Written by Jennifer
March 16, 2009
The changeling is malformed, but decidedly human, and though there is a haunted wheelchair, it does NOT light up.
Do not be deterred by the cover art for The Changeling. I was all excited to watch a spooky movie starring my beloved George C. Scott and set in Seattle, but I nearly put it back when I saw the stupid glow-in-the-dark wheelchair on the front. I was already picturing the changeling as some malformed little creature flopping across the floor like the thing in The Thing, and the addition of a glow-in-the-dark wheelchair was almost more than I could take. I screwed up my courage and braced myself for the worst, but there was nothing to fear. The changeling is malformed, but decidedly human, and though there is a haunted wheelchair, it does NOT light up. This is just a good old-fashioned ghost story, and it doesn't substitute special effects for character development and plot.
After his wife and daughter are killed in a horrible accident, John Russell (George C. Scott) moves to Seattle for a fresh start. He's an accomplished music professor, and wants to rent a home with good acoustics. He winds up in a sprawling mansion that's been maintained by the historical society, but no one has been able to live there for years. It doesn't exactly look like a cozy place to overcome one's grief, but there's no cure for heartache like a good scare.
From the outset there are some mighty creepy things about John's new digs. The pipes bang at the same time every morning, and a ball that belonged to his daughter keeps rolling around on its own. John traces the banging to the attic, and finds an old bathtub WITH A DROWNED BOY FLOATING IN IT! This would send most of us running for the door, but somehow John remains calm. He continues teaching, and investigates the history of the house in his spare time. With the help of Claire Norman (Scott's real-life wife, Trish Van Devere), John learns that a little girl was run over by a coal cart outside the house. They decide to hold a seance, but everybody's a little slow on the uptake. They spend a lot of time asking stupid questions like, "Did you die in this house? Were you hit by a coal cart?" No John, geez! Remember the face in the tub? He's the one who needs HELP HELP HELP.
As the film progresses, John's run-ins with the ghost become more and more intense. Helping the spectre becomes a form of therapy for him, and soon he's working to solve a murder mystery that could have been ripped right out of a Dickens novel. It would be a very satisfying journey, but the ghost boy is so ungrateful. If he kept sending his rickety wheelchair after my girlfriend and trying to drop chandeliers on my head, I'd pack up and let him bang on that tub til his dead little ears bled. Clearly John is a better person than I.
Cover art notwithstanding, The Changeling is an intriguing supernatural thriller reminiscent of The Dead Zone or The Shining. Washingtonians will enjoy the landmarks, and, as always, George C. Scott offers up an excellent performance. I've loved him since I saw him in Firestarter when I was nine. His ability to switch from a vulnerable teddy bear to a complete hard-ass gets me every time, and despite his bad manners, I think the little ghost boy loved him, too.
