The Changeling (1980)

A man staying at a secluded historical mansion finds himself being haunted by the presence of a spectre.

Director:

Peter Medak

Writers:

Russell Hunter (story), William Gray (screenplay)

Stars:

George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas

11 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George C. Scott	...	John Russell
Trish Van Devere	...	Claire Norman
Melvyn Douglas	...	Senator Carmichael
Jean Marsh	...	Joanna Russell
John Colicos	...	Captain DeWitt
Barry Morse	...	Parapsychologist
Madeleine Sherwood	...	Mrs. Norman (as Madeleine Thornton-Sherwood)
Helen Burns	...	Leah Harmon
Frances Hyland	...	Mrs. Grey
Ruth Springford	...	Minnie Huxley
Eric Christmas	...	Albert Harmon
Roberta Maxwell	...	Eva Lingstrom
Bernard Behrens	...	Robert Lingstrom
James B. Douglas	...	Eugene Carmichael
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	Security Guard

Storyline

It was the perfect family vacation for composer John Russell and his family when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. Mammoth in size, the house seems all the room that John needs to write music and reflect. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a child who has homed in on John's despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them.

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Plot Keywords:

mansion | ghost | death of family | heart attack | weeping | 

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Taglines:

Two people live in this house. One of them has been dead for 70 years.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

House on Chessman Park

Filming Locations:

1268-1270 West 57Th Street, Oakridge, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 7,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chessman Park Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Donald Cammell was initially slated to direct this film, but eventually left due to creative differences with the producers.

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Goofs

(at around 36 mins) The next scene after John discovers the small child's room and the music box, Claire is listening to music on the reel to reel tape player. There is a large mirror and several small mirrors built into the mantle above the fireplace behind her. As the camera dollies right towards John, you see the arm of a grip pushing the camera in the small right mirror below the single large mirror.

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Quotes

John Russell: It's my understanding... that there are, uh... twenty-three students registered... for this series of lectures on advanced musical form. Now, we all know it's not raining outside, and unless there's a fire in some other part of the building that we don't know about, there's an awful lot of people here with nothing better to do.

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Connections

Referenced in What Lies Beneath (2000)

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Soundtracks

Symphony #1 in C minor, Opus 68
Composed by Johannes Brahms (as Brahms)
Performed by The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama

User Reviews

Goes for old style chills and thrills

A man, recovering from the recent deaths of his wife and child in an automobile accident in New York state, moves across the country to Washington. There he tries to move on with his life as a musical composer by moving into a large Victorian style house in the country. Strange things begin to happen, however, water taps turned on, a window smashing on its own, his daughter's rubber ball inexplicably bouncing down a towering staircase and, above all, thunderous bangs periodically echoing throughout the house for no apparent reason.

The man realizes that something is trying to communicate with him in this house, and he begins an investigation of the building's history. And there's something, something going on in that tiny dusty cob web strewn room at the very top of the house, the one with a music box and a small wheelchair.

George C. Scott is a solid presence in this film as the man bewildered by this huge old home, with Scott's wife, the elegant Trish Van Devere, cast as a member of the local historical society instrumental in having secured him this house. Melvyn Douglas appears as a U.S. senator who is somehow related to the house.

Director Peter Medak lets the suspense build slowly in this intelligent Canadian made ghost story. Rather than going for terror, this film goes for subtle chills. There's a seance scene that is genuinely eerie, as Medak's camera returns to that small room and then starts to glide down the stairs towards the seance participants trying to communicate with the spirit.

Some ghost films are all special effects and over-the-top performances of terror. Like the best of the classy, more mature films that explore the supernatural, The Changeling never goes for cheap thrills. This thriller's eeriness is analogous to a tap on the shoulder by a cold finger, only to turn around and find there is nobody there.

It may be a cliché to say it, but, in this case, it's true: if you watch this film, be sure to do so with the lights turned low.