The Changeling
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: George C. Scott, Melvyn Douglas, Trish Van DevereBrand: HBO HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-09-12
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 90630
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product features:
- George C. Scott becomes the unwilling instrument of a ghost's revenge in this supernatural thriller.Running Time: 107 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R Age: 026359063022 UPC: 026359063022 Manufacturer No: 90630
Movie Reviews of The Changeling
Movie Review: 5 Stars
The Changeling is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen! Mind you, I do not make this remark lightly, being an avid fan of horror movies.After reading some of the few negative reviews that exist on this film, I wondered what constitutes `scary' for these critics. I myself find the majority of today's horror movies too full of gore and consider many of them to be more gruesome than scary. That might be what today's audiences are interested in, and for many, perhaps all they can relate to, but I don't see anything quite scary about that. I think that ghost stories are the scariest of all horror movies because they deal with the unseen dead. What can possibly be scarier to a human being than that? (Especially, if that entity is directing itself to you, and only you). The only ones who might take exception to this would be children. It is easier for their partially developed minds to relate to boogiemen with masks and knives than to the much more intangible and often invisible afterlife.
Then there are those who would not appreciate or would find boring the intellectual dialog used to uncover a murder mystery (i.e. The Uninvited -another great scary thriller). Hey, not every scene in a scary movie will be scary. The background of the events is key to understanding why what is happening is happening. If the story is interesting and the acting is good (as with The Changeling), then viewer interest should be maintained.
One reviewer described the musical warning signals preceding scary occurrences as taking the scare out of the scene. But I see this technique as a cue that...yes, something scary is indeed about to happen, but we don't know what? The high-pitched strings used for this effect are in their own right a haunting prelude and I applaud the director for showing respect for his audience. To me, those haunting preludes add suspense and fright to the film. --- In any horror movie, a girl can open a door quite suddenly and a ghost can pop out to scare both her and the audience...or a girl can open a door slowly with an eerie creaking sound, alerting the audience that there's a possible fright or danger ahead. The latter effect has tendency to build tension causing the truly scared to cover their eyes, leaving a slight opening for curiosity sake. It takes a little more talent and pizzazz to do it the latter way.
The scene where the young girl leaves the safety of her mother's room and lets her curiosity get the best of her is not ruined even though a similar experience has already been described by her mother in the previous scene. The actual happening of the event coupled with the haunting sound effects that prelude it are indeed full of fright and tension. There need not always be a sudden shock to scare people. `Enjoy' the suspense!
I believe this same negative reviewer criticized the overly loud pounding noise that would wake John Russell from sleep. I should think that one can make a direct association between it and the dramatic drowning scene in the attic. How loud would you bang if you were being drowned?!
And what about his daughter's ball bouncing down the stairs (the 2nd time). Yes, we hear the high-pitched cue a split second before it happens, but remember people, not only is the haunting effect still with us, but the message is made clear that something is trying to communicate with this man. It is not trying to frighten him out of his wits (although it does a damn good job at that too!). You can't tell me that watching that ball descend from the upstairs darkness is not scary. Knowing what Russell had already done with the ball in fact makes it doubly surprising, shocking and yes...scary!
I find it difficult to watch this movie alone. The eeriness of the scene with the close-up of the boy's face in the bathtub is horrifying and I still try to get up the nerve to view it. The effectiveness of frightening aspects of a film is largely subjective. This is due to their basis resting in the viewer's imagination. We all have different levels of imagination and some have none whatsoever.
I think what it comes down to is that films such as The Changeling, The Uninvited, The Haunting and others are just not suitable for today's spoiled audiences. Directors now give them the gore they've become accustomed to. The Shining probably marks the bridge from intellectual, suspense, scary - to - gory, woman-chasing, deranged killer...as that classic film contains elements of both. Hey, it's okay to show a little blood sometimes (or an elevator full of it). But I'll tell you this...blood and guts can never substitute for suspense, tension, and intangible fright. But again, I think that gore is what people want to see these days. Even the kid's video games are full of it.
It is quite possible that The Changeling could have been shot in B&W and been just as or perhaps even more effective. Some of those classics I've mentioned didn't need color to deliver their superb frightening effects.
I've come to realize that everyone has their own opinion of what is scary, including some who don't get scared of any movie simply because they are not open-minded to the supernatural (perhaps even subconsciously). For these people no horror movie will suffice. Okay, that's just not their thing. But for those with even an inkling of imagination, The Changeling is one creepy, scary movie with a haunting score. And though its ending does not involve a shocking surprise twist (i.e. Psycho) it is nevertheless quite dramatic and delivers some satisfaction for both the ghost's and the viewer's aching for justice and vengeance (I'll admit though, it would have been more satisfying to see the ghost's father pay for his heinous actions).
Summary of The Changeling
George C. Scott becomes the unwilling instrument of a ghost's revenge in this supernatural thriller.When a recent widower (the wonderfully overemphatic George C. Scott ) moves into an antique Washington mansion, his realization that he may not be the only resident leads him toward a deadly secret that refuses to remain buried....The best haunted-house film since the legendary Haunting, this potent, classy combination of the mystery and horror genres eschews explicit gore and dumb shocks in exchange for a subtle creepiness that occasionally builds to a terrifying peak (watch out for that seance scene!). The result is a satisfyingly intelligent horror film with an intriguing dash of Watergate-era paranoia. Director Peter Medak went on to direct the considerably more gratuitous and somewhat less effective Romeo Is Bleeding and The Krays. --Andrew Wright
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