Post by tav7623 on Oct 23, 2010 12:08:39 GMT -5
I first heard about the changeling back in 2003/2004 while watching a special about the scariest horror movie moments. Their description of the movie and the scariest moment from the movie did nothing to pique my interest (I think I was in my Evil Dead/ early Saw phase) so I never bothered to check it out. A few months ago fellow message boarder Evil Wigwam posted a thread Evil Wigwam ain't afraid of no ghost which was his top ten ghost movies, one of the movies that was not on his list nor in my own take of the list and which got a comment from Undead was The Changeling (not to be confused with the Clint Eastwood directed Angelina Jolie starring movie Changeling). So I decided that it was high time to finally see what all the hubbub about this movie was about. The Changeling was a Canadian horror movie that was made on an est. $7.4 million dollar budget, given a limited release in Canada and parts of Europe in 1980, and only managed to earn an est. $630,000 dollars. The Changeling was written by William Grey and Diana Maddox, directed by Peter Medax, and starred George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, and Jean Marsh. The plot of the Changeling centers around music composer John Russell (Scott) who months after witnessing the deaths of his wife and daughter (Jean Marsh and Michelle Martin) in a car accident rents and moves into a old Seattle,WA mansion that is part of the Seattle Historical Society while he is in Seattle to teach a college course on Musical Composition. No sooner does he move in that strange ghostly things begin to happen, strange sounds, doors opening and closing, a mysterious voice, objects being thrown and broken. Soon Russell with the help of Historical Society member Claire Norman (Van Devere) begin researching the history of the house and discover that is was once owned by the Carmichael family a prominent family who's only surviving member is U.S. Senator Joseph Carmichael (Douglas) and that after they had moved out a young girl died in the street in front of the house. So they hold a seance to find out what this girl spirit wants only to find out the spirit isn't a girl, it's a young boy named Joseph ....Joseph Carmichael.......and yet Joseph Carmichael is a sitting U.S. Senator.......so is the spirit really Joseph Carmichael or is it pretending to be Carmichael in order to achieve a nefarious end...........and so begins this puzzling mystery that will be the focus for the rest of the movie.
Pros: the few practical special effects, good acting, decent cinematography, and good sound design
Cons: questionable editing early on that can create some confusion, but it manages to straighten it's self out for most of the movie, and it's slow to start but quick to finish.
Overall I give The Changeling a 7.5 out of 10 for being a well made traditional ghost movie that hearkens back to a time where they did not have CGI special effects and had to rely on sound and editing to build suspense and fear. The only bad things about The Changeling is that it is a slow moving movie during the first half and does not have a whole lot in the way of genuine non sound related scares. Yet those few non sound related scares are done very effectively thanks in part to the editing which at the beginning was not very good, but becomes solid once the movie's plot begins to pick up steam. I would recommend this movie if you are a fan of haunted house movies, ghost movies, or the Paranormal Activity movies (which I am a fan of, yes I have seen the 2nd one, and when someone posts a thread about it on the message boards I will leave a comment with my reaction to it). Though be warned this movie is not like modern day ghost movies so don't go in expecting it to be an effects laden extravaganza, and what effects are in the movie are for the most part practical special effects except for maybe two effects which were done through editing.
I hope you enjoyed my review and I will be back tomorrow with the Day 6 review of the 1957 Hammer Frankenstein remake The Curse of Frankenstein which will also kick off a three part series of reviews on movies featuring Universal Monsters.
Pros: the few practical special effects, good acting, decent cinematography, and good sound design
Cons: questionable editing early on that can create some confusion, but it manages to straighten it's self out for most of the movie, and it's slow to start but quick to finish.
Overall I give The Changeling a 7.5 out of 10 for being a well made traditional ghost movie that hearkens back to a time where they did not have CGI special effects and had to rely on sound and editing to build suspense and fear. The only bad things about The Changeling is that it is a slow moving movie during the first half and does not have a whole lot in the way of genuine non sound related scares. Yet those few non sound related scares are done very effectively thanks in part to the editing which at the beginning was not very good, but becomes solid once the movie's plot begins to pick up steam. I would recommend this movie if you are a fan of haunted house movies, ghost movies, or the Paranormal Activity movies (which I am a fan of, yes I have seen the 2nd one, and when someone posts a thread about it on the message boards I will leave a comment with my reaction to it). Though be warned this movie is not like modern day ghost movies so don't go in expecting it to be an effects laden extravaganza, and what effects are in the movie are for the most part practical special effects except for maybe two effects which were done through editing.
I hope you enjoyed my review and I will be back tomorrow with the Day 6 review of the 1957 Hammer Frankenstein remake The Curse of Frankenstein which will also kick off a three part series of reviews on movies featuring Universal Monsters.