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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2017 1:54:44 GMT
Love it so much!
There a plenty of creepy scenes, but i always get the chills when he listens to the tape from the séance, and hears the voice.
He keeps turning up the volume to hear what the boy is saying.....brrrrrr!
Also, the lighting upstairs when he hears all the taps running is a creepy sort of weak daylight with vast and dense shadows. Scarier than a night time scene I think.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 9, 2017 2:10:28 GMT
I'm not on board with everyone else. I saw this for the first time in a small cabin, out in the middle of the woods. It was at night and a fairly creepy atmosphere overall. But I didn't really find this film creepy at all. The opposite held more true. George C. Scott's character seemed more curious at there being a supernatural being in his house. Sometimes maybe a bit annoyed. But never scared. His acting sort of ruined the film for me because he just didn't act... scared. So in the end I found it more unintentionally funny than scary, really. He wasn't supposed to be "scared," especially after the seance. Once he heard Joseph's voice on the tape--and during the "spirit writing" sequence with the medium--he knew Joseph wanted help. So, considering his own grief over the deaths of his wife and child, he did all he could to ease Joseph's pain. Having him scared wouldn't have worked at all, in my opinion.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2017 4:26:16 GMT
So happy to see this thread was created. This movie is very important to me. Not only were key scenes filmed in my hometown of Vancouver, but The Changeling is also the film that inspired me to go to film school to study cinematography. I owe it so much. It's a fantastic, forgotten gem. Glad you could make it over. So, to get the ball rolling. What, for everyone here, was the creepiest scene? For me, of course, it was when the little girl sees Joseph under her bedroom floor. Yikes! :-O There are many scenes in this film that kept me up at night but the one that really did it for me was one that I don't believe anyone else has brought up. The fast dolly shot (steadicam?) shot that zooms around the house with Joseph's voice over top of it really freaked me out for some reason and I've still never been able to figure out quite why that was. I guess his voice was the right combination of sad and scary. Either way, it really shook me up and I had so many restless nights because of it. I just remember laying awake at night and thinking about how scary it would be if I suddenly heard his voice or if I looked at my bedroom floor and I'd see him trying to come up through the floor boards. Eeeegh... And don't even get me started on that damn wheelchair scene. I have a phobia of them now, probably for life. All in all, it's a very effectively creepy film. I was so impressed by it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2017 4:53:43 GMT
The thing to remember about Scott's character is he's emotionally drained for most of the film.
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OmegaWolf747
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Post by OmegaWolf747 on Feb 9, 2017 10:59:18 GMT
Glad you could make it over. So, to get the ball rolling. What, for everyone here, was the creepiest scene? For me, of course, it was when the little girl sees Joseph under her bedroom floor. Yikes! :-O There are many scenes in this film that kept me up at night but the one that really did it for me was one that I don't believe anyone else has brought up. The fast dolly shot (steadicam?) shot that zooms around the house with Joseph's voice over top of it really freaked me out for some reason and I've still never been able to figure out quite why that was. I guess his voice was the right combination of sad and scary. Either way, it really shook me up and I had so many restless nights because of it. I just remember laying awake at night and thinking about how scary it would be if I suddenly heard his voice or if I looked at my bedroom floor and I'd see him trying to come up through the floor boards. Eeeegh... And don't even get me started on that damn wheelchair scene. I have a phobia of them now, probably for life. All in all, it's a very effectively creepy film. I was so impressed by it. If I heard or saw anything like Joseph, I'd probably go crazy and scream myself to death.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2017 12:17:31 GMT
He wasn't supposed to be "scared," especially after the seance. Once he heard Joseph's voice on the tape--and during the "spirit writing" sequence with the medium--he knew Joseph wanted help. So, considering his own grief over the deaths of his wife and child, he did all he could to ease Joseph's pain. Having him scared wouldn't have worked at all, in my opinion. Ok. I just found it to be more of an unintentionally comic film rather than a scary one (which I think was the purpose?). I can accept that the protagonist wasn't supposed to be scared, but if that was the point I have to ask I don't get why we're supposed to be scared?And isn't that the point of a horror film? To project fear?
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 9, 2017 14:07:29 GMT
He wasn't supposed to be "scared," especially after the seance. Once he heard Joseph's voice on the tape--and during the "spirit writing" sequence with the medium--he knew Joseph wanted help. So, considering his own grief over the deaths of his wife and child, he did all he could to ease Joseph's pain. Having him scared wouldn't have worked at all, in my opinion. Ok. I just found it to be more of an unintentionally comic film rather than a scary one (which I think was the purpose?). I can accept that the protagonist wasn't supposed to be scared, but if that was the point I have to ask I don't get why we're supposed to be scared?And isn't that the point of a horror film? To project fear? There was fear projected for the viewer, because the viewer was "in on" certain things that were denied George C. Scott. For example, we see the boy in the well, we see the medal come up from the dirt, we see and hear the piano key played after Scott leaves the room. So we know the ghost is very real, but we don't quite know what's going on...that's why we follow Scott on his journey of discovery. I don't know of any "comic" aspects to this movie, so I'm curious as to what you found so funny about it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2017 7:20:20 GMT
In the film, the house is obviously haunted. So to see George C Scott stroll around calmly and almost acting disinterested and nonchalant toward the hauntings were quite amusing. Tho I dont believe it was intended hat way.
