The Changeling (1980)This week is 1980's week - the beginning of a decided fixation of special effects and start of the slasher phase of horror. As Friday the 13 and other gorefest flicks dominated, smaller more traditional films floundered and were ignored, forgotten or overlooked.
One of my favorite films gravely overlooked due to the shift in focus to special effects in horror films is Peter Medak's The Changeling from 1980. This movie is an effective and frightening haunted house/ghost story. It is a movie that was made and released at the wrong time. If it were made five or ten years earlier, it would surely be a well known classic. As it is, it's a little known brilliant gem.
George C. Scott leads a top notch cast as John Russel, a composer who rents a century old mansion after suffering a personal tragedy. Soon, he finds himself not quite alone in the house ... someone, some unseen entity, is there with him.
The Changeling is directed by Peter Medak (Species II, Masters of Horror) and written by Russell Hunter and William Gray. It stars George C. Scott (The Exorcist 3), Trish Van Devere (The Hearse), Melvyn Douglas (Ghost Story), Jean Marsh, John Colicos, Barry Morse (Space: 1999).
So here it is ... The Changeling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_HtMqCHaV8
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