Vikaren

Plot synopsis:
Jonathan Shale (Berenger) is a mercenary and a Vietnam veteran who returns home to Miami after a botched covert operation in Cuba in which three men from his platoon were killed. He surprises his girlfriend, Jane Hetzko (Diane Venora) at her apartment and is warmly welcomed. On the outside, Jane is a schoolteacher at inner-city Columbus High School, an institution with a considerable gang problem. She is particularly disliked by Juan Lacas (Anthony), leader of the KOD ("Kings of Destruction") gang. While jogging one morning, Jane is attacked and has her leg broken. Jane and Shale believe this to be related to the KOD, which prompts the latter to go undercover as an Ivy League-educated, government-affiliated substitute teacher for his girlfriend's class.
Shale arrives at Columbus High School and is, at first, taken back by the lowly conditions. He is unable to control his class of poorly-educated students on the first day, but decides to use his street-smarts and military tactics to gain the upper hand. Soon enough, he is able to take command of the students by displaying his combat self-defence techniques when students attack him. He is warned not to use such methods by Principal Claude Rolle (Hudson), but gains the respect of his students when he bonds with them over the similarities between his early gang and Vietnam War experiences and their involvement in petty crime and street gangs. During this time, he befriends fellow schoolteacher Darrell Sherman (Plummer) and also crosses paths with Lacas, one of his students.
Suspicious of odd conditions within the high school, Shale sets up surveillance cameras throughout the building. He discovers that Lacas orchestrated the attack on Jane. He also discovers that Lacas is secretly working with Rolle to distribute cocaine around Miami for a major narcotics ring. Shale and his team raid a drug deal, using the stolen money to buy music and sports equipment in the form of a "school donation." While Sherman initially denies Shale's discovery, Sherman and a female student inadvertently witness the drugs being loaded into one of the school buses later that day. Sherman tells the student to warn Shale and Hetzko, and sacrifices himself by creating a distraction.
Rolle, who at this point is aware of Shale's interference orders a "car accident" for Shale, and sends Lacas after Hetzko. With the help of another student, Lacas is killed and Shale saves Hetzko, learning the full story from the female witness. Shale and his team garrison the school grounds to enter combat against the remaining K.O.D. members, a rival mercenary company led by Janus, and Rolle himself. Ultimately, Shale and Joey Six end up as the sole survivors of the battle, walking away from the school grounds discussing future operations as substitute teachers.

Tags: cult, horror

Review:
One might be ready to believe a film about Middle School children to be a Ghost House movie.
But, this isn't about Middle School children, it is about the substitute teacher in the 6th grade class.The students know right away that something isn't right, but it isn't until later that they discover just what is wrong.
Of course, their parents don't believe them, and it is up to the kids, one in particular, Carl (Jonas Wandschneider), to save the others.
Of course, Carl is the least likely student to save the day as he lost his mother in a car accident and has not gotten past it.The film has first rate acting by Paprika Steen as the substitute teacher, outstanding cinematography, lots of black humor, a slam on psychology and parents who don't trust in their children, and some really fascinating special effects.I am really impressed with Ole Bornedal, who wrote and directed this film and look forward to his new films..
If this would have been an American movie, the monster would have been silly, the parents understandable in their gullibility and the kids more concerned with their social standing.
Also, anything scary would have probably been removed and the film would have been a Disney production.Well, they do things differently in Denmark, so they have some smart kids, with a complex relationship dynamic, completely ignorant parents that only believe what suits them best (especially when it comes to their children fantasies) and the monster is both fairly benign, totally scary and absolutely alien.The film is thus suitable for both parents and children, although I would call it more a family film with horrorish specks, and even if the whole "planet without love" thing was too corny and not very related to the rest of the film, the movie is watchable and enjoyable.
A Great Movie for Adults and Children.
When an alien comes from another planet to learn the meaning of love on Earth, it possesses the body of Ulla Harms (Paprika Steen), who is the wife of an owner of a poultry farm in Denmark.
Meanwhile, the boy Carl (Jonas Wandschneider) grieves the loss of his mother, who died in a car crash, and is outcast in his school.