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Post by kayleigh on Feb 17, 2017 2:20:39 GMT
I love this film, I haven't seen it in a long time though and I definitely think a re-watch is on the cards
My favourite scene is the ball bouncing down the stairs
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OmegaWolf747
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Post by OmegaWolf747 on Feb 17, 2017 2:56:39 GMT
I'm due for a rewatch too, in the bathtub with the lights off.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 17, 2017 5:20:01 GMT
In the bathtub? You do know a pivotal scene shows a young boy dead in a tub, right?
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Post by OmegaWolf747 on Feb 17, 2017 10:10:26 GMT
I've a vague idea of such, yes.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 21, 2017 3:24:25 GMT
I was one of those fortunate ones to see The Changeling in the theater when it first came out. Scared the crap out of me, especially the scene where the little girl sees the ghostly image of Joseph. I still regard it as one of the most scariest movies ever.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 21, 2017 5:44:50 GMT
Yes, that was an incredible scene!
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Feb 22, 2017 15:22:34 GMT
Although rather obscure these days, this film continues to inspire newer supernatural thrillers such as The Ring, The Others and Dark Water.
After a car accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter, a grieving composer named John Russell leaves New York and returns to his home state Washington to teach musical composition at his alma mater. He rents a large old mansion in the countryside from the local historical society and uses the piano that came with the house to compose music. Little does he know that he is not alone in the large, dark house. Wonderfully eerie film, one of my favorite haunting films ever! George C. Scott is so compelling as the grieving/confused/haunted husband. Wonderfully creepy moments.
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OmegaWolf747
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Post by OmegaWolf747 on Feb 22, 2017 16:59:38 GMT
Oh, yes indeed. Perfect for viewing on Halloween Night in a pitch dark room, all distractions (cell phones and the like) turned off.
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Post by johanwow on Feb 22, 2017 21:31:29 GMT
While definitely not a bad movie, this one didn't really click with me. It was good mystery but it didn't do that much to me as other even older paranormal movies.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Feb 23, 2017 8:48:32 GMT
Classy haunted house film, but I have always found it a disappointing experience. I can't take away from its masterful technical handling and established story-telling of an old house with a terrible secret, however never did I feel all that involved with the characters' stodgy plights (despite rock solid performances by George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere) or encounter any sort of lasting chills. Eventually I found it all to be emotionally hollow. Visually it held me there with Peter Medak's polished direction. However the story while serviceable, it lacks that disorientating spell in what should be distressing build-ups with its strange occurrences, manifestations and revelations.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2017 19:10:51 GMT
Here's a controversial question: How do you guys feel about this film getting the remake treatment? That seems to be the "in" thing these days for Hollywood and mainstream films. But as much as I resent remakes, I admit I'm not entirely against the idea of it for The Changeling and I'll tell you why.
The film is so unbelievably underrated and painfully obscure. So even if the remake was complete crap, it would help to introduce a new audience (and the next generation) to not only the remake but also the original. Credit is deserved where credit is due and this film is phenomenal on so many levels. It deserves far more recognition than it has.
And if nothing else, it would be interesting to see another Director's take on the story and see where he/she would go with it in terms of adapting the original story to create their own. However, I can only hope that if a remake is slated to happen in the near future, that the majority of the production will once again take place in Canada. Because The Changeling...whether people are aware of it or not is a part of Canadian horror pop culture and it has earned it's rightful place here. Americanizing it would be an insult to the Canadian film makers who made this movie happen. A large percent of them making up the crew, cameramen and extras who were not given much recognition and whose efforts the film would not exist without.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 26, 2017 19:21:55 GMT
I'm not sure about the remake treatment. Who could you possibly cast in the George C. Scott role? He gave it such great gravitas!
If there's a flaw to the film, it has to do with the Senator. Was he an innocent who knew nothing of the boy he replaced? Or did he know? In the final confrontation between he and Scott, I had the impression he DIDN'T know but perhaps had always suspected "something." Whatever the case, did he deserve to die because of what happened?
And was the ghost really avenged? In the end--or at least, the "end" after the film concluded--did they determine the bones in the well belonged to the REAL Joseph Carmichael, and did it come out that the Senator had been a "changeling?"
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