With The Conjuring series possibly coming to an end in Last Rites, now is the perfect time to dig out a classic ’80s ghost movie that reinvented the genre. Starting with the release of the first film in 2013, The Conjuring franchise has become one of the biggest properties in modern horror.

Loosely adapting the cases of famous occultists Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movies put a new spin on supernatural horror by reframing traditional ghosts as demonic enтιтies. Along the way, the main Conjuring series spawned a pair of spinoffs that have themselves become franchises. However, 2025’s Last Rites is supposed to conclude the original series.

This leaves a Conjuring-sized hole in the world of horror. Thankfully, the supernatural horror genre is stuffed with classics to scratch that itch. One particular film from the early ’80s was The Conjuring of its day, and had a profound influence on ghost movies.

Conjuring Fans Should Watch The Changeling

Much in the same way that The Conjuring pivoted the ghost genre, The Changeling added new wrinkles to the mythos that are still being seen today. The 1980 Canadian gem stars George C. Scott as a grieving father who moves into a haunted house and begins to investigate the apparition that haunts him.

Bringing ghosts into the modern day, The Changeling trades in the typical gothic environs for something more contemporary. Like The Conjuring, family plays a big part in the haunting of The Changeling, and there’s also a heavy tinge of tragedy at the heart of the story. It incorporates other elements of the occult, much like the James Wan hit.

Though The Changeling lacks the bombastic jump scares of The Conjuring, it manages to craft several genuinely chilling sequences that have gone down in horror movie history. George C. Scott’s performance is a highlight, and he brings an element of grief to the story which makes the supernatural elements feel personal. If The Conjuring is shocking, The Changeling is eerie.

The Changeling Influenced Other ‘80s Horror Movies

The Changeling is overshadowed by other ’80s movies like Poltergeist, but there’s little doubt that it was influential. It helped refocus the supernatural genre, and opened the door for richer storytelling that used ghosts as a metaphor for something larger. Because of The Changeling, the motivation behind the haunting became just as important as the haunting itself.

Jumping forward, it’s easy to see how The Changeling directly led to movies like The Conjuring. What’s more, it helped to jumpstart a trend of so-called “smart horror” which involves deeper themes that transcend horror itself. Trauma is now an underlying motivation in horror movies, and even The Conjuring takes a page from the playbook of the 1980 hidden gem.