When the teacher of Carl has a health problem with salmonella, Ulla is assigned as the substitute teacher for his class.
Sooner Carl and his friends discovers that Ulla is a monster from outer space, but their parents do not trust them and believe the children are fantasizing "Vikaren" (a.k.a.
"The Substitute") is a great movie for adults and children, with a witty story and great performances.
The unknown Danish actress Paprika Steen has an awesome performance with her change of behavior, and her body and facial expressions are fantastic.
She really makes this movie work and I regret only the cover of the DVD that misguides the genre to the viewers, indicating that it is a horror movie when it is actually a funny sci-fi adventure.
A quite simple kids movie plot gets elevated to hilarious heights by the truly inspired casting of Paprika Steen as Ulla Harms, the substitute who dares to say and do all the things some of the more cynical teachers in this world only dream of.
Steen's trademark Dogme-trained nuanced, natural acting this time only serves as a masquerade for a flat-out over-the-top monster, and you can see how much wicked fun she has switching between those two faces, proving her impressive emotional outbursts and character quirks to be nothing but a cold, calculated lie within the blink of an eye.The other actors do fine, too, as only Danish actors can.
Also, his love story with the new girl remains a bit under-developed.
But hey, they're teenagers, love comes and goes quickly at that age, I guess.The film is a great fun romp from start to finish, never buried under the weight of its kid-friendly message, and comes highly recommended.
Mainstream family cinema doesn't get much better than this.P.S.: The only real letdown: right at the beginning of the end credits there is a high school prom dance scene that is totally out of tune with the rest of the film.
It's as if the filmmakers wanted to be 'cool' with the young audience in a way the film otherwise thankfully doesn't feel the need to be..
One of the best surprises I had in early 2008, when one professor brought to the film school where I work one of those "for your consideration" copies for some kind of national academy award.
It was "Vikaren", a very funny, original and sometimes scary science-fiction comedy, in which an ugly alien who comes from a planet where love is unknown, assumes the figure of an attractive teacher to replace the one who, in a Danish school, has to prepare 6th grade students for a competition in Paris.
If you can, do not miss this version (my favorite sequence is the first day she confronts the class!), since Hollywood has already bought the rights for a 2011 remake loaded with special effects --and although we have to give them the chance to prove they can improve something already good, you will lose watching Paprika Steen doing the real thing in Danish.
A Splendid Horror Movie For Children (and Adults).
Usually parents tend to say no to their kids when it comes to horror movies but with 'Vikaren' they should make an exception as it would be wrong to deprive children from the sheer entertaining experience of this film.
Yet, this film isn't restricted to children as adults can easily enjoy it.
Ole Bornedal and Henrik Prip have written a superb screenplay meshing it with both humour, irony and horror while telling a linear story.
The washed out colours and score bring that horror movie feel.
Then there's the outstanding performance of Paprika Steen as Ulla Harms.
Steen beautifully carries the role very naturally and with an amazing balance between restraint and over-the-top acting she just proves what a masterful actress she is.
'Vikaren' is sheer fun and one of the best examples of family entertainment.
It doesn't go over the top in delivering its message while maintaining a fine gradient such that both adults and children could enjoy it to the full..
Sometimes,the cultural context of a movie results very interesting and it adds points to the film itself,independently of its intrinsic quality.As examples,I can mention The Art of Devil 2,a very good horror film which does not only work because of its good moments of tension and the fact that it is unpredictable,but also because of the creepy atmosphere of Thai marshes;or These Girls,a cold and mediocre romantic comedy which wins some points for its portrait of the working-class Canadian culture.Now,I can add to that list The Substitute,an excellent combination of horror and sci-fi which is very interesting for many things,specially for portraying a culture with the exact twist of urban sophistication and rural innocence.The modest premise from this film is perfectly well developed by director and co-screenwriter Ole Bornedal,whose previous movie,I Am Dina,had been very bad for its extremely boring screenplay and the pathetic performance from the main actress.Now,Bornedal has enormously redeemed himself on both fields because,as a co-screenwriter,he built an ingenious and dynamic screenplay full of black humor and,as a director,he could get a brilliant performance from the main actress,Paprika Steen,who completely becomes on her character and never seems to be acting.Also,Bornedal drove the film at a perfect rhythm and got some excellent moments of tension,whilethe movie resulted completely unpredictable to me because there were so many ingenious twists that it was impossible to predict what could happen next.Besides,the main concept behind the movie is audacious and provocative.The only fail I found on this movie was that the brief special effects did not fit with the tone and style of the movie.But,that's a minor fail.The Substitute is a brilliant movie which I recommend with a lot of enthusiasm.I clearly took a very nice surprise with this movie..
