10 Most Fear Inducing Horror Movies To Watch Alone

Riding the coat tails of The Exorcist and The Omen, The Changeling has earned something resembling cult status over the years. Starring acting legends George C Scott and Melvyn Douglas, this is a master class in the ‘slow burn’ technique of movie making and relies purely on Hitchcockian suspense and drip-fed mystery to pull us into the plot.

Scott plays John Russell, a grieving father and widower, who (you guessed it) moves into a huge, spooky mansion for some time to grieve, compose and recover his life. Several loud bangs, a ghostly bath tub apparition and one séance later, Russell realises he must lay the spirit to rest in order to resolve his own grief. Using a purpose built and superbly atmospheric set for the interiors of the haunted house, this is classic ghost story territory, given a touch of thespian class from Scott.

Based on the supposed supernatural experiences of screenwriter Russell Hunter with superb wide-angle camera work from Sam Peckinpah’s regular cinematographer John Coquillon, The Changeling is a must-see for horror fans that prefer a subtler, more psychological approach to their horror films. Ghost stories are far more effective when watched in the right circumstances, alone at night, just like Russell himself.

A brilliant sequence (copied many times after in subsequent films) uses a child's toy to chilling effect - you’ll never look at a red rubber ball in the same way again…