Review: The Changeling
After witnessing the shocking deaths of his wife and child, composer George C. Scott moves from New York to Seattle to accept a teaching position. He rents an old house and it’s not long before strange and unsettling things appear to be occurring. He investigates with the help of the woman who found him the house in the first place (Trish Van Devere). Ruth Springford plays Van Devere’s co-worker, Jean Marsh briefly plays Scott’s ill-fated wife, and Melvyn Douglas plays an elderly senator who is somehow connected to everything, going all the way back to the early 1900s. Well-paced, emotional, occasionally terrifying 1980 film from director Peter Medak ( “The Ruling Class” , “The Krays” ) is one of the best ghost/haunting films you’ll ever see. If you’ve seen the “Insidious” films, this was clearly one of the inspirations. George C. Scott, normally a tower of strength and full of power and bluster, is heartbreaking and sympathetic here. You’re so engaged in his personal loss a...