anyhow. Even when there isn't the horror moments, the film always captured my interest as our heroes try to right a wrong. Appropriate for Russell's occupation, the musical score-from Rick Wilkins-is quality. It is what you'd expect from the genre, as it is violin-heavy. Yet it is not bombastic and over the top. This is psychological horror and I was happy this did not have jump scares nor loud musical stingers.


This is purportedly based on real life events that happened to one of the film's screenwriters, although I do question the veracity of that. In any case, I am relieved I was not disappointed with this revisit.