Did you see The Haunting of Hill House (2018) on Netflix?

If you haven’t it’s still there and well worth seeing though the reason I mention it is because I have a suspicion that it owes a lot to Peter Medak’s The Changeling, which is likely among the best ghost stories ever put to film.

And the reason that that’s the case is that Russell Hunter (uncredited), William Gray and Diana Maddox’s screenplay, combined with the brilliant direction of Peter Medak, seems to understand what apparently directors like James Wan don’t, namely that trauma draws trauma.

The movie opens with John Russell (George C. Scott) and his wife and daughter pushing their stalled car off the main road on a winter day.

It had snowed prior and the medians were covered, and the road was slick with black ice.

This is a situation that most people would not derive enjoyment but John Russell made a game of it, and his wife Joanna and daughter Kathy joined in, turning what could have been an angry moment into an enjoyable one.

John Russell went to a nearby phone booth to make a call – the story took place in 1980 before cell phones – while his wife and daughter had a snowball fight near the stranded vehicle.

Oblivious to everyone a car that was making its way down the road, which soon lost control and killed Joanna and Kathy.

The death of John Russell’s wife and daughter directly had nothing to do with the rest of the story, except by my reckoning that it makes Russell somehow susceptible to the influence of an entity that was wronged in the past.

What makes the movie so brilliant is besides the great story is that Peter Medak shot it in a manner that puts the viewer constantly on edge, with lots of odd angles, perspectives and sound design.

And what’s even more interesting is not that there’s not a drop of blood to be found, but that it’s not necessary and you don’t find yourself missing it.

If you haven’t seen The Changeling, do yourself a favor and catch it on Tubi.