GREAT Haunted House Movie!
Added 11/1/2009
This movie is guaranteed to give you the chills! It stayed with me long after I viewed it. The scene with the ball scares me every time I watch this movie. HIGHLY recommended!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Another one of those movies Hollywood forgot how to make
Added 10/18/2009
This is one of my favorite horror films of all time. About the only ones I can think of that I like as well are the original "Halloween," and "The Shining." Those two movies are very different films from each other, and from this film, but all three are characterized by one common theme: what really scares you is what you DON'T see. Somehow, Hollywood forgot this a long, long time ago. Your imagination, given a little room to work, can conjure nightmares more vivid and more frightening than anything the best art department and visual effects specialists can ever put on celluloid. If done well, things only need to be hinted at, and then you will fill in the details out of the scrapbook of horrors that you carry around in your head, and you mind will tailor it to your own deepest fears.
Don't get me wrong, visual effects are a true marvel of modern film making, enabling makers of films to achieve effects that their forebears only dreamed of. Done well and judiciously, this can tremendously enhance a film. The problem is, these days, almost no one uses this tool judiciously. It's invariably overdone. I can't think of a recent ghost story told on the screen where we don't get treated to full, detailed views of the ghost sooner or later. These days, they always strive to outdo the last film with yet more spectacular stunts, more spectacular effects. Sometimes it works, but it rarely rises to the level of some of the old films, where the technology was more limited, and this forced them to rely more on the unseen, on suspense, drama, and the talents of the actors and the director.
"The Changeling" is a movie in the old style. The Ghost is never seen (except, once his identity becomes known, in a flashback to the scene of his murder), but his ominous presence pervades the film almost from the beginning. Imagine yourself in the place of John Russell, the main character played to perfection by the late, great Geo. C. Scott. All alone in this huge, old, dark house, and you begin hearing inexplicable noises. Before long, you realize there is another presence in there with you. Do this while watching the film alone, at night, in your own dark house.
One of the scariest scenes I've ever seen in a movie is the scene where Russell hears the rubber ball his deceased daughter once played with bouncing down the stairs. It comes to rest just outside the door of the room where he was looking at photos of his lost family. Knowing the ghost has done this, he drives out to a bridge, and throws the ball in the water, and then arrives back home to find the ball bouncing down the stairs straight toward him as soon as he walks back in the door. You never see anything except a rubber ball, but it almost makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. There are other scenes as well done as this too, and like this scene, all depend on the viewer's imagination, but that's why it works.
This is what a ghost story ought to be.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A creepy crawl...
Added 10/5/2009
While this movie is hardly jaw dropping horrifying it has a nice atmospheric chill to it. Probably the most memorable scene in the movie for me was the scene on the stairs with the ball. I remember seeing a parody of that scene in the movie 'scary movie 2' before I had even seen this movie. Even as a joke it's kinda creepy. George C. Scott's acting is quite good. It is good viewing for a chill night in October or anytime you want a good old fashioned ghost story.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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ONE OF THE BEST EVER MADE!!
Added 10/2/2009
To this day, I will never understand why this movie isn't more well known. As far as I'm concerned, this is THE best haunted house movie ever made. I saw it on cable waaaaay back in the early 80's as a young teenager, and instantly it became one of my favorite films. Here I am, almost 30 years later, writing this review, and the memory of that first viewing is as clear as if it were yesterday, and I admit, the goose bumps are starting already. A truly creepy, quite scary, and intensly atmospheric film that sucks you right in and builds steadily throughout. This is a perfect example of what a great script, director, and cast can do. There is no need for gallons of blood or shock value. Good old fashioned suspense, and what you DON'T see. You will not be disappointed with this movie. I agree with one reviewer in that the shot of the wheelchair at the top of the stairs still gets me. And the ball bouncing down the stairs. I still hear it when I close my eyes. God, they don't make em like this anymore!!!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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One of the best haunted-house movies
Added 9/28/2009
What I love about this movie is the fact that it doesn't throw a lot of special effects in your face, the story does not get stupid or hokey, and the director does not try to do more than he is capable of. This is a very modest, smartly written ghost story that delivers more genuine chills than many a big-budget schlockfest.
