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Of course, there's the benefit of having an acting legend like Scott playing the role, but the character of John Russell is fascinating because of how his situation shapes his approach to the supernatural. He's very much the stoic through the movie, facing the supernatural goings-on with a cool head (too cool for some, as Roger Ebert for one actually criticized the character for being TOO cool and competent) and only losing it at certain (and realistic) moments. And it's due to his situation as a widower grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, which left him numbed by grief (is his own words, he "functioned automatically" for a while and only recently started coming out of that mindset). That leaves him uniquely prepared to deal with the supernatural threat he faces. The horrors of a ghost can't compare with the horror he's already had to deal with and actually may even give him some comfort, proving life after death and promise he'll be reunited with his family one day. That makes for a more fascinating protagonist than your typical terrified one when facing a ghost.
Added note, even if he only did this and "Exorcist III", George C. Scott earns his place among great actors in the genre.
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Definitely one of my favorite horror movies. That scene with the ball is one of the most underrated chilling moments in cinema. I think it’s “slow” for a lot of people because it isn’t really about the scare - to me it’s about profound grief and loss. And honestly - I think that’s an underutilized theme in the horror genre.
Ari Aster is leading the charge on that theme for sure
There's something of a post-modern element to The Changeling that I really love. No one really questions the supernatural element when confronted with it. Yes, there's the "oh it's just an old house" bits in the beginning, but once Russell provides any kind of "proof," people are just on board with it. He goes to a university and they're all "yeah we know some parapsychologists, let me introduce you to them." It's also bordering on areligious. No one says "get a priest/rabbi/etc" The only religious element is the baptism medal, and it's not involved for the religiosity of the item.
I believe it was critic Alexandra West that pointed out that Russell also occupies an interesting space in that he's an "artist" on account of being a musician, and artists are traditionally portrayed as the emotional/intuitive types of fiction... but he's also an academic, and academics are traditionally portrayed as the voice of reason, especially in ghost stories (and often the voice of reason that ends up being wrong, of course). That straddling of two worlds also affords his character a unique position in the ghost story.
The movie really is brilliant.
Also, when he talks to the guy at the university, the guy mentions that most mediums are indeed frauds and steers him towards someone who's legit.
Yeah! Another brilliant bit; immediately eliminates the potential conflict of "oh these are charlatans." Nope, just instant credentials.
It reminds me of Harry Houdini, who was actually a believer in the supernatural, but being a magician knew that most mediums were scam artists and made a habit of exposing them.
Did he ever find a medium that he actually believed wasn't a fraud?
The film is just absolutely beautiful in every way, and Scott just nails the heck out of the performance. The scene when he's crying in bed and hears the ghost banging around upstairs is just such a great one, also love the reverse shot of the necklace pulling out of the dirt! Having lived in the Seattle area for about 10 yrs I felt the film nailed the feel of the PNW.
Notably, that scene is the one time when we see him openly grieve and it's in private. Very much in character; he's stoic in public and prefers to shed his tears by himself.
You should check out Scott in Hardcore. Not technically horror, but it's similar to 8mm.
Also I highly recommend reading into Scott's personal life. 5 wives. Refused an Oscar he won. Raging alcoholic, abusive. Absolute nightmare on film sets, they had to schedule around his benders.
Trish Van Devere, his costar in "The Changeling" (playing his friend and possible future romantic partner) was his final wife as well (he'd considerably mellowed by the time he did this film).
And technically, he had only 4 wives since he and Colleen Dewhurst married and divorced twice.
"Hardcore" is excellent and also the film where Scott famously growls "Turn it off! Turn it off!"
This is entirely accurate. He's my favorite male horror movie lead. He was a skeptic but he was reasonable and retained an open mind.
The Changeling is so successful because its characters, especially Scott, behave like adults, and the themes of the movie are also focused at adults. One of the best horror movies of all time.
I would argue that there's a horror element to A Christmas Carol, which he was in.
There's quite a bit of it, especially in his adaptation, which embraced those creepy moments more than most adaptations. What do you expect when the Ghost of Christmas Past is played by Donald Pleasance's kid?
I like him because he doesn't freak out.
Let me fix this for you: George C Scott is amazing
One of my favorite actors
I still need to watch this film. I've been meaning to for a while.
I have to give that movie a watch again. It was a movie I wanted to like, I loved the premise, but for whatever reason it didn't jive with me when I watched it last year. There's a good possibility that I might just have been in the absolute wrong headspace for it. Maybe I'll give it a second change this weekend.
I've watched it twice now and it wasn't really for me, either.
It's really slow, and really dry. I like the premise but I just didn't think there was much actual emotion to any of it. It just felt very cold, and very flat to me.
FWIW, I love the movie on an intellectual level; it's something I am happy to discuss and compare. But I do think there is a flatness to it as a piece of entertainment. I think it's a brilliant piece of filmmaking but if someone asks if I want to watch The Changeling or Poltergeist, I'm going with Poltergeist every single time.
I watched it yesterday and while I respect the story/writing, it also wasn’t my kind of movie. It wasn’t scary or tense and it seemed a little slow.
We don’t all have to love the same movies so I’ve accepted that this classic isn’t really for me
Yeah. I don't have anything really against it, it's just didn't engage my interest very much.