The Changeling

The Changeling (1980)

Whatever you do… Don't go into the attic

After a tragic event happens, composer John Russell moves to Seattle to try to overcome it and build a new and peaceful life in a lonely big house that has been uninhabited for many years. But, soon after, the obscure history of such an old mansion and his own past begin to haunt him.

Date of release
1980-03-28
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (761)
Runtime
1h 47m
Genres
Horror
Director
Peter Medak

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Budget: $6.6M
  • Filmed in: Toronto and British Columbia
  • Awards: 5 · Nominations: 4. Including: Canadian Screen Award for Best Screenplay; Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress; Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor; Golden Screen Award

The Changeling is a 1980 Canadian supernatural psychological horror film directed by Peter Medak, written by William Gray and Diana Maddox, and starring George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, and Melvyn Douglas. Its plot follows an esteemed New York City composer who relocates to a Seattle mansion he comes to believe is haunted.

Production

The film's screenplay was inspired by events that allegedly took place at the Henry Treat Rogers mansion in Cheesman Park, Denver, Colorado, while playwright and composer Russell Hunter was living there during the 1960s. After experiencing a series of unexplained phenomena in the house, Hunter said he found a century-old journal in a hidden room detailing the life of a disabled boy who was kept in isolation by his parents, who sought to usurp a $…

The validity of Hunter's claims have been questioned; the Denver Public Library has no official record of Hunter residing at the Henry Treat Rogers mansion, and according to historian Phil Goodstein, no families in the Denver area had a fortune of $70 million between the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The film's budget was raised by selling $25,000 shares to 264 investors, who later made a profit of $9,229 on their shares. The film was among nine films shot in British Columbia during the late 1970s, when the province offered tax shelters on film productions.

Actor George C. Scott was cast in the film's lead role of John Russell, while his wife, actress Trish Van Devere, was cast in the role of Claire Norman.

Peter Medak was the third director hired for the project. His predecessors, Donald Cammell and Tony Richardson, both withdrew due to "creative differences". Medak was hired only a month before the scheduled release date to facilitate script re-writes and set construction.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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