Customer Reviews

The Substitute

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Substitute (original Danish title "Vikaren") is not a HORROR movie, it's a sci-fi movie with small elements of horror mixed in. This is more of a "family" type of sci-fi/horror movie like Lady in White or Stepmonster. The only reason this movie is rated R is because of a few (maybe 2 or 3) instances of the F-word. Otherwise this movie would be totally appropriate for kids probably 10 years old and up. The special effects are pretty cool for what must have been a very small budget, but they did leave me wanting more. We never get a full-on look at what the teacher would look like in her true alien form, (if you have seen the trailer, you've seen the best money shot in the movie) which is disappointing.

As far as the acting goes, the cast really outdoes themselves. The kids are great (think Goonies or Stand By Me) and the woman who plays the teacher does a wonderful job of tackling a difficult role. If you do buy this DVD, however, ONLY watch the subtitled version with the original Danish language. The dubbed English actors do their best, but it sounds like a Japanese Anime English dub the entire way through, i.e. the kids are all dubbed by 30-40 year old women and sound nothing like kids. 2 or 3 of the boys sound like they were dubbed by actual teenage boys but 90% of the kids just sound ridiculous, especially the main character boy's young sister and the token know-it-all girl in the classroom.

So anyway, if you like your "horror" light and breezy with hints of dark comedy and a whole lot of sci-fi thrown in, check this one out. Just remember to stay far, far away from the English dubbed version!!!

"The Substitute" is not quite in the "so bad it is good" category, but I think it is definitely worth some laughs. The description of the film is fairly straightforward: this sixth grade class is getting a substitute teacher and they suspect that she is an alien. Sounds familiar, right? Well, this 2007 film is definitely another fun example of a movie that strikes you as being cobbled together from more familiar films. You have another teacher as alien like in "The Faculty," but they are teaching sixth graders (which makes them about the age of the kids in "The Goonies"), the flying sphere from "Phantasm," the idea of being taken to another planet like in "Cocoon", and several other cinematic points of reference that you can discover for yourselves. But that is not the main thing that makes this film fun.

THIS FILM IS DUBBED. That is because this is a Danish film and its original title is "Vikaren." Directed by Ole Bornedal ("Nightwatch") with a screenplay by Bornedal and Henrik Prip. When you pop in any of these Ghost House Underground DVDS you get the trailer for "Saw V" (or as we like to call it "Emily's Revenge," because it stars Scott Patterson from "Gilmore Girls"), and the trailers for the other seven GHU movies. The interesting thing about the trailer for "The Substitute" is that you cannot tell that this is one of those gloriously badly dubbed foreign movies that were a staple of afternoon and late night TV when I was a lad. Usually those were Japanese science fiction films like "The Mysterians" or any of the rubber suit monster movies, or the Italian muscle man gladiator type flicks. But just hearing those overly serious English voices mismatched with the lip movements of the actors takes me back to those halcyon days of yore. I forgot to check the DVD to see if you could listen to "Vikaren" in the original Dutch, the way you can listen to the Russian track on GHU's "Trackman," but as much fun as it is to listen to Dutch there is no way it can be as much fun as listening to this dubbed version.

The film stars Paprika Steen as Ulla the strapping blond Vikaren, in an over the top performance that plays well against the kids trying to respond to the crazy substitute teacher that wants to take them back to her planet so they can learn about love (this alone should indicate how big of a difference it makes to do this movie with sixth graders instead of hormonal high school students). Steen, of course, is familiar to Danish audiences in recent years as Line Anders in six episodes of "Der Kommissar und das Meer." Anyhow, she shows up as the titular figure and tells her young charges that they are stupid because they do not know anything whereas she knows everything, which she proceeds to demonstrate. She picks on poor Carl (Jonas Wandschneider) who has "lost" his mother, and Carl makes it his mission in this movie to find out what's up with Ulla. Then the problem is convincing the other kids, not to mention their parents and the town's inept authority figures, before Ulla takes the kids on the world's longest field trip.

The bottom line here is that if you intend to take this film seriously, you are probably not going to like it, especially by the time the chickens come home to roost in the finale. There are some surprisingly decent special effects in "The Substitute," which is interesting because you would think they would not bother given the hokey nature of the story and performances. But ultimately that expenditure of money only adds to the film's odd charm (emphasis on "odd"). Apparently Ghost House Pictures is going to remake "Vikaren" for American audiences, and I guess if we can remake Japanese horror films and Korean horror films then we can remake Danish horror films (although really it is more science fiction than horror). But I have to tell you, having the cast actually speak in English might well take a lot of the fun out of this one.

Part of the Ghost House Underground series of horror movies, THE SUBSTITUTE isn't a horror movie at all. Instead it's a suspense-filled comedy filmed in Denmark. The movie revolves around a 6th grade boy named Carl (Jonas Wandschneider). Carl was recently involved in a car accident in which he was injured and his mother was killed. Carl and his father, Jesper (Ulrich Thomsen) seem to be getting by, but inside each struggles with the death of their matriarch. At school, Carl's teacher takes a suspended leave of absence and the class is presented with their substitute teacher for the rest of the term, Ms. Ulla (Paprika Steen). Ms. Ulla is a strict disciplinarian who knows which buttons to push to keep students quite and get them upset. She seems capable of reading the students' minds and after a series of bizarre events, Carl and his classmates suspect Ulla isn't who she claims to be and soon discover that she's really an alien bent on world domination. Ulla wants to take the students on a field trip to Paris for what she claims is an opportunity to compete in a prestigious academic competition. The students know otherwise and attempt to convince the adults of what they already know before they leave for the trip and Ulla's plan is set in motion.

THE SUBSTITUTE was directed and co-written by the Ole Bornedal. Bornedal has a unique talent of making surreal films that aren't just entertaining, but are based in reality, have a moral foundation, and deliver social commentary. THE SUBSTITUE captivated my attention from the opening scene when a vortex through space opens and a silver sphere crashes to Earth, smashing into a chicken. That scene is hilarious and that dark humor is used throughout the movie. There isn't anything really horrific about the film and the overall mood of the film feels like a teenage mystery story.

My only complaint about the DVD is that the copy I had the film was only available in dubbed English. About 3/4th of the movie the dubbing was okay, not great, but good enough to get by. However, there are moments in the film where the dubbing is atrocious. For instance, I think Carl's sister and the smart girl in his class were dubbed by the same annoying female voice. If you can find a copy of the movie with the original Danish being spoken with subtitles in English, that's the way to watch it.

Overall, THE SUBSTITUE is an enjoyable suspense-comedy with some great visuals (especially considering the low budget of the movie).

The special features on the DVD include a commentary with Ole Bornedal and a trailer gallery of all 8 of the Ghost House Underground movies.

This is a clever horror flick and, for me, is much better than "The Faculty," which it is being compared to here in the other posts. I saw this at a film festival in its original language with subtitles and loved it. Reading the complaints here about the English dubbing reinforces that to truly enjoy this film, watch it in Danish with the subs on.

This was a mediocore movie to say the most. Its your typical "our teacher is an alien" story--but she really is. Its not really creative, not really that entertaining, and the voice-overs are really awful for some of the characters. The storyline is bland. I think they spent the whole budget on the special effects, which were actually kind of cool although there were not that many of them. So far its at the bottom of my ghosthouse movies, but then again there are a few of them I'm not even going to bother with (the reeker for instance)...

movies I have seen in along time. I love the actress who played the substitute. The character of the substitute is fantastic. The way she runs down the smart mouth students Beautiful insults. If this is a horror movie. It is not. Nothing scary. I didn't understand what the chickens were about. I really didn't understand the reason for the silver ball. There is a boy who several times cuts his hair in front of his mirror. I really didn't understand that. Of all the strange stuff I didn't understand it was still a very good movie.

Save your money, poor acting, poor plot, spaced out and boring. One of the poorest movie's Ive seen in a long time and that's saying a lot.