After a small Danish school class receives a strange substitute as a teacher, the students quickly discover she's an alien researching humanity and when their cries to their parents go unheeded, try to stop her plan from coming to fruition.This was actually a lot of fun and quite entertaining.
How this one builds up her identity, with the fake name, the strange photograph where objects keep appearing based on the revelations made by the group and the strange mind-control properties and the connection to the chickens make for great fun, and when it gets to the confirmation sequence, it's unbelievably suspenseful and generates a great shock, as well as the science-fiction centered finale that ends this one with some fun times.
There's some mild flaws here, mainly in the fact that the target of this one being centered on kids, and middle-school children even, there's going to be no deaths or even gore opportunities involved which is fine but definitely keeps this far more tamed than it should.
The bigger one, though, is that this one gets revealed so early on that the amount of time taken to convince others and spread the warning to the disbelieving parents feels more like a plot device to keep the movie going rather than any sort of truthful realness had this happened in real-life, but this is still a rather fun effort.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and children-in-jeopardy..
Paprika Steen Rocks!.
The films opening scene explains that aliens know only war.
Their goal is to learn about and understand the human emotion of love.
They take over the body of a farmers wife who reports to work as a grade six school teacher.
Paprika Steen who plays the teacher is fantastic.
It is one of the most amusing and entertaining characters I have seen in a horror film in some time.
The kids figure out almost immediately that there is something not quite right about their new teacher.
The more they learn about their new teacher the more horrified they become.
Unfortunately the films conclusion is a complete and utter crap-out.
This being said this film is still extremely watchable and I think that people who aren't generally fans of the horror genre will also enjoy it.
Not a scary movie, just film, not even a movie..
The scariest part of this movie happens in the first 3 minutes to a farmer's chicken.
After that we are introduced to a dubbed Danish film with poor voice overs.
The acting, the plot, the dialog and direction are like watching some poor Japanese Anime.
I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the little girls and little boys in this film without substance.
She is really great and it shows that she has fun with her role and the overall story.The kids and the parents are good too, the story has some neat twists (although most of them are pretty easy to spot), but it never achieves a status of greatness as I would call it.
Something is still missing, to make this movie great.
It might also be the fact, that once you've seen a few movies, like this one, it doesn't affect you as much.
There are no scary scenes in this film and only one pseudo-startling "large marge" reveal.
This film is about as scary as the average Goosebumps episode - only its three times as long and its predominately shot with a blue filter.
When I first saw the trailer for this film, I knew it was something I had to watch.
I can't remember any Danish sci-fi movies off the top of my head, and I knew that a director like Bornedal would never just tack on such a genre for no reason.
It also seemed wonderfully crazy, and Danish black humour does work very well on film.
When you actually go see the film, you realise that the fantastic elements of the story are only cosmetic, and that the film isn't about aliens with strange powers, but rather about what our society is changing into.The film's acting is spot on; the kids have been cast very well, their characters seeming genuine.
But in the end, with all due respect to all the other actors, Paprika Steen really outshines everyone else.
She is frighteningly effective in her role as Ulla Harms, the Substitute.
Constantly condescending towards the students in an effort to turn them into the best children possible, so they can compete in Paris with other students from various parts of Europe, Ulla Harms is a fantastic villain.
