Super Fun Flick!

So I happily spent my weekend reading and catching up on some movie watching in a very quiet house. It was fun, but I definitely had my "oh my god, what do I do with myself?!" moments. 

I usually take this time to watch the kinds of movies I know my SO either won't like or will make fun of. Sadly, the first film I picked was a bit of a disappointment. My second movie, though, did not let me down. In fact, it far exceeded my expectations. 

I thought that I had mentioned Ghost House Underground here before, but it appears that I haven't. Ghost House Pictures, producers of such films as The Messengers and Boogeyman, distributed a string of films last October that they called Ghost House Underground. They're not Ghost House movies, but rather independent films from all over that were tagged and marketed through Ghost House and Lionsgate. I've now seen two of these films and have loved both of them. 

Tonight's movie (Sunday) was called The Substitute, or Vikaren, a Dutch film directed by Old Bornedal (Nightwatch - the original Danish and Ewan McGregor versions). Apparently, in other countries this film is aimed towards a younger audience than here in America. A handful (about 5 if I counted right) of f-bombs were enough to earn it a much undeserved R-rating. Which is not to say that adults won't enjoy it, I did quite a bit, but it is to say that I think a younger audience would appreciate and rather like it as well -- if they can get past the subtitles, that is, because overdubbing is no way to watch a movie. 

Anyway, in The Substitute, a group of sixth-graders must deal with a truly out of this world substitute. Carl, a boy who has recently lost his mother in an accident, and his classmates know that there is something off about their new teacher. It begins with her odd comments, things that no teacher would ever get away with telling a child, and the fact that she seems to be able to read their minds. A search proves that there is no teacher in the area under her name, but the kids' parents are soon put at ease when the head of education appears and reassures them that the teacher is truly wonderful and will do great things with the students. Her goal seems to be to get the kids to advance to a stage where she can bring them as representatives for the region to an event in Paris. The kids try again and again to convince their parents that this is a facade but they remain convinced that the students are merely being kids, creating some fantasy for attention. 

This is such a fun movie. Like I said, perfect for kids for the most part and truly amusing for adults as well. It's not a splatter-filled gory horror, but it's still creepy and the effects that are there are great. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a lighter horror/sci-fi flick; not as many laughs as Shaun of the Dead, but it's still pretty amusing. And I'll bet you'll get a bit of a flashback to Bruce Coville's old My Teacher is an Alien series if you're of my generation of readers. 

Oh, and you should definitely treat yourself to a viewing of the original Danish version because news is that an American remake may be in the works.