The thing that impressed me the most when I first watched this movie almost 10 years ago was how AUTHENTIC it is. I've read a lot of "true" accounts of hauntings, and they are never as dramatic as shown in the movies. The haunting in this movie is very understated; it's mostly just eerie noises and doors slamming. No horrible apparitions, no blood oozing down the walls, no illogical mess-with-the-audience's-mind funhouse tricks. The creepiness builds slowly, realistically, and as a result it is much more scary.
I watched it again today, and there are a few things I noticed. Firstly, George C Scott's acting could best be described as "subdued." Situations that probably would have made me jump and yell and run away, he confronts with a dull blank stare. He seems unnerved at times (and once he gets angry at the ghost) but never really afraid. It's interesting that I did not notice this the first time I watched.
The soundtrack is quite overbearing for a movie in which sound plays such an important role. Several times when George C Scott is alone in the house and he's reacting to something, I could not tell if he was supposed to be hearing the sounds I was hearing, or if they were "Spooky Noises" added to the soundtrack in order to enhance the mood. The inappropriate sound design did not catch my attention the first time I watched, but it seemed very obvious the second time.
I thought the first time I saw it that the ending was too big, and I think so even more now. Somebody wanted this movie to have a huge Hollywood climax so they spent their budget to burn down the set, and I think it ruins the mood. The image of the chandelier swinging as Scott climbs the stairs is unforgettable, but my overall impression of the ending is that it drops a big lump of Hollywood cheese on a movie which otherwise would have completely avoided being cheesy. It is mainly because of the last 10 minutes that I award four stars instead of five. This is a good movie - perhaps even great - but not perfect.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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GREAT Haunted House Movie!
Added 11/1/2009
This movie is guaranteed to give you the chills! It stayed with me long after I viewed it. The scene with the ball scares me every time I watch this movie. HIGHLY recommended!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Another one of those movies Hollywood forgot how to make
Added 10/18/2009
This is one of my favorite horror films of all time. About the only ones I can think of that I like as well are the original "Halloween," and "The Shining." Those two movies are very different films from each other, and from this film, but all three are characterized by one common theme: what really scares you is what you DON'T see. Somehow, Hollywood forgot this a long, long time ago. Your imagination, given a little room to work, can conjure nightmares more vivid and more frightening than anything the best art department and visual effects specialists can ever put on celluloid. If done well, things only need to be hinted at, and then you will fill in the details out of the scrapbook of horrors that you carry around in your head, and you mind will tailor it to your own deepest fears.
Don't get me wrong, visual effects are a true marvel of modern film making, enabling makers of films to achieve effects that their forebears only dreamed of. Done well and judiciously, this can tremendously enhance a film. The problem is, these days, almost no one uses this tool judiciously. It's invariably overdone. I can't think of a recent ghost story told on the screen where we don't get treated to full, detailed views of the ghost sooner or later. These days, they always strive to outdo the last film with yet more spectacular stunts, more spectacular effects. Sometimes it works, but it rarely rises to the level of some of the old films, where the technology was more limited, and this forced them to rely more on the unseen, on suspense, drama, and the talents of the actors and the director.
"The Changeling" is a movie in the old style. The Ghost is never seen (except, once his identity becomes known, in a flashback to the scene of his murder), but his ominous presence pervades the film almost from the beginning. Imagine yourself in the place of John Russell, the main character played to perfection by the late, great Geo. C. Scott. All alone in this huge, old, dark house, and you begin hearing inexplicable noises. Before long, you realize there is another presence in there with you. Do this while watching the film alone, at night, in your own dark house.
One of the scariest scenes I've ever seen in a movie is the scene where Russell hears the rubber ball his deceased daughter once played with bouncing down the stairs. It comes to rest just outside the door of the room where he was looking at photos of his lost family. Knowing the ghost has done this, he drives out to a bridge, and throws the ball in the water, and then arrives back home to find the ball bouncing down the stairs straight toward him as soon as he walks back in the door. You never see anything except a rubber ball, but it almost makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. There are other scenes as well done as this too, and like this scene, all depend on the viewer's imagination, but that's why it works.
This is what a ghost story ought to be.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
A creepy crawl...
Added 10/5/2009
While this movie is hardly jaw dropping horrifying it has a nice atmospheric chill to it. Probably the most memorable scene in the movie for me was the scene on the stairs with the ball. I remember seeing a parody of that scene in the movie 'scary movie 2' before I had even seen this movie. Even as a joke it's kinda creepy. George C. Scott's acting is quite good. It is good viewing for a chill night in October or anytime you want a good old fashioned ghost story.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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