31 Days Of Horror: Day #14 - THE CHANGELING

 The Changeling, (1980), Directed by Peter Medak
Grade: A -

First off, no...this is not that Dirty Harry-directed drama starring one-half of "Brangelina".  In the words of comedian David Cross: "Totally different thing, totally different thing."

This is an elegant haunted house thriller starring Oscar-rejector extraordinaire George C. Scott.  And also, this isn't a movie for you short-attention span people.  The pacing is deliberately slow and there aren't any loud explosions...except for Scott's trademark yelling, which I believe is where Al Pacino found his niche, at S.C.A.H. (the George C. Scott "School of Creative Audible Hollering".)

The Changeling's opening prologue is essential to the rest of the film.  Music composer John Russell (Scott) suffers a horrific family tragedy and decides to rent out an old mansion to put his life back together to find some sort of solace.  As it turns out, the house has a history.  (Don't all of these houses have one?)  Scott starts seeing things, hearing noises at night, and witnessing bouncing rubber balls effortlessly finding their way downstairs with all the skill of a toy Slinky.

"But the morning sun isn't shining around here!"

 (*Note: For an explanation of the above caption...go here.) 

For the most part, the obvious question of "Why doesn't he just leave?", seems appropriate.  But after the film's beginning sequence, it becomes clear that Scott's character can't leave.  The house is his goal in life.  He wants to figure out what is going on because it gives him a purpose, albeit a very bizarre one.  Scott soon discovers that the mansion is linked to a senator, played by the always wonderfully eerie Melvyn Douglas.  

I can't say much more without spoiling everything, but I will say that this is a true definition of the genre "psychological horror".  It challenges the viewer to solve the mystery.  There aren't any serial killers running around with machetes, there aren't stagehands standing by with buckets of red Karo syrup to splatter on walls when a person is stabbed, and there aren't any Netherworld monsters emerging from Hell to write the next script (script?) for the newest Michael Bay movie.

The Changeling sets itself apart from most haunted house movies as being elegant.  It's a superbly crafted thriller, and one of George C. Scott's greatest performances.  Mr. Scott would also emerge again 10 years later in another overlooked horror film that this blogger considers great, but that post will be forthcoming.



 *Strange-but-true fact:   I avoided seeing this film for years because I misread the title thinking it was "The Challenging", which I thought was really lame.  Perhaps I thought there was some sports connotation connected to it, and I thought George C. was going to challenge the spirits of evil to an all-out fight.

Maybe he thought he had a chance.