Part of the Ghost House Underground series, The Substitute (2006) is an alien encounter film from Denmark with an odd twisted story that generally holds your interest. With solid production values, quality special effects, and some creative camerawork, it is a good looking film. Being dubbed in English is something of an impediment, as although the dialog makes mostly sense, some of the lines could definitely have been improved. Despite some rough spots, the plot translates pretty well across the cultural barrier, although some of what happens doesn't make sense regardless of what country you are from.

A silver globe from another world, lands on a poultry farm somewhere in rural Denmark. A flying glowing light escapes from the globe, and after dealing with farmer Jens Peter Hansen, who has come to investigate, enters the mouth of his wife (Paprika Steen) while she is sleeping, and takes over her body. Assuming the name Ulla Harms, the woman somehow is appointed as the substitute teacher to a group of sixth grade students.

Ulla's unorthodox methods immediately make an impression, as she calls her students stupid, and seems to know intimate things about them. Ulla's weird and controversial practice of berating her students, soon has her up for review before a group of parents, kids, and the school's administrator, but when she arrives with the education minister, who provides a glowing testimonial, the parents are won over.

After Carl (Jonas Wandschneider), one of the students, discovers some strange evidence in Ulla's bag, he leads a group of his classmates that includes Phillip (Nikolaj Falkenberg-Klok), Albert (Jakob Fals Nygaard), and Rikke (Emma Juel Justesen) over to Ulla's home. Some of the kids enter and see some very strange things, including their teacher having a meal, but when the kids bring a group of parents over later to take a look, the place looks immaculate. Dressed in pajamas, Ulla wins over the parents again, and announces that as a reward, the class will be taking a trip to Paris by bus. Carl's father Jesper (Ulrich Thomsen) winds up piloting the bus, taking the reluctant students to the farm where the alien originally landed, for the film's dramatic conclusion.

Children, many making their film debuts, have significant roles, and with their voices dubbed, it's kind of hard to judge their performances, but overall, they appear to be quite good, with no one trying to be too obvious, or radically overacting. There are a few times when the kids are out of control or say ridiculous things, but mostly the dubbed dialog makes them sound kind of analytical, as they often don't speak or act like your typical kids. Carl's father Jesper, an author, and Rikke's mother Maria (Sonja Richter) a cop, are the parents with the most prominent roles.

The suspension of disbelief that The Substitute requires isn't that difficult. What makes the film work is the quirky performance of Paprika Steen, who kind of plays Ulla, the alien looking for love, as emotionally detached and slightly robotic, often with a semi-blank expression on her face, and incorporating some odd mannerisms into her movements. With an acerbic attitude toward her students, yet sweet as honey to the parents, the effect that Ulla has is fascinating, as you don't really fear her, or hate her for carrying out her mission. You just want to see what weird things she will do.

Creepy and atmospheric, with some very solid special effects, The Substitute isn't a spectacular alien takeover film, but the story is engaging, and features some interesting performances. The English dubbing indicates the target audience, and while not entirely successful, the film translates pretty well. It's worth a look for something in the genre that's just a little different.

Something is seriously wrong w/ elementary school sub, Ms. Ulla Harms (Paprika Steen). Aside from being extremely nasty, she also appears to be able to read minds and see through the back of her own head! The students quickly discern the problem is that Ms. Harms is an alien. Of course, another of her powers is to get all of the parents to think their kids are crazy! Sounds hauntingly similar to my middle school experience! Ms. Harms is up to no good, sent by her native planet to experience love (??). Can the students stop the eeevil Ulla before she carries out her sinister plan? THE SUBSTITUTE is an enjoyable farce w/ a decent story and interesting characters. Paprika Steen is especially good in her role! Get the popcorn poppin'...

the whole premise of this movie is nothing new. the director had an alien come to earth take on the form a sixth grade teacher to help her species survive by learning about love. this movie was hard to watch because the characters mouths and vocies were dubbed so they did not line up. the ending was the best part out of the whole movie. I would say worth renting but not worth spending hard earned money on to own. the ghosthouse underground first collection seems like they would be worth while watching but so far the only one that was worth owning would be dance of the dead. This being it has to do with zombies and I am a zombie fan.