Review of The Changeling (1980) by Jeffrey R — 07 Jun 2017

This is still one of the best old-fashioned gothic style ghost movies. It is also where I first saw George C Scott and had no idea he had largely been a comical actor! In this, he plays a recently widowed musician who moves into a heritage house which is plagued with the usual creepy noises and unexplained incidents.

I remember seeing this when I was young and was genuinely shaken by a scene where a child's ball bounces down the dark stairs. George then drives to the nearest bridge and hurls the ball into the water only to return home to witness the exact same ball creepily bouncing back down the stairs.

There have been some pleasing old-style ghost films since this one (namely The Others, Insidious, BBC's The Woman In Black, and The Orphanage) but none with the same consistently chilling vibe.