The Changeling [DVD] [1980]

Name: Not bad for the time it was made.
Item: The Changeling [DVD] [1980]
Rating: 4
Author: Rusty1

SKU: 4261079
Release Date: 09/12/2000
Rating: R
4.5 (8)

Peter Medak's haunted house thriller The Changeling comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. A closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Surround. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include cast and crew biographies. Genre enthusiasts will enjoy this disc, and the film's fans will appreciate the fine transfer, but there is not much here to interest a non-fan.

$5.99

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Overview

Ratings & Reviews

Overall Customer Rating:

4.5

(8 Reviews)

88% of customers would recommend this product to a friend (7 out of 8)

Special Features

Interactive menus
Cast & crew bios
Subtitles and chapter selections

Synopsis

The Changeling
Peter Medak's The Changeling is among a handful of films, including The Haunting (1963), Ghost Story (1981), and Lady in White (1988), that have successfully recreated the intimate, drawing-room atmosphere of supernatural horror fiction. After his wife and daughter are killed in a snowbound car accident, classical composer John Russell (George C. Scott) relocates from New York to Seattle to teach at his alma mater. Looking for a quiet place to rest and continue writing music, he is referred Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere) at the Seattle Historical Preservation Society. Claire shows John a large, sparsely furnished estate in the outlying countryside. He takes the house, appreciating its remoteness and the solitude it might afford, and diverts himself by renovating and settling in. He even starts to compose, putting aside his older work in favor of a new, sentimental piece for the piano. It is not long, however, before he begins having nightmares about the accident that killed his wife and daughter. Possibly because of this trauma, he is open to communications from the house's ghostly occupants. Pursuing a loud, repetitive pounding noise in an upper room, he stumbles on the apparition of a young boy drowning in a tub. Working together with Claire, John discovers frightening parallels between this vision and buried events from the house's past. Horror writer M.R. James once said that his goal as a writer was to make the reader feel "pleasantly uncomfortable." Those looking for a similar experience in movies will appreciate The Changeling as a gem in the Horror genre. ~ Anthony Reed, Rovi

Cast & Crew

George C. Scott - John Russell
Trish VanDevere - Claire Norman
Melvyn Douglas - Sen. Joe Carmichael
John Colicos - DeWitt
Jean Marsh - Joanna Russell

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Details

Cast & Crew

Ratings & Reviews

Overall Customer Rating

4.5

8 Reviews

Most Helpful ReviewsSee all reviews

Rusty1
4 out of 54
Not bad for the time it was made.
December 16, 2010
Originally saw this film at the theater when it first came out. Really only remember certain scenes from it but, from what I do remember it was good. Really not a "Monster" type movie as it is more of a mental type thing. For instance, childs ball bounces down the stairs yet no one is home...man takes it and throws it into a river, goes home and later the same ball comes down the stairs. Pretty cool I think.
I would recommend this to a friend
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Sean
5 out of 55
haunting movie
May 28, 2015
Loved this as a kid and needed it for my collection.
I would recommend this to a friend
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Nevermore
5 out of 55
Excellent
January 28, 2015
Wonderful movie. This may be an older movie but it's from when they knew how to do great horror movies instead of being dependent on blood and guts. If you are truely a lover of the horror genre you will like this movie.
I would recommend this to a friend
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randblue
4 out of 54
Pretty Good
December 22, 2013
I'm a horror/gore fan and love to be scared not that it happens anymore. I really liked this movie. Is far better than the paranormal movies. The ending confused me just a tad bit. But answered my own thought !
I would recommend this to a friend
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Stormbringer68
5 out of 55
Top Haunting Movie
August 23, 2013
George C. Scott is superb as a widow, not only haunted by the memory of his dead wife and daughter, but by a mysterious presence in his new house as well. Having discovered that he has recently moved into a haunted house, Scott's character is bent on finding out the spirit's identity and what is keeping it attached to the property. It involves a decades-old crime and a very prominent member of society and the ghost won't rest until the truth comes out. Not your typical spook story.
I would recommend this to a friend
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CastingEve
5 out of 55
Classic Ghost Story! Super Good!
January 15, 2013
I love this classic movie. A cult classic ghost story is what you have here. NO GORE. You use your mind, the suspense builds, the music builds, the few eerie images build you to the BAM!! ending, Main character, a man loses his wife and daughter in a horrible accident. Movies to a new house for a new start. Little does he know there was an awful murder in this house. There is a ghost there. It needs help. The main character must help, find out what really happened. What awful secrets are in that house. The house. A ghost house. A great old classic, they just don't make them like this any more.
I would recommend this to a friend
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Jory
3 out of 53
George C. Scott is Exceptional as Usual
September 24, 2008
I can't recommend this as a good horror film, I might recommened it to someone who just wants a classic haunted house film.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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Dave
5 out of 55
Classic!
February 17, 2016
Been 25+ years since I last watched this so glad I bought it, very spooky and at a great price too!.
I would recommend this to a friend
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Not bad for the time it was made. Posted by: Rusty1 from: LA on Originally saw this film at the theater when it first came out. Really only remember certain scenes from it but, from what I do remember it was good. Really not a "Monster" type movie as it is more of a mental type thing. For instance, childs ball bounces down the stairs yet no one is home...man takes it and throws it into a river, goes home and later the same ball comes down the stairs. Pretty cool I think.

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Classic Ghost Story! Super Good! Posted by: CastingEve from: clarksville, TN on I love this classic movie. A cult classic ghost story is what you have here. NO GORE. You use your mind, the suspense builds, the music builds, the few eerie images build you to the BAM!! ending, Main character, a man loses his wife and daughter in a horrible accident. Movies to a new house for a new start. Little does he know there was an awful murder in this house. There is a ghost there. It needs help. The main character must help, find out what really happened. What awful secrets are in that house. The house. A ghost house. A great old classic, they just don't make them like this any more.