Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Day 294: The Changeling

This is one from my childhood that I believe my mother was originally a fan of.

Not to be confused with the Angelina Jolie movie, The Changeling is about George C Scott as a mildly famous composer who moves across the country after he loses his wife and daughter in an accident. The house he moves into happens to still be occupied by the ghost of someone claiming to be a modern U.S. Senator. The ghost also appears to be a child. Scott has to unravel the mystery of just who exactly died in his house while the bodies start piling up around him.

This is a low-key spooky horror movie in the Amityville vein. Lots of slamming doors and breaking windows help set the scene. The most iconic moment might be a child's ball slowly bouncing down the grand staircase of an empty house. Scott does well with the material here as it mostly calls for him to be put upon and indignant. The ending gets a little weird but a little metaphysics goes a long way.

I won't go so far as to call this a classic but it certainly holds up over time. The huge backstory is a little cumbersome but there are enough creepy parts to keep it moving.


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