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(SPOILERS?) The Changeling is kind of a cross between a ghost story and a Nancy Drew mystery. I'm not saying I didn't like it, I thought it had some spooky moments. But when you're actively investigating a murder on behalf of the angry child spirit trapped in the old mansion, you've crossed into another genre or two.
Any time an old haunted mansion has an industrial sized staircase, not to mention two of them, there's a pretty decent chance someone will fall down those staircases. I'm just saying.
Composer John Russell loses both his wife and daughter and decides to leave the big apple for Seattle. He moves into the most haunted giant house in the area and the bangings begin. Lots of bangings. Water starts turning on by itself in other bathrooms on different floors. He discovers a hidden room on the upper level and a small music box, which plays the exact same song he just recently finished, note for note. The same tempo and everything! "it's a startling coincidence" the lady says. GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, NOW! But no. Let's have a seance, then we'll do an investigation, followed by a reckoning. Later in the film, the angry spirit slams every door in the place. John Russell screams "what do you want from me!" and I suddenly want this part to spawn a new sitcom where a lonely old man spends his evenings arguing at the top of his lungs with an annoying ghost child. The Changeling was still an engaging affair for an 80s movie. I guess I'm just less scared when the entire point was to help a little kid ghost find closure. 6.5 cobweb covered children's wheelchairs out of 10.
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