The Substitute

[madkevin]

Couldn't find any mention of this via my weaksauce Google-fu: really, really excellent horror movie called The Substitute (or Vikaren in that wacky Danish tongue).

I almost don't want to say anything about it, because the movie is full of surprises. It's basically a spin on the alien-invasion Invasion Of The Body Snatchers motif - it bears some surface similarities with Rodriguez' The Faculty, but is miles away from that in terms of style, tone and general competence. Remember the Bob Balaban movie Parents, with Randy Quaid? Imagine that crossed with Von Trier's The Kingdom and we're in the right ballpark. Zero gore, but impressive and thankfully restrained use of special effects for maximum weirdness. And the actress who plays the substitute is fantastic.

Anybody here see this?

[Juan Rayo]

No, but it sounds really great. Maybe I can find it in some dark video rental around...

[Tom Chick]

I'm kind of meh on it. It reminded me most of Tobe Hooper's Invaders from Mars remake, which featured Louise Fletcher eating a live frog. It's ultimately a bit of a kiddie movie, although there's one pretty shocking effects sequence that was a cheap but effective scare.

But, yeah, it's absolutely worth watching for Paprika Steen's performance. The movie could have used a lot more of her and less Goonies-inspired kid action.

-Tom

[madkevin]

I should note that I saw this before I saw Let The Right One In. Had it been the other way around, my enthusiasm would have been greatly tempered.

[Eric P]

saw this recently and rather enjoyed it

[extarbags]

This one was my favorite of the series:

[Enduro_Man]

There's no substitute for Tom Berenger.

[MatthewF]

Saw this. Subbed is much better than the dubbed version mostly due to the loss of intensity delivered by Paprika Steen's Ulla in the dub. The subs weren't the best, but they were adequate. My favorite part is when it's just Carl and Ulla sitting at the table. Such a great exchange.

Aside from that I didn't really get Ulla's true motives in the end. Oh well. It was still a decent film and had extremely good execution. The various displays of her abilities were neat as well. It's worth watching, I'd say.

[Derek Meister]

This one was my favorite of the series:

How does it compare to Class of 1999 II: The Substitute?

[hanji]

This one was my favorite of the series:

This is more what I was expecting from the thread.