The way she doesn't show any remorse at all towards the students she insults, the way she'll stop at nothing in her quest to discover what love is (which she, of course, tries to do in totally psychopathic manner).One of the few flaws the movie has is that it doesn't really flesh out certain characters who, while not actually very important to the plot, still get a lot of screen time and thus should be made more clear than they were.
The final scene starts out very calmly, with a bit of narration from what I think is Ole Bornedal himself, and then suddenly explodes into a loud and very energetic series of credits.
It didn't really fit in, and it seemed fairly pointless.All in all, the Substitute is a very entertaining movie; part social commentary, part black comedy, part horror.
With stunning performances by virtually all the actors and a very effective script, the Substitute delivered everything I thought it would and much, much more.
I can recommend it to all fans of Danish film-making..
Finally a film, for both children and adults, which takes the kids and their thoughts seriously, with no exception whatsoever.
I have now been able to watch it several times and I keep trying to hold back the tears at the end, where the "lost" son finds his strength through the grief of loosing his mother, now hugging his father with great affection after having stopped the alien's attempt to steal the children's born compassion and empathy for each other.Ole Bornedal shows new modernistic storytelling in a classical and highly professional level, bringing psychology and uniqueness to his own story.
Thankyou for bringing and showing a great touch of the professional heart into film-making; finally.
That's why Ulla (Paprika Steen) has traveled to Earth from her home planet - because all she has on her planet is war.She becomes a substitute teacher for a sixth grade class that Carl (Jonas Wandschneider) belongs to.
Carl just went through the tragic death of his mother, and is seeking treatment.Even though the children bicker amongst each other, they all come together against Ulla when she berates them and treats them like garbage.
They try to tell their parents, but they don't believe them.Then Carl discovers the truth - Ulla is an alien, and she has some plans for the children.
Soon they band together to try and prevent Ulla from getting away with her evil plan."The Substitute" was an enjoyable film - filled with thrills, chills, and even laughter (especially the final climactic scene).
And the acting, especially from these young children, was exceptional for their age..
The Ghost House Underground presents an entry from Denmark with not a lot of special effects, but it sustains suspense and anxiety.
A small-town sixth-grade class gets a substitute teacher.
The children try to alert their clueless parents, but Miss Ulla(Paprika Steen)finds it too easy to manipulate them.
Carl(Jonas Wandschneider)and Phillip(Nikolaj Falkenberg-Klok)convinces the class to take matters into their own hands.
Upon some snooping they find reason enough to believe the substitute is from another planet..
Watched it earlier on fear net, at first i knew it was something eerie but i seemed to like it as the movie went on, it was starting to get strange about this teacher, and this kid who's afraid of heights and this teacher lady was telling him to climb the rope in a nasty way, and i thought why could someone bitch around 6th graders?
And as the movie started to come to an end started to like to see what happens in the end and what the fate would be of these kids plus the boy's father.
so they go on this stupid field trip and these kids are trying to tell their mamas and dads they don't want to go because their teacher is a friggin monster.
But i won't spoil the whole ending but i have to say you have to watch to see what happens.
This is a must see for horror movie lovers..
The story wavers between embarrassingly bad ("The ability to love is what makes humans unique in the universe") and cliché - a Bad Guy looking through the toilet stalls, one by one, for the hero trapped in the last stall, the middle-school boy unable to come to grips with the death of his mother (who was remarkably noxious), the parent who starts dating the alien invader...
you've seen these scenes too many times already.Plot absurdities include a scene transition from a bus full of terrified, paralyzed schoolchildren to the nonchalant children being boisterous the next day, and a printout of a photo, taken by cellphone of an alien data-plate.
Dreadful sci-fi entry from Germany, which features invaders from space who want the emotion of love from the people of Earth, even if they have to kill them for it.
So what better strategy to initiate this cosmic onslaught than to place the vanguard of the invasion force in a dead woman's body disguised as a substitute high school teacher--pretty clever!!
She's on her way to conquering the earth, smashing every human in her path, maybe even becoming the high school principle!
The kids know what's going on though, 'cause they've seen the invader eating live chickens in the barn.
So it goes....not much in the way of a gripping plot or special effects either.