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Christmas is just around the corner, and it’s time to see brilliant classic movies, but if you are not in the mood to see Home Alone or Jingle All the Way for a millionth and want to see some adult movies. We at CinemaBlind have prepared a list of 11 best R-rated Christmas movies you can check out.

Violent Night (Starz & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures

Violent Night is a Christmas action comedy film directed by Tommy Wirkola from a screenplay co-written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. The 2022 film follows Santa Claus as he comes across a wealthy family’s compound, where an elite team of mercenaries has kidnapped the family on Christmas Eve. Violent Night stars David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, and Beverly D’Angelo.

Die Hard Credit – 20th Century Fox

Die Hard...

Throughout the month of December, TV Editor Kate Kulzick and Film Editor Ricky D will review classic Christmas adaptions, posting a total of 13 each, one a day, until the 25th of December.

The catch: They will swap roles as Rick takes on reviews of television Christmas specials and Kate takes on Christmas movies. Today is day 12.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2008)

Written and Directed by Jalmari Helander

What’s it about?

10 year old Pietari lives near the Russian border, where a dig has unearthed something ominous warranting very strange safety protocols- no swearing, no smoking… Pietari does his research and plans for the worst- Santa Claus is coming to town.

Review

Perhaps the single most universal aspect of Christmas in popular culture is the look of wide-eyed delight and wonder in a child’s eyes at the prospect of Christmas, presents, and, most of all, Santa Claus. Rare Exports...

Those of you who still haven’t seen director Jalmari Helander’s “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” are seriously missing out on one of the sharpest motion pictures of 2010. The film, which stars Jorma Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, and Onni Tommila, was released here in the States on October 25th, 2011, courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories. The distributor has gone above an beyond for this edition of the film, and the feature looks incredibly sharp and colorful on Blu-ray. Much like “Attack the Block” and “Super 8″, Helander’s holiday-themed chiller utilizes the “children in adventurous peril” scenario to great effect. I recently had the opportunity to toss a few questions in the director’s general direction, the answers to which you can find below. ——— Todd Rigney: What was the inspiration for the original “Rare Exports” short? Jalmari Helander: I always wanted to do a movie about the Real Santa. That...

Rare Exports director Jalmari Helander discusses his Christmas classic Rare Exports and more.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is certainly on its way to becoming a new holiday classic, in a very non-traditional way. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, which will surely make great a stocking stuffer for anyone in your family who appreciates a Christmas tale served up with a genre flair. I recently had the chance to ask director Jalmari Helander a few questions about Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, the origins of the story, a potential sequel, and more. Here's what he had to say below.

When you made the first Rare Exports short film in 2003, were you setting that up as a proof of concept for a feature film down the road, or did it all branch off the popularity of that short?

Jalmari Helander:...

Chicago – There’s a beautiful irony in the clever comedy/fantasy/thriller “Rare Exports” in that the majority of the action of the piece is begun by kids acting naughty. Remember who knows when you’re naughty? Why, Santa knows, of course. This wonderfully unique Christmas tale reimagines the legend of Santa Claus as a decrepit, immortal killing machine, one that has been buried for years and only recently unearthed and happened upon by some unlucky hunters.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

“Rare Exports” began life from a pair of short films (both of which are included on yet-another stellar Oscilloscope Blu-ray release…this company is second only to Criterion in terms of worthwhile bonus material and memorable packaging) and, while I admire the final product enough to recommend a viewing, the film’s origins are clear. Even at 82 minutes, it feels a bit long as there’s not quite enough material here to support a feature-length film.

The unique holiday movie Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale arrives on Blu-ray and DVD October 25. We are celebrating this new Christmas movie with a new contest where we're giving away copies of the Blu-ray and posters as well. These prizes will certainly go fast, so enter this contest today.

Winners Recieve:

Rare Exports Blu-ray

Here's How To Win!

Just "Like" (fan) the MovieWeb Facebook page (below) and then leave a comment below telling us why these prizes must be yours!

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It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an 'archeological' dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn't the one you want coming to town. When the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the...

We have an exclusive featurette for the upcoming home video release Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, which arrives on Blu-ray and DVD October 25. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is also currently available on iTunes and VOD platforms. Click on the video player below to watch early rehearsal footage from this holiday cult classic.

Click to watch Exclusive: Rehearsal!

It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an 'archeological' dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn't the one you want coming to town. When the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa's elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare...

Chicago – “What you are about to see now may traumatize you for life.” So reads a warning near the beginning of Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander’s 2005 short, “Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions.” The film was a clever follow-up to his 2003 effort, “Rare Exports Inc.”, which seemed to milk its one-joke premise for all it was worth.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

The “exports” of Helander’s films are in the form of bloodthirsty Father Christmases hunted and tamed by reindeer herders near Korvatunturi mountain, which the film bills as the “land of the original Santa Claus.” Who are these gray-haired, unclothed, rawly animalistic creatures? Why are they filled with such fearsome rage when a nearby mortal mildly misbehaves? In the side-splitting yet genuinely eerie “Safety Instructions,” these alleged “Father Christmases” seemed to be little more than elderly zombies.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” in our reviews section.

