25930. ChristinO - July 1, 1999
- 4:57 PM PT
My roommate and I go off at length about this sort of thing. It's
not enough to explain away stupid behavior by saying "We-elll
the character doesn't know she's in a Horror movie."
There are some things that you just wouldn't do like stay in a
house where stuff moves around by itself, you see visions of
blood and dead people, doors and windows open and close without
provocation, disembodied voices tell you to "GET OUT!!!!"
Other things not to do are walk backwards in the total dark in
your skimpiest underwear when you think there might be someone in
the house with you.
The Changeling pushed me a little too far on these issues at
times. Even if you could write off all the other happenings to
"Old house, lots of drafts, emotional strain" the thing
with the rubber ball would have been curtains for me. No deposit.
No return.
Likewise following dark shadows and strange noises that don't
answer when you call out to them-----up three flights of stairs
into a totally unlit attic in a house that you already know has
got weirdness just oozing out of it. No thank you. That would NOT
be me.
25948. Raskolnikov - July 2,
1999 - 8:55 AM PT
I liked The Changeling, but thought it was a much better spooky
mystery than it was scary. The comparison to The Uninvited is
quite apt.
So, did the Senator know the truth? My guess was that he had
always suspected but hadn't let himself think about it too much,
for obvious reasons.
25949. 109109 - July 2, 1999 - 9:07
AM PT
Rask
I agree. It was his deep, dark secret, but only partially
uncovered. And I got the impression that his entire life of
achievement was an attempt to obscure the deep, dark secret and
atone for a truth he really couldn't face. Douglas' pain in
defending his father before Scott was riveting.
25953. Raskolnikov - July 2,
1999 - 10:51 AM PT
109^2: yes, it was riveting. It would have been so easy to make
the Senator a callow villain who justified his father's actions.
Instead, the Senator's eventual fate evokes pity and the
previously sympathetic ghost comes across as vindictively (albeit
understandably) hateful.
I took it as a moral lesson for Scott - not to linger too long on
your responsibility for events outside your control.
25954. 109109 - July 2, 1999 -
11:08 AM PT
Rask
Good point. I had not thought about Douglas as a message to Scott,
but it works. And Douglas is not a villain. He is cursed by
events beyond his control, as is Scott. And if the house had not
harassed Scott as it did, I think he would have been quite
sympathetic to Douglas' plight.
The Changeling should also be commended for patience, a rarity in
today's filmmaking. But because it is patient, it takes no short
cuts. Every next step for Scott is reasonable and his next
revelation makes sense. No cheating.
I know people who loathe the film for exactly that reasons, a
certain "can we get on with it?" anger.
25955. ChristinO - July 2, 1999
- 12:52 PM PT
Cllr,
The Devils is available on video ----at least it was at Tower
Video in Sacramento. Very good film and pre-Theresa which I'm
always thankful for.
Niner,
Yes, I very much enjoy The Changeling which I had better memories
of than of The Exorcist. Some things about it bothered me that
were purely technical-----some bad dubs, difficulty understanding
the characters when they were in big echo-y rooms. The music was
very good and I thought the story was developed well and at the
right pace.
I wanted to see a little more conflict for Scott's character
though because while I understood that he was grieving and there
was the allusion to emotional strain bringing on hallucinations
he didn't seem to ever believe that might be so. Additionally
when we first meet Van D---- she comes across as a total freak. I
don't know whether it's her manner or the direction, but it takes
a few meetings with her to get over the suspicion of "axe-murderer"
that she initially inspires.
It was very hard for me to accept Scott's continued inhabitance
of the house when things began to get obviously creepy. As I said
before, the ball returning from the river would have done it for
me. Perhaps a single moment or line in which we see that he feels
compelled to find an answer ------- before things get ooky.
25957. Raskolnikov - July 2,
1999 - 2:01 PM PT
It was slow, but it was paced about perfectly for the material. I'll
repeat that I didn't find it all that scary, but I don't think I
was supposed to. Scott wasn't all that scared either, sensing
that the house was trying to communicate with him.
However, one of the scenes where it *tries* to be scary is a
failure, when the woman is being chased by a slow-moving
wheelchair. If Cal Gal tells me that she had nightmares about
wheelchairs for weeks, I shall throw popcorn at her in a fit of
juvenile ridicule.
25958. CalGal - July 2, 1999 - 7:15
PM PT
I did not. I wasn't even scared by that silly old wheelchair.
Seriously, I was angered by the extended murder scene and tuned
out much of the middle of the movie. When I surfaced for the end,
I liked the resolution--I agree that it is more mystery than
horror. So I'm going to watch it again and fast forward through
the murder.
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