Stephen King continues to haunt our worst nightmares with his novels and their television and cinematic adaptations. The master of horror seems fearless, except when it comes to the fear of “losing his mental faculties due to a degenerative disease,” as revealed in a recent interview on the podcast “Talking Scared.” However, as noted by Espinof, there is one classic horror film that once terrified him and continues to do so.
During the “King On Screen” event dedicated to him at BFI in 2017, he unveiled that this film is “The Changeling” (1980) by Peter Medak. It’s a psychological horror film, unlike many others of its time, and it was released the same year as Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” a movie King was never entirely satisfied with.
In the realm of supernatural horror, I love Peter Medak’s film, “The Changeling,” starring George C. Scott in what might be one of his last great roles in cinema. There are no monsters jumping out of closets; just a bouncing child’s ball down a staircase was enough to send shivers down my spine.
The scene he’s referring to has become one of the most iconic moments in horror cinema (among other scenes in the film) and has been parodied and recreated numerous times.
“The Changeling” has since inspired films like “The Ring” (2002) and “Stir of Echoes” (1999). It’s also cited as a major influence by Alejandro Amenábar for his own horror masterpiece, “The Others” (2001).
This enduring fear speaks volumes about the lasting impact of psychological horror in cinema.