Quickcard Review

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Directed by: Jalmari Helander

Cast: Jorma Tommila, Onni Tommila, Peeter Jakobi

Running Time: 1 hr 24 min

Rating: R

Release Date: December 3, 2010 (limited)

Plot: In the Korvatunturi Mountains in Finland, an excavation unearths the resting place of the original Santa Claus, so they decide to dig the fat boy up! Except, he’s not nearly as friendly as the children’s stories would have you believe…

Who’S It For? Fans of wacky foreign films and I don’t mean “wacky” as in “goofy, light-hearted fun.” I mean bizarre and incredibly original, in a very dark sort of way.

Overall

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale looks absolutely phenomenal. The direction is outstanding and the cinematography will blow you away as it sweeps you across the deep snow fields of Finnish mountains. Plus, you’ve never seen an action/horror movie where Santa is the antagonist before,...

Finnish flick 'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' arrives in theatres both here in the UK and stateside this Friday and it's certainly been ramped up in the marketing stakes this seasonal period with screenings, trailers and even a caged Santa appearing in carnaby Street in London last week. So with an 'expected' semi-success already on the cards for Jalmari Helander's new dark fantasy flick studio fat cats across the pond are already eyeing up a potential remake! The director himself confirmed 'There's lot of conversation about the remake right now.' says Helander. 'We're seeing what's happening. It would be interesting to see an American, more mainstream version [of Rare Exports]'. - Not entirely sure that's true, and not entrely certain it's necessary whatsoever. Per Christian Ellefsen, Peeter Jakobi, Tommi Korpela, Jorma Tommila, Jonathan Hutchings and Onni Tommila all star....

Why is Santa a bit peeved in Jalmari Helander’s “Rare Exports”? Um, hanging him from the ceiling will just about tick anyone off, apparently. Check out a clip from the imported horror flick “Rare Exports”. You can read our review of the movie here. On the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, an archeological dig unearths Santa Claus. This particular Santa, however, isn’t the one you want coming to town. When most of the town’s children go missing, Pietari and his father, a local hunter named Rauno, come into possession of the mythological being. Rauno’s clan of hunters attempt to cash in on the opportunity by selling Santa back to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. What ensues is nothing short of a wildly humorous nightmare — a fantastically bizzare polemic on modern day morality. Starring Per Christian Ellefsen, Peeter Jakobi, Tommi Korpela,...

ComingSoon.net's ShockTillYouDrop.com has your exclusive first look at the poster for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale , opening in theaters on December 3. Written and directed by Jalmari Helander, the film stars Tommi Korpela, Per Christian Ellefsen, Jorma Tommila, Jonathan Hutchings, Onni Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Ilmari Jarvenpaa and Rauno Juvonen. You can check out the poster and learn more about the film here !

Last night, Apple went a little trailer crazy and as well as posting the new trailer for Sanctum, they gave us one for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. The movie is directed by Jalmari Helander and stars Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Per Christian Ellefsen, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Ilmari Järvenpää and Peeter Jakobi.

Synopsis: It’s the eve of Christmas in northern Finland and an “archeological” dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town. When all the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa’s elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare – a...

Forget everything you know about Santa Claus... It's all lies. Are you ready for an early Christmas present? You've probably heard about this (or knew we'd one day see it) but there is a film coming out this year that is a horror movie about Santa Claus. He's apparently a deranged killer who doesn't like when you're naughty, or something like that. Twitch has debuted a trailer for Rare Exports, a Finnish horror fantasy with Peeter Jakobi as Santa Claus, written and directed by Jalmari Helander. It actually looks surprisingly quite good, at least it has strong visuals, and I can't wait to see Santa go crazy on these people. It's in English, check it out! Watch the official trailer for Jalmari Helander's Rare Exports: A movie for those who think they don't believe in Santa Claus anymore... In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486M deep, lies...

Rare Exports Concept PosterRare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a film from Finland, which puts a dark note on the most notable of Christian holidays. Santa is kidnapped and the locals will need to find a way to free him from an overzealous developer. This picture shows at this year's Toronto International Film Festival beginning September 14th and there are more details inside including a teaser trailer.

The film's tagline:

"This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus" (Rare).

The synopsis for Rare Exports here:

"In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up!" (Rare).

Release Date: September 14th (Limited Run).

Director/writer: Jalmari Helander.

Cast: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Per Christian Ellefsen, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter Jakobi, Jonathan Hutchings, Risto Salmi

One of two teaser trailers available for the film:...