The Changeling: 40 Years of Terror (Short Documentary)

PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION FIRST!




I’ve known for a number of years now that I wanted to do something special for the film’s 40th Anniversary and mark the occasion in a big way. The Changeling, as you guys know, is not only one of my favourite horror films, it is also one of my favourite films ever. And the fact that it was filmed in my home province of British Columbia (Canada) makes it extra special to me.

When 2020 rolled around, I began to really think about what I wanted to do and how exactly I wanted to celebrate this masterpiece of Canadian horror. I knew my resources would be limited so I had to work with what I had and what I knew I had access to. But as I began planning it out, I realized that even though I didn’t have access to much, I could still make a compelling documentary out of it. And that if I worked smarter, not harder, I could really utilize this footage in the best way possible. I wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of making a documentary-style video and I think I succeeded in doing that. The Canadian locations that were used in The Changeling are the main focus of this Documentary. I hope that you guys will find it to be an interesting and informative subject.

This is BY FAR the biggest project I’ve ever undertaken that wasn’t related to film school. When you add up all of the time that I spent writing the script, shooting the footage, gathering music, clips from the movie and editing the whole project together, this probably took me about two months to make in total. Which is the most amount of time I’ve EVER spent making a video. I’m also very proud of myself because I made this documentary entirely on my own. I wrote it, shot it, edited it and basically did everything by myself. I still can't believe how much I was able to accomplish on my own. This was a really empowering experience and I enjoyed nearly every second of it.

Like most of my big projects, I do feel this one speaks for itself for the most part. But there are a couple of things I wanted to address.

First of all, I wanted to say that the footage in this video was shot in January and February, several weeks before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, so you can be assured that I was not putting myself or others in danger at the time that this footage was being recorded.

Next, I decided early on that for the introduction where Peter Medak is speaking, I would put subtitles on the screen. Medak is Hungarian and English is not his first language, therefore he can be a bit hard to understand sometimes. I hope that these subtitles are not too distracting. I felt it was very important that people clearly understand what he is saying at that part.

Also, the photo that appears right after that part of the video is of a younger Peter Medak talking to George C. Scott on the set of The Changeling. I assumed that was obvious but then I later realized that some people might not make that connection right away.

And finally, I apologize for the audio hiccup that happens around 12:42. Unfortunately, I was unable to fix it. Please ignore that.

Because I’ve already made a couple of videos about this movie, this will probably be the very last video I ever make about The Changeling on this channel. I may briefly reference it in future videos, but otherwise, this is it. There will be no more discussions about it after this point. I don’t want to bore people by discussing the same movies all the time. So, this is my very last tribute to this amazing film.

The bottom line is that this movie is criminally underrated, so if I could do my part to bring it out into the limelight, even just for one Anniversary, then I will have done what I set out to do. This project represents two months of blood, sweat, and tears and I hope that you will see, hear and feel my dedication to it in every frame.

Okay, enough blabbing. I am REALLY excited to share this with you all. I hope that you enjoy it. I hope that you find it insightful and moving and all of the things that a good documentary is supposed to make you feel.


Thank you, as always, for watching this. I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

-The Cinema Cynic