31 Days of Horror: Day 13- The Changeling (1980)

Despite the gruesome creatures, flying limbs and buckets of blood, horror as a genre can feel pretty stale. For every excellent film there is a dozen forgettable or terrible ones. And there are so many that it takes a lot of wading through the rubbish to get to the interesting stuff. For each day in October I’m going to recommend a different horror film or film about horror. For the most part they won’t be the accepted classics. My selections range from the genuinely excellent to the delightfully strange with a few that are more fascinating than they are great. Hopefully there will be something for everyone and you’ll find something new to give you a scare or maybe a laugh. This is my 31 days of Horror and today I’m talking about: The Changeling.

I started this series with one of my favourite haunted house movies but this may be one of the most influential. Peter Medak’s The Changeling seems to have set the basic template for so many haunted house movies to come after it. The rhythm of the story can be seen in the likes of The Orphanage, The Innkeepers, Insidious and The Conjuring. There’s a reason it has made such an impact and it’s because it’s a really scary and unnerving film. Although it itself has been influenced by its predecessors like The Haunting and The Innocents, The Changeling takes things in a new direction. There’s a simple story at the heart of it of a man overcoming his own past by confronting this ghostly remnant of the past. Simple and effective, Medak crafts some incredibly creepy scenarios and makes this one of the quintessential haunted house movies.

George C. Scott stars as John Russell, a composer, who moves away from New York after the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash. John ends up living in a large old mansion but there seems to be some sort of presence there with him. As he tries to continue his compositions and prepares to being teaching he cannot help but feel that he is not alone. Floorboards creak, windows smash and things just escalate from there. He investigates to see who this ghost could be and as he gets closer to the truth the spooky happenings intensify.

The general template for haunted house movies goes like this- Set-up, hints of the supernatural, initial denial of anything supernatural, scary moment that is undeniably supernatural, attempts to get closer to ghost (usually via a séance or something), discovery of ghost’s origins and then the climax will be different depending on the specific ghost they’re dealing with. That basic formula is etched out in The Changeling and it does it better than a lot of the films that followed. Part of that success comes from George C. Scott’s performance as he brings a lot of pathos to the role. Similarly to The Haunting the prospect of ghosts existing is very impactful to him because he has recently lost people. The idea that those who are dead could somehow get in contact is intriguing at first because he misses his family so much. But as he realises that the ghost remains on Earth because it has unfinished business then a different type of fear sets in. In the back of his mind is the thought that somewhere out there the souls of his family could be in distress. He becomes fixated on finding out why this particular spectre has remained despite the apparent dangers. If his family were in a state of ethereal suffering then he would do all he could do help that. He could not save his family from dying so he will do everything he can to save this soul. It may not be possible to save it and it could prove to be too dangerous but his compassion drives him. George C. Scott acts as the emotional centre of the film, he makes a character that willfully enters into danger relatable and sympathetic rather than frustrating.

One of the main reasons that The Changeling is so effective is because of the inventiveness of the scares. Things begin with the usual creaks, groans and door slams but heighten to more elaborate frights. The old house is full of eerie artifacts for the ghost to use for spookiness. An old bathtub, grand piano and abandoned wheelchair become centerpieces of some of the scariest moments of the film. Medak exploits our fears of old abandoned oddities by having them come to life in increasingly audacious ways. John’s grief is like a lightening rod for the unending pain of this spirit. The longer he stays in its presence and the closer he gets to the truth of it is directly proportional to how extravagant its actions are. This all leads up to an incredible climax that contains a couple of shaky effects but for the most part is one of the most memorable horror endings.

By today’s standards there are aspects to The Changeling that could come across as being quite by-the-numbers. Even if you’ve seen everything that it has inspired it still retains its ability to chill. There’s simplicity to its creepiness but it works so well. George C. Scott brings a lot of weight to what could be a pulpier story. Our emotional engagement to him makes the scares all the more palpable. We don’t just want to see him survive but to also overcome his own grief and solve the mystery of this house. Getting freaked out is just a part of the enjoyment of this story. A lot of horror films of this ilk try to shock us more than they try to actually get us to connect to the characters and story. When we connect to the characters it the creepiness is doubled because we’re not just worried about ourselves. It’s predominantly captivating because it is constantly unsettling but it’s also just a good old story.