It’s one of those polarizing movies. Well, maybe middling-polarizing. For certain kinds of people. I didn’t see The Changeling when it came out, but I watched it about a decade ago. It struck me as lackluster then, but I decided to give it another try. One of the reasons is that I’d read a couple of things about it recently and thought that maybe I’d misjudged it. There are those who say it’s a very good haunted house movie—one of the most influential Canadian films of all time. Hyperbole aside, it’s one of those vengeful ghost movies and the most affecting scene, to me, is when George C. Scott is crying in his bed about the death of his wife and daughter. There are a couple startles, but nothing really that scary overall. It is slowly paced and sophisticated, but not terribly so. It still strikes me as lackluster.
I’ve seen many movies since that feature a child murdered seeking to have their story told. The end result is, however, a feeling of “so what?” The boy’s father got away with the murder and the beneficiary—who may or may not know all or part of the story—dies in revenge. There are just too many questions left unanswered. The haunted house tropes are fairly conventional, and the wheelchair chase scene is a bit strange. I wondered if there might’ve been something I was missing. There are critics with a “meh” response, but others rate it highly. I did learn that, although the film makes no such claim, it is purportedly based on actual events. That I’d like to know more about.
Playwright Russell Hunter (who lends his name to Scott’s character), alleged that these kinds of things happened to him while living in the Henry Treat Rogers mansion (in Denver). A local, Katie Rudolph, has done some fact-checking that casts doubt on the story. Hunter claims to have found human remains (as in the film) and this would seem to be something that could be checked out as well. In all, there’s not a ton online about the story and its supposed authenticity. The house was torn down some time ago. It would seem that any author (Hunter co-wrote the movie) would see the benefits of claiming actual events. Even if the film doesn’t play that card. Was there a murder in the mansion? From what I’ve been able to find, there are about as many unanswered questions as there are in the movie itself. Although next time I’m in Denver, that’s not to say I won’t be tempted.
