MovieChat Forums > Seddok, l'erede di Satana (1960) Discussion > Who the hell translated the original tit...

Who the hell translated the original title?!

posted 17 years ago by dragster-2
7 replies | jump to latest

It must be because I'm professionally partial here being in the lingo biz and I know very well the "warps" in movie title translators and dubbers, but Atom Age Vampire mystifies me as a translated title. "Seddok: l'erede di Satana" means literally "Seddok: Satan's heir (or perhaps successor)". There is surely something diabolical in Lupo's obsession in wanting to "beautify" Jeanette, but there are no atoms or vampires in the movie whatsoever!

Rob

"I have seen and heard things in my life that are best left UNTOLD!"

[–] zharth 17 years ago

I can understand if you're bitter about the retitling (I do that sometimes myself), but to be honest, I watched the movie with no knowledge of the original title, and frankly, I think the English title fits just fine. Granted, the professor was more of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde character, but there were definitely vampiric undertones, like when the professor goes down on Monique, for example. And as for the "atom age" - is it not obvious? The professor's entire research is based off of the results of radioactive contamination and the after-effects of the atom bomb. So he is, in a way, an "Atom Age Vampire".

[–] dragster-2 17 years ago

Well, the matter is highly subjective in this case, but I would have put the title in a diff way.

"I have seen and heard things in my life that are best left UNTOLD!"

[–] nosnojsirhc 16 years ago

whoever translated it probably was in charge of the dubbing soundtrack script, too. a loser, in other words.

[–] Nullness 16 years ago

Sounds like the original title makes even less sense than the english one.

[–] johnmorghen 14 years ago

It's important to note that rarely were literal translations of titles used in the salad days of exploitation drive-in movies. American distributors cared little about staying true to the source material, but rather attracting viewers, even if it meant slight deception. The new title was intended to attract viewers by cashing in on both the vampire and atomic horror genres. Honestly, a title such as "Atom Age Vampire" sounds pretty damn promising. Whether or not the film actually lives up to it, is besides the point. Our money is already spent.

One of the most absurd examples of retitling has to be Independent-International's version of "La Marca Del Hombre Lobo". The title translates as "The Mark Of The Wolf Man," which seems marketable enough, but Sam Sherman and company decided to change it to "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror". The film contains a werewolf and some vampires but absolutely no relevance to the Frankenstein legend, yet, without spoiling the effect here, the new version manages to tie it together in an implausible, tacked-on explanation at the beginning of the film. Nice save.

[–] offramp_tavanipupu 13 years ago

I cannot see how
"I have seen and heard things in my life that are best left UNTOLD!" would have been a better title at all.

[–] Strazdamonas 13 years ago

They do it all the time. and they should be hung for it.

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"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire