The Changeling (1980)

Directed by Peter Medak. With George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh. A man staying at a secluded historical mansion finds himself being haunted by the presence of a spectre.

The Changeling is a 1980 Canadian psychological horror film directed by Peter Medak and starring George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere. Its plot follows an esteemed New York City composer who relocates to Seattle, where he moves into a mansion he comes to believe is haunted.

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

Amazon.com: The Changeling: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas: Movies & TV

If it only took craftsmanship to make a haunted house movie, "The Changeling" would be a great one. It has all the technical requirements, beginning with the haunted house itself. It's a vast Gothic pile somewhere near Seattle, with staircases winding up into the gloom and a hidden door to an attic room where a child's tiny wheelchair moves by itself.

"The Changeling" airs at 3: 45 p.m. ET

George C Scott plays a composer who receives messages from a childish paranormal entity in this acclaimed gothic thriller.

Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: As The Conjuring creeps into theaters, we look back on some of our favorite haunted-house movies.

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A slow burning masterpiece. Watch this alone in the dark and it will haunt you. Peter Medak's The Changeling is among a handful of films, including The Haunt...

As I type this, my Netflix queue is currently 168 films long. It's not that way because I don't watch them regularly, but because I do so much reading about

The Changeling summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.