Jump to content

3 Scary Translations in Horror Movies

The film industry needs translation services. In this blog, we explore why by reviewing 3 horror movies whose bad translation is scarier than the movie.

Translation services are used by various industries as a way for organizations to expand globally. However, over the years, many companies have underestimated how important language solutions are, which has caused blunders in international marketing campaigns.

One industry which is often drastically affected by poor translation is entertainment and cinema.

In this blog, we are going to explore 3 movie titles that were scary for the wrong reasons.

Beware Spoilers ahead!

1. Jaws – The Teeth of The Sea (France)

The famous academy award-winning movie Jaws made $476.5 million at the Box Office but received an unexpected reception at theatres in France.

The original title Jaws was translated to The Teeth of The Sea or Les Dents de Mer. The issue with this came from the second film, Les Dents de Mer De. Which sounds a lot like “teeth of sh**.” This caused a lot of confusion among the audience.

This translation mistake could have been catastrophic. So, when other films in the franchise were released, they paid special attention to the French translation. I think it’s fair to say that they definitely thought twice before opting for free translation services.

2. Ghostbusters – Superpower Dare Die Team (China)

The 1984 classic Halloween movie, Ghostbusters, suffered from arguably one of the worst translation mistakes, with the Chinese translation being “Superpower Dare Die Team.”

This translation left many confused as they tried to decrypt what this film could possibly be about.

In the US, Ghostbusters was one of the most successful comedies in the 1980s. Even though the movie was successful in China, it didn’t make as much as expected due to the bad translation.

3. The Sixth Sense - He’s a Ghost (China)

The Sixth Sense was a title that caused suspense and left people wanting to know more. When this American phycological horror movie was released in theatres in 1999, it saw major success. So much so, it was the second highest-grossing film in America at the time.

Following the success of America, The Sixth Sense entered global cinemas and reached China. Unfortunately, it didn’t get as warm of a welcome as it was expecting. But why?

Well, this was due to the title, which was badly translated to “He’s a Ghost.” Which as many people know, is a massive spoiler as it ruins the surprise twist.

The good news is that the industry has learnt from this mistake and introduced language solutions such as transcreation and localization to prevent this from happening in the future.

Planning on creating marketing content to take your business to the next level or just wanting to avoid translation movie mistakes? Then you need a translation agency like Wolfestone Group.

Wolfestone Group is a translation agency that will meet 100% of your language solutions needs. From translation to localization, we do it all.

Are in interested in finding language solutions that will accelerate your business on an international level? Contact us today to find out more.

Information Correct 24/10/2022

More of our latest insights

CTA

Get the latest translation insights straight to your inbox