The Changeling (1980) is considered one of the great haunted house movies, and for good reason. This little Canadian film boasts one of the most beautiful mansions of any film and its dressed for a wonderfully eerie effect. Unlike The Haunting (1999), The Changeling house is ornate while still feeling as though it had been lived in.
One of the more unique aspects of The Changeling is just how invested the film is in post-Watergate culture. The mystery that George C. Scott has to solve to put the spirit to rest involves uncovering a conspiracy. Not only does Scott have to contend with supernatural forces but he also has to deal with government cover-ups and tampering. Elements of the political thriller only help lend credence to the more far-out aspects of the plot whilst simultaneously amping up the suspense.
Interestingly enough, The Changeling really takes its time to get started. The films opening which amounts too little more than a red herring in terms of plotting) sets the stage for a twenty minute portrait of a man wrought with grief. It is here that George C. Scott does all of the work to make his character truly complex. It gives the protagonist some vulnerability in addition to creating a circumstance for an abrupt tonal shift.
Peter Medak who directed The Changeling has an under valued ability to create tension with everyday objects in common scenarios. The same year that Medak made The Changeling he also directed the thriller The Babysitter (1980) which also exploits this same tendency. Medak’s vision of a haunted house may not be as formally complex as Kubrick’s in The Shining (1980) but it is entirely effective.
Yet The Shining has overshadowed The Changeling at every turn. Though The Shining is clearly the superior film, it is not as good a haunting film as The Changeling. Kubrick’s film only very loosely conforms to the genre and then only as a means to explore the themes of domestic violence and psychological abuse that form the dramatic core of the film. The Changeling is exclusively about the paranormal. While it may barrow from other genre, The Changeling never breaks its mold.
