72 - The Changeling

    A composer’s daughter and wife are killed in an accident.  He moves into a massive house while he teaches a class.  The house turns out to be haunted.
    I hadn’t heard of this until I saw it listed on the Buzzfeed list of horror movies.  It’s an interesting movie, partly because of the fairly strong production values and George C. Scott starring in it, but also because i think it might be the source of a few haunted house tropes.
    It’s handled very well.  The mystery ramps up steadily, and it’s actually one of the more interesting backstories in a horror movie.  The clever element of this goes a long way to making the whole thing work.  Otherwise, it would fall into the same category as many other haunted house stories.
    There are elements of the story that may have influenced The Ring, but I can’t say that with any certainty. 
    It’s a nice change of pace to have a ghost story that doesn’t use a vengeful spirit.  I think it gets a bit dull.
    I had one primary gripe about the story, and it’s an odd one.  I don’t like that the house burns down.  It didn’t seem necessary.  It seemed like an attempt to up the tension.  I wouldn’t mind if the house had burned inside, but the complete destruction didn’t feel right.  Maybe it’s just that I’d feel like they would blame George C. Scott for it.