Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
2010 ‘Rare Exports’ Directed by Jalmari Helander
Synopsis
He knows if you've been naughty. He knows if you've been nice. And he doesn't give a sh*t.
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 fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality. RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE is a re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, