Sen. Joseph Carmichael (Melvyn Douglas) walks up the stairs while the banister is in flames in The Changeling. Image via Pan-Canadian Film Distributors By Lloyd Farley Published Aug 1, 2026, 12:08 AM EDT Lloyd 'Happy Trails' Farley: the man, the myth, the legend. What can be said about this amazing - and humble - man that hasn't been said before? Or, more accurately, what can be said in public? Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lloyd is a master of puns and a humorist, who has authored one pun book to date - Pun and Grimeish Mint - and is working on a second. His time with Collider has allowed Lloyd's passion for writing to explode, with nearly 1,000 articles to his name that have been published on the site, with his favorite articles being the ones that allow for his sense of humor to shine. Lloyd also holds fast to the belief that all of life's problems can be answered by The Simpsons , Star Wars , and/or The Lion King . You can read more about Lloyd on his website , or follow his Facebook page and join the Llama Llegion. Happy trails! Sign in to your Collider account Add Us Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Listen Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Iconic author Stephen King has no shortage of opinions on pretty much anything, some more controversial than others. But it's his opinions on pop culture — television shows, movies, books, and so on — that tend to have more weight, even if they don't always jibe with popular opinion. Still, when Stephen King speaks on such topics, it’s best to take heed. And one great resource for his top picks is a 2017 interview with BFI , where King listed off his ten favorite films. One entry on that list earned King's praise as the best supernatural horror of all time, and it's available now to stream, for free, on Tubi: 1980's The Changeling .
As King said in the interview: "For supernatural horror , I like Peter Medak’s film The Changeling , starring George C. Scott in perhaps his last great screen role. There are no monsters bursting from chests; just a child’s ball bouncing down a flight of stairs was enough to scare the daylights out of me."
Image via Pan-Canadian Film Distributors Widowed composer John Russell (Scott) finds himself in Seattle, after a cross-country move designed to put distance between himself and New York, where he witnessed his wife and daughter get struck and killed by an oncoming semi. He rents an old mansion from Claire Norman ( Trish Van Devere ), agent of a local historical society. The house has been vacant for twelve years, she assures him, only that may not be entirely true. Shortly after moving in, John becomes subject to strange occurrences: loud banging; water taps turned on; a shattering window that reveals the existence of a hidden attic; and the discovery of a music box that plays the same tune he played on the piano the night before. Most disturbingly, he sees the visage of a drowned boy in a bathtub .
John and Claire do a search on the mansion's history, and chalk up the disturbances to the spirit of a young girl, who died on the grounds in 1909. He brings in a husband-and-wife team of mediums to hold a seance, which is recorded on audio tape. The seance is eventful, to say the least, but over the course of it, they find out who the spirit is: not a girl, but Joseph Carmichael. Who is Joseph Carmichael? John uncovers a horrible…