UPDATE: I should point out that I am deeply embarrassed that this is the last thing I posted to my blog. I'm embarrassed that I haven't posted anything new in almost three years (mainly because Facebook is more effective for link sharing and quick thoughts), and that my last broadcasted thought to the world was such an entitled whine.
But mainly I should say that Magnet did finally release this title with the correct subtitles, and (although Magnet initially said it would not exchange copies of the initial release for copies of the corrected one) I was able to convince a local retail chain that my copy was "defective" and make an even exchange for the re-release.
Thirdly, the US remake, titled "Let Me In", is almost as good as the original though it does miss much of the Swedish version's darkness and nuance.
*****
I loved this movie. Loved. Loved. Loved. Loved this movie. I thought about it constantly the week after I saw it and couldn't wait for the dvd release so I could watch it whenever I wanted.
Imagine my dismay, then, when I discovered today that Magnolia, the U.S. distributor for the film, ditched the subtitles that played alongside the film in theaters and attached new subtitles that not only destroy the elegance and dark wit of the film as it was originally translated but also are, on many occasions, just factually wrong.
The horror movie website Icons of Fright has all the details. The oddest thing is, the attrociously dubbed English language soundtrack actually has the correct translation, but the voice acting is so bad, it's almost like watching a bad 1970's kung fu movie. It's literally adding insult to injury.
I want to recommend "Let The Right One In" to everyone, but I have to advise avoiding it until a dvd is released with the correct subtitles or with a more competently dubbed English soundtrack.
