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The Changeling

1980

Peter Medak

George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos ...

7.2

28,260

Horror. Thriller A famous composer moves from New York City to Seattle and becomes convinced his new home is haunted. This man names John (George C. Scott) whose family is killed in a road accident retires to this lonely mansion and begins to experience supernatural occurrences linked to the house's mysterious past and its previous owners.

	Author	Review
United States	Variety	"A superior haunted house thriller."	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"'The Changeling' does have some interesting ideas (...) But it doesn't have that sneaky sense of awful things about to happen (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	David Ansen Newsweek	"The word for The Changeling is chilling. Medak doesn't pummel the audience with gore and Exorcist-type shock tactics. More than once, he raises real goose bumps using nothing more extraordinary than a bouncing rubber ball"	POS
United Kingdom	Time Out	"In an atmosphere that resembles the electrocardiogram of a corpse, the administration of shocks becomes risible rather than disturbing."	NEU
United States	TV Guide	"One of the most genuinely haunting ghost stories in recent years, The Changeling is much eerier and more effective than the overrated and bombastic Poltergeist"	POS
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"The Changeling" isn't especially short by any means, but it's without any voice or feeling of its own."	NEU
United States	Gary Arnold The Washington Post	"Happily, director Peter Medak is aware of the fundamental absurdity of his ghost story. In fact, he's taken considerable care to compensate with virtuoso displays of scenic and atmospheric suggestiveness."	POS
Canada	The Globe and Mail	"The Changeling is a breathless, enjoyably scary amusement-park ride"	POS
United States	Nick Schager AV Club	"An underrated entry in the horror subgenre, generating consistent unease through long, ominous pans"	POS

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