Do you want to know my definition of a good scary movie? If I'm watching it in the dark and I have to pause it and go turn on my lights, it's a good scary movie. Peter Medak's The Changeling isn't the most subtle of horror films. Any ambiguity concerning whether or not the house is actually haunted is obliterated mere minutes into the run-time. There's an absurd moment where a victim is chased by a possessed wheelchair. And yet, The Changeling is still effective. I love a good slow-burn horror film. And to its credit, The Changeling does take its time to create atmosphere and develop George C. Scott's character. This film is just as much a touching examination of grief as it is a haunted house thriller. Medak and his cinematographer John Coquillon demonstrate excellent control over the use of space with regards to architecture and character framing. The haunted house feels spacious and empty...and somehow occupied by an unknowable something that hovers juuuuust off-screen. And hey, there are few things in this world more frightening than a dead child's disembodied voice.
7/10
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