The Changeling - George C. Scott

(aka "Enfant du Diable" )

directed by Peter Medak
Canada 1980

After his wife and daughter are killed in a snowplow accident, composer John Russell (George C. Scott) returns to Seattle to teach music at his alma mater. The local historical society rents him a long abandoned mansion where he will have plenty of room to work. However, he is not alone in the house. A barrage of clanging sounds wake him up at the same time every night. In a hidden attic room, he discovers a music box whose tune is the one he has been composing. With the help of historical society representative Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere), John digs into the past of the house and discovers the accidental death of a little girl; however, a seánce reveals that the spirit to be that of a crippled little boy whose spirit will not rest until John uncovers the truth behind his murder.

A subtle and genuinely scary ghost story, THE CHANGELING hits most of the right notes for both subtle chills and jump out of your skin shocks. Johnny Coquillon's (STRAW DOGS) alternates effectively between Steadicam and handheld cinematography just as Rick Wilkins' score alternates between low strings and jump scare bombast.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 28 March 1980

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Momentum Pictures - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Momentum Pictures Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:42:00 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.66 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo); German (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono); Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono); Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, non
Features	Release Information: Studio: Momentum Pictures Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Peter Medak • Animated Photo Gallery (3:57) • English, German, Spanish, and Italian Menu Options DVD Release Date: 21 Oct 2002 Amaray Chapters 20

Comments

Also available in an anamorphic but barebones US DVD, Momentum Pictures' excellent anamorphic dual-layered R2 PAL transfer is a port of the German Kinowelt release with multiple menu language options, four audio languages, and six subtitle options. This release bests the US release with a director's commentary by Peter Medak.

Only the English track is in stereo (and very effective it is with placement of offscreen sounds and ghostly voices) while the other three language tracks are in mono. Neither release features a trailer or any of the spooky US TV spots for the film.

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus