In the forty-five years since its release, The Changeling has slowly developed a reputation as one of the great ghost movies, though it was largely dismissed upon its release in 1980. Directed by Peter Medak and anchored by powerful and nuanced performances from screen legends George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, and Melvyn Douglas, it […]
In the forty-five years since its release, The Changelinghas slowly developed a reputation as one of the great ghost movies, though it was largely dismissed upon its release in 1980. Directed by Peter Medak and anchored by powerful and nuanced performances from screen legends George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, and Melvyn Douglas, it tells the story of John Russell (Scott), a grieving music professor and composer who rents a spacious mansion in the Seattle area only to find himself tormented by the ghost of a child who inhabits the home. Fans of the movie know how great it is and continue to sing its praises, but something that modern horror fans may find intriguing is that The Changeling feels like a prototype TheConjuring movie. Just like the four films that make up the backbone of The ConjuringUniverse (2013-present), The Changeling is based on a true story, involves children as a core element, includes haunted objects as central elements of the plot, and even features characters that are remarkably like Ed and Lorraine Warren.
The phrase “based on a true story” is a controversial one and should prompt viewers to inquire about which aspects are true and which are fabricated. Perhaps the phrase “inspired by true events” is more accurate in the cases of The Conjuring films and The Changeling. Whatever the reality is, it should come as no surprise to most viewers that a fair amount of dramatic license is taken in all cases when making films of this nature. The four Conjuring films are based on the Warren’s (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) involvement with four cases: The Haunting of the Perron Farm, The Enfield Poltergeist, The Trial of Arne Johnson (the “devil made me do it” case), and The Smurl Family Haunting. The Conjuring 2 (2016) also includes a portion of the famous Amityville Haunting Case of 1976. The Warrens wrote several books documenting their experiences and perspectives on these cases and many more. As to the extent of the validity and truth of their version of events, that is up for debate, and there are many articles, podcasts, and documentaries that examine these controversial figures.
The Changeling was inspired by a case that took place in the late 1960s involving the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion on the edge of Cheesman Park in Denver, Colorado. Cheesman Park had been a cemetery since the mid-19th century, but the area underwent a large exhumation process in the early 20th century in an attempt to beautify the area. The difficult and costly project ultimately resulted in a majority of the bodies being relocated, but historians estimate that 2,000-5,000 bodies still remain in Cheesman Park. Several hauntings have been reported over the years in the area, but the most famous involves Russell Ellis (who went by the pseudonym Russell Hunter), a talented pianist and composer turned playwright, who moved into the mansion in 1968. As he settled into his new home and began working on his musical compositions, Hunter was interrupted by a mysterious and incessant bouncing sound that persisted day after day. Unable to locate the source of the sound, Hunter hired an architect to help him solve the mystery. The two found a hidden door that opened to a stairway and a small attic apartment. Upon opening the door to this secret room, an old-fashioned striped rubber ball rolled down the stairs and vanished.
Hunter also claimed to find the diary of an eight-year-old boy named Eric Evans in the attic room. Evans was a sickly boy who stood to inherit $70 million when he came of age. His parents, however, realizing that their son would not live to inherit the money, adopted an orphan that they passed off as their son and locked the real Eric away in the attic apartment with a rubber ball to play with. Soon, the real Eric died, though if it was from his illness or murder is unknown, and his replacement eventually inherited the money and became a wealthy businessman and politician. According to Denver historian Dr. Phil Goodstein, Hunter did not divulge the information he learned, and the spirit of Eric apparently became agitated. The bouncing sound continued and was augmented by banging on pipes, books thrown across rooms, Hunter’s piano playing on its own, and other various disturbances.
Hunter consulted local psychics and a pair of spiritualist Episcopal ministers to bless the house. At one point, an investigator caught the ball as it rolled down the stairs and gave it to Hunter who disposed of it in the Colorado woods only to come home and find it rolling down the stairs. Eventually Hunter moved out and the Rogers mansion was set for demolition, but the house erupted into flames, killing one of the demolition crew. Over the years, children playing in Cheesman Park claim to have encountered a sickly-looking boy around the age of eight playing with an old-fashioned striped rubber ball who suddenly disapparates before their eyes. Some also say that the piano in the building where the Rogers Mansion once stood will suddenly begin playing on its own while others claim to hear the mysterious bouncing of a rubber ball.
All of this should sound familiar to fans of The Changeling. The film gets its title from a situation in which a disabled child, Joseph, is killed and replaced by another person who grows up to become a well-known businessman and politician. For those who have not seen The Changeling I will not spoil its mysteries here, but I will say that many of the film’s most compelling details are drawn directly from the actual events, or at least Russell Hunter’s version of them. Hunter has a “story by” credit on The Changeling, likely meaning that he wrote a first draft of the script which underwent a great deal of revision from credited writers William Gray and Diana Maddox.
The Conjuring films also often involve children as the central focus of the hauntings. Not only the Warren’s own children, but the cases depicted in the four films are family hauntings. In these films, the spirits will often use toys and games to entice the children before twisting them into something frightening, disturbing, and even dangerous. The famous “hide a clap” game from the first film is a great example as well as the direct torment of children in The Conjuring 2 and The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025). In The Changeling, the involvement of children has multiple meanings. In the opening sequences, we see John Russell’s wife and daughter killed in a horrible accident, which prompts him to move from his home and position at Columbia University in New York all the way across the country to Seattle, the home which is called Chessman (rather than Cheesman) Park in the film, and a position at the University of Washington. But even 3,000 miles away from the tragedy, he cannot escape his grief or reminders of his daughter. The ghost, Joseph, uses this knowledge to speak to John, seeming to know that his grief and connection to his lost child will make him more receptive to Joseph’s story, finally giving this restless spirit closure. Joseph uses a number of objects to reveal himself.
Haunted objects are central to The ConjuringUniverse and to the legend of the Warrens. The “Crooked Man” zoetrope, the nun painting, the big top music box, and of course the Annabelle doll are just a few examples of the items that play key roles in the movies. The Changeling features three key objects as central features of the haunting: the afore mentioned rubber ball, a music box, and a christening medal. The medal is ultimately the most important clue in the mystery of Joseph’s death and the identity of the changeling. The object itself is not haunted but does appear under apparently paranormal circumstances. The music box is much more mysterious. While composing one day, John begins playing a lullaby-like melody on his piano which he then harmonizes and records on his reel-to-reel tape recorder. The piece seems to come to him fully formed. Later, he discovers a music box in the cobwebbed attic room and plays it against his recording, and they match in every way: melody, tempo, harmony, even the key, but John is certain that he had never heard the piece before. In the closing moments of the film, the music box pops open and begins playing on its own, implying that Joseph is no longer confined to the house in Chessman Park.
Most significant of all is the red and white striped rubber ball. In the film’s most famous and chilling sequence, John, trying to let go of his grief over the death of his wife and daughter, drives the rubber ball that his daughter used to play with to a bridge and throws it into the dark water below where it apparently sinks into oblivion. When he arrives back at the house, the ball comes bouncing down the main staircase. In the “real” story, the ball belonged to the ghost that haunted the Rogers Mansion, in the film it takes on a very different significance. It is a concrete reminder of John’s wife and daughter, the symbol of his grief. No matter how hard he tries to let it go, it will not leave him. This large, powerful, stoic man, embodied by “man’s man” type George C. Scott, the guy who won (and refused) an Oscar for playing General George S. Patton, is defeated. And this object, this child’s toy, the symbol of all that despair, reduces this powerful man to a shell of himself weeping alone in his bed. It is this kind of vulnerability and delicacy that make The Changeling a particularly moving and outstanding ghost story.
And then there’s the fact that The Changeling features the Warrens—sort of. Around the mid-point of the movie, after the incident with the ball rolling down the stairs, John consults a parapsychologist at the University who recommends a medium. A couple named Albert and Leah Harmon (Eric Christmas and Helen Burns) arrive at the house to investigate. Leah sees that Russell has suffered a great loss and using automatic writing is able to communicate with the presence of the child in the house. She learns that his name is Joseph, that he died in the house, that he wishes to communicate with John, and has chosen him because of his grief. The sequence with these characters is only about ten minutes long but bears remarkable resemblance to the Warrens, especially as they were depicted in the media at the time and in The Conjuring movies, though in The Changeling these characters are a bit older, and Albert plays more of a supporting role to his wife.
It cannot be confirmed that Albert and Leah Harmon are based on Ed and Lorraine Warren, but it is certainly plausible. Though they had been known in paranormal circles beginning in the 1960s, the Warrens came into the national spotlight following the 1976 Amityville Horror case. Though they appear neither in the book by Jay Anson nor the 1979 movie version, their involvement became well known through the media coverage of the case. According to Russell Hunter, the séance aspect of the film actually happened, but was led by a psychic local to the Denver area. It is entirely possible, and even likely, that writers William Gray and Diana Maddox were aware of the Warrens, and created the Harmons in reference to their work and reputation.
The Changeling stands more in the tradition of subtle, quiet, and ambiguous films like The Innocents (1961), The Haunting (1963) and more modern offerings like The Devil’s Backbone (2001), The Orphanage (2007), and The Innkeepers (2011) than the more sensational scares like The Shining (1980), Poltergeist (1982) and, yes, The Conjuring movies. But part of the greatness of the horror genre is there is room for many different types of films. The Changeling came along at a time when tastes were shifting to the more overt and graphic horrors of the 1980s, so it got a bit lost for a time, but has slowly gained the reputation it has always deserved as one of the most stirring, moving, and chilling ghost stories ever made. So, as you settle in for your Conjuring marathons, it may well be worth taking a step back in time to discover or rediscover the quiet masterpiece that is The Changeling. You may find a new favorite.
