Let the Right One In reviews/discussion - 2009 DVDTalk Horror Challenge Day 17

[SomethingMore]

Originally Posted by droidguy1119

The reason I think the subtitle complaints were valid was because already had the right subtitles in theaters and then for absolutely no reason, changed them to be less right on DVD. They went out of their way to hire an entirely different translator to ultimately do a crappier job translating the movie than the track they had already had, and used on both the theatrical prints and any "screener" DVDs that were given to film critics. And then, when people got up in arms about their entirely nonsensical, for-no-reason change, they refused to replace the DVDs. I may not expect to get perfect Language X to English translations in a subtitle track, but I don't speak Swedish, so the only way I'm going to experience the movie is through the subtitles. Thus, the subtitles are basically the "audio" of the film that I'm watching, and I do expect to get the same film on DVD that I got in theaters, which, since they drastically changed much of the "audio", I did not.

this.

I was lucky enough to see this theatrically.

I just spent the last two days scouring Ft. Worth, Texas (again) for a Blu-ray copy with the corrected subs. No luck. The distributor has really handled this poorly.

[caligulathegod]

Originally Posted by Chas Speed

They also used the "vampire must be invited" bit in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It's one of the old vampire legends, but it's not mentioned that much. Do a search on "vampire must be invited" online and you will see it referenced often.

On Buffy they had to go through a whole "uninviting" ceremony to cancel that out, too. I can't stand the Lost Boys, so I can't speak to that, but usually, once invited in a vampire doesn't need invited in again. Fright Night even made a joke about it.

[Trevor]

I hope that no one is letting the subtitle issue stand in their way of seeing this excellent film.

This movie doesn't even need subtitles almost, it is told so well through pictures.

I like it even more on a second viewing (with the 'bad' subtitles).

Can't believe they're doing an American remake of this already. I imagine it will do what remakes usually do, and only tarnish the image of the original.

[cardsfan111]

I suggested this film for the horror film subset. However, I only threw it out there since we needed suggestions and I knew lots of folks in the forum had been raving about this film.

I had picked up a cheap, used copy of this previously and had already planned to watch this for the challenge. Only in the last few days did I read up on all the subtitle issues. I figured my copy was probably the incorrect version and I was right. I just stuck it in the player tonight (slow horror-watching weekend as I meant to get to this earlier) and hit play which turned out to be the dubbed version with no subtitles.

I liked the film. However, after watching and going through this thread I realize I'm not up on all the vampire legends/lore. As a result, I was confused a bit on one or two parts, and as someone mentioned before had to search for an explanation online afterwards.

Honestly, I'm not sure if this movie lived up to the hype for me--best movie of a year, imdb top 250 ranking, etc. That's not meant to discredit what I believe is a good film. I think with a repeat viewing, I'll enjoy and appreciate it even more.

[Trevor]

First thing you need to do next time you play it is to switch to the Swedish audio track. That English dub is awful!

[Chas Speed]

Originally Posted by Trevor

First thing you need to do next time you play it is to switch to the Swedish audio track. That English dub is awful!

If you have only seen the dubbed version you still haven't seen the movie yet. I don't think I could have even made it through the dubbed version.

[cardsfan111]

Originally Posted by Trevor

First thing you need to do next time you play it is to switch to the Swedish audio track. That English dub is awful!

Originally Posted by Chas Speed

If you have only seen the dubbed version you still haven't seen the movie yet. I don't think I could have even made it through the dubbed version.

Definitely will re-visit this film again going a different route. While I was aware of some of the issues with subtitles, etc, I didn't really explore what was the best way to watch it (though I should have perhaps)...guess I was eager to go into the film blindly and thought the more I read about things, the greater the odds I would spoil parts of the movie.

[Chad]

Watched it again (with incorrect subtitles) and enjoyed it even more on the subsequent viewing. Add another to the list that thinks it's the best film of '08.

Originally Posted by Dick Laurent

My only complaint is why Eli didn’t get Oskar’s head out of the pool first. I know it works best how it is, dramatically, but the kid was almost drowning!

I wondered about that too. But it's obviously implied that Eli takes care of her business in a matter of seconds. And that scene sure had a definite Jaws vibe about it.

Originally Posted by Trevor

First thing you need to do next time you play it is to switch to the Swedish audio track. That English dub is awful!

It's a real shame Magnet chose to make that the default audio option as most probably won't bother changing it.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by cardsfan111

Definitely will re-visit this film again going a different route. While I was aware of some of the issues with subtitles, etc, I didn't really explore what was the best way to watch it (though I should have perhaps)...guess I was eager to go into the film blindly and thought the more I read about things, the greater the odds I would spoil parts of the movie.

Rule #1 - Never listen to a dub.

[caligulathegod]

Ironically, Eli's voice is dubbed in Swedish, as they wanted a more ambiguous gender voice and the actress' natural voice is very feminine. That said, it is a vastly better vocal performance than the English dub.

[clckworang]

Originally Posted by Trevor

Rule #1 - Never listen to a dub.

Absolutely right. I was shocked that the English dub was the default option.

This was my first time watching this movie. I'm a bit with cardfan111 that while I really liked the movie, I'm not sure if it quite lived up to all the hype I heard beforehand. Best film of its year? I don't know about that, but it was a great film. Of course, this was also the last movie I watched for the challenge, so exhaustion might have played a role in me not being more enthusiastic about it.

What's funny is that I always thought that Eli was a boy and found it odd that they were referring to her as a girl. Maybe it was a subconscious thing since here in the U.S. "Eli" is a boy's name.

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I think I just need to watch this movie again. I feel I probably allowed my expectations of what the movie would actually be cloud my opinion of the actual film. I might be being critical of what the film isn't as opposed to what it is. Does that make sense? I think I was expecting something that was more violent or graphic. I did love that final encounter in the pool. It was visually stunning.

I've had the Blu-ray for a long time, bought it when it first came out even though I'm just now getting to watching it. So I know I have the version with the incorrect subtitles. I would love to get the corrected version, but it would have to be really cheap. Plus, I do pretty much all my buying online at Amazon so I wouldn't have any guarantee that I would be getting the correct version.