The Changeling
Review by Jason Donner
A lonely man retires to a large and spacious old home when his wife
and daughter are killed in a snow plow accident. Settled into the
mansion, he begins to experience several supernatural occurrences
leading him to discover a hidden room, a dusty wheelchair, and the
horrible secret of the house's former owners.
I remember the
first time I saw this movie. It was Halloween night of 1992 and our
local television station was playing a horror movie marathon. It was
late and, as I battled to stay awake during the closing credits of the
deliciously tacky creature feature, Night of the Creeps, the
announcer told us that The Changeling was coming on
next.
I'd never seen The Changeling and didn't know if I would be
able to make it through another movie, but for some reason I stayed
awake and started watching. Soon, I couldn't go to sleep if I wanted
to because, over the course of the next couple of hours, I watched the
scariest haunted house movie I had ever seen before... and even to
this day, I've yet to see one surpass it.
In fact - and this is a true story - I spent the next five years
looking for a copy of this movie. It became almost an obsession.
Forget The Haunting, House on Haunted Hill, The
Amityville Horror, and Poltergeist... when it comes to
getting the willies scared out of you, there's only one way to go and
that way is to a video store that has a copy of The Changeling
in stock.
There's just so much genuine fear in this movie that it's almost
unreal. From a child's disembodied voice to a creepy séance, from a
ball bouncing down a stairway to a hidden room and a terrible secret.
This movie has enough scary to keep even the most hardened horror
fanatic happy.
Not to mention a tremendous cast including the late great George C.
Scott as the lead.
Skilled directions, minimal special effects, no horror clichés, a
terrific cast, and a genuine atmosphere of chills and frights make me
wonder why no more people know about this movie.
Correct that problem folks. Rent this movie, cuddle up with a blanket
and some popcorn, and be scared.