User Reviews

Peter Medak's The Changeling from 1980 is, of course, a very old horror film, and its overall setting isn't comparable to today's films. But it's a very good horror film in the tradition of The Omen or The Exorcist. The threat unfolds gradually, and the uncanny element gains increasing prominence. The film is therefore coherent and exciting for the most part. Unfortunately, the ending falls a bit short, as one gets the impression that every conceivable horror mechanism has been thrown into the mix for the sake of drama, resulting in a somewhat overly charged finale. Less would have been more.

The horror genre, as far as old, abandoned houses are concerned, this film addresses it as best as possible without imitating what has already been seen before, allowing the viewer to be on tenterhooks, and it does it well, which is what matters.

Superior mystery horror chooses to focus on the subtle spiritual creepiness/mischievousness and door slams over the more overt gore fest happenings of other ghostly films in this over saturated genre. The cast and cinematography are superb. The limited visual effects show their age here in 2022 but it was compelling to watch from start to end.

It looks like an old film. It has the style and colouring and picture damage that you would expect from a film of this age. It's not a problem; it's a function of time. Sadly though it sounds a bit tinny. It was a good score and the sound effects were good along with the dialogue but the overall sound was lacking definition. It was an interesting story that was brooding and full of ghosts. Well there were no actual ghosts but you can imagine. That is what was so great about these kinds of films - you had to use your imagination. Although this doesn't really apply to modern movies. It makes you scared and interested but a touch bored when you work out where the scene is going.

Al Final de la Escalera (1980) Sinopsis: Después de la muerte de su familia, un compositor se muda a Seattle para comenzar una nueva vida, pero descubre que años atrás se cometió un crimen en su casa y el fantasma de un niño asesinado clama justicia. Opinión: Me atreveré a confirmar sin discusión que esta es una de las mejores películas de terror que he visto en toda mi vida, a simple vista es sobre una casa encantada, pero eso es apenas la punta del cuchillo, la historia está tan bien hecha y tan perfectamente planteada y desarrollada que te atrapa y no te suelta hasta los créditos finales, la atmósfera y clima son de primer nivel y las actuaciones son buenas y totalmente creíbles, la banda sonora también hace bien su trabajo, en pocas palabras, el guión es impecable, es escalofriante, misteriosa, indagadora y atrapante, cualquier otro elogio no sería suficiente para calificar la calidad de esta magnífica obra maestra. Películas como El Conjuro, Horror en Amityville, entre otras similares miran desde muy abajo, ya que sin ningún tipo de Jump Scare esta película sabe dar miedo contando una sólida historia y buenos recursos narrativos. Valoración: 5 de 5