A Christmas Tale - Rare Exports

Just seen this at a Preview Screening in London.

This was an excellent little Christmas horror film but good enough for older kids above 13 to watch. Its not gory as this is one of those less is more type of films but it is quite creepy. Bizarelly, there is quite a bit of male nudity but its in such a way that you should think nothing of it. It wasn't a big deal to the on screen characters and I suspect somehow that the film makers are not expecting it to be a big deal with us either. But there were a few people in my audience who chuckled loudly and as for me, I did so, quietly, and fleetingly wanting to just watch the film unravel its mysteries.

The child antagonist was absolutely superb playing the typical "why won't the grown ups listen to me" role. How he eventually grabs their attention will have you cheering like hell. The story is well paced and creepy. With a couple of good twists and a sprinkle of humour thrown in the mix.

The soundtrack was pretty bombastic (reminiscent of Michael Giacchino "Roar" track from Cloverfield) which was great but perhaps a little too over used when a bit more subtlety was needed in certain moments of the film.

This film reminds me of my favourite old dark fable movies with child protagonists such as Night of the Hunter, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Lost Boys. In fact I would sum this up as a Stephen King type horror story for the family.

The very ending of the film felt rather overly silly though, which is my only criticism but its not enough to knock any marks off my rating.

This might well turn into a Christmas sleeper hit, if not, perhaps later on, will be a little cult classic

This might be a Christmas story, but note this will give kids nightmares. This Christmas tale is not about a happy child-loving Santa bearing gifts. Oh, no, quite the opposite!

At a drill sit in the mountains, sawdust is found at a depth of 1300 feet. As it turns out, sawdust was used years ago to keep things refrigerated. Story goes, years ago, the Sami people drove Santa onto a frozen lake, and when he fell in and froze, they hauled him out and buried him under rocks, thus creating a mountain. This Santa was a truly evil being.

When local reindeer hunters find hundreds of reindeer killed and left to rot, they blame the researchers and decide to pay them a visit to demand compensation. However, arriving at the site, they find it abandoned - and they discover a huge excavation site.

Young Pietari Kontio believes the pit to be where Santa is buried. Convinced Santa is evil, he fears Santa will come for all the children in town. When his Dad, Rauno (Jorma Tommila) finds a man in a wolf trap and believes him to be dead, Rauno and his friend, Piiparinen, take the man to his slaughterhouse where they decide how to get rid of the body. But they are horrified when the man suddenly comes to and doesn't act human. And this is only just the start of their hellish nightmare.

This film truly is creepy. The old man they found in the pit is a pure evil looking creature. In fact, I found him to be the film's highlight, as I never really knew what to expect from him. The make-up effects and visuals are fantastic, and the performances believable. The foreboding atmosphere significantly intensifies the moment the old man arrives, and had me on the edge of my seat.

Cleverly, this horror film relies entirely on suspense, and not blood and gore. At times the suspense gets under your skin, and I enjoy horror films that are able to accomplish this so effectively. If you're in the mood for a different kind of Christmas story around the Festive Season, then this is the perfect choice. I absolutely loved it and no doubt will be watching it every year around Christmas time. This was well worth the watch!

For me this is one of those films that I just instantly took to heart, it has the sort of implicit comedy that you expect from the Cohen brothers, and a theme which really plays with your ideas of horror. It does help if you have a bit of background in Finnish mythology, there's no explanation, even in the subtitles, of the yule goat, and the word Joulupukki's close links to old stories about a sort of mischievous Christmas devil. It does introduce some of the old stories, but doesn't explain how they are actually commonly known history pertaining to Father Christmas in Finland, and weren't made up for the film or anything like that. Other than that, the film is visually beautiful, musically dramatic to at least the extent that Danny Elfman had ever achieved for Tim Burton, and has a sort of dignity that something with an undercurrent of comedy rarely has, relying on its ability to be funny without trying, something that Quinten Tarantino and the Cohen Brothers often leave us slack jawed over. I definitely recommend it.

I saw this the other day at the London Film Festival and went in with no expectations, not having seen the short films it was based on. It was a fantastic surprise and i would put it right up there, if not in number one position, as the best film festival films i have ever seen. The pace and storyline were top notch and although some of the characters were a bit weak in substance and originality it took nothing away from my enjoyment of the film. This is one i would highly recommend to any film fan except those under 13. Indeed it is one i would be proud to recommend as it has a dark and dry sense of humour and an original twist on the Christmas tale. I will buy the DVD and happily see it again; I rarely say those words these days.

I love Christmas. However, I also hate how television stations here in the US drive us crazy by playing the same old Christmas movies year after year after year--until you start to hate them. Movies like "It's a Wonderful Life" (which they used to air 37923573 times a year until recently) have been ruined because of this. So, in the spirit of being sick and tired of the same old re-runs, I might suggest if you feel the same way you try "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale". It sure is NOT "It's a Wonderful Life" and it's nothing like "Miracle on 34th Street"! It's actually sort of an anti-Christmas movie.

The film begins in the Finnish wilderness. Some Americans are excavating SOMETHING...but what, we aren't sure. Suddenly the scene changes to three men who are trying to figure out what attacked. Hundreds of caribou are dead and they are heavily armed just in case it attacks. Even one of the guy's little boy is armed with a shotgun. I guess life can be hard that close to the Arctic Circle. As the film progresses, the film becomes more and more and more tense, as apparently the thing or things that killed the animals also wiped out the folks excavating the frozen tundra...apparently someone or something is really, really mad! I would love to say more about this sick and rather inappropriate film, but I don't want to spoil the film. Suffice to say that 'Santa' is not their only worry--his crazed, naked helpers are. And you better pray you haven't been naughty!!

Overall, I liked this sick film as it is highly creative. It also had an amazing sense of suspense. Using exceptional direction and great background music, the film was tense beyond belief. However, the story is not perfect. The part where the kid suddenly knew EXACTLY what to do and the adults followed his lead was bad--and a film cliché I hate. Fortunately, what followed in the final scene after they listened to the kid was great--and the ending made me laugh. One final note: there is LOTS and LOTS of male nudity--very, very graphic nudity. I wasn't offended by it as it was not the least bit sexual in nature. And, since parents SHOULD not let their kids see this because of the subject matter, then kids seeing all this naked flesh really isn't a serious concern. Worth seeing...but it is one sick and twisted holiday film. I just hope I don't start seeing it 37923573 every year on the television...though I doubt it.

By the way, the idea for this full-length film originated from two short films by the same filmmaker. I saw the first one years ago and loved it--and fortunately both shorts are included on the disc as special features. Don't forget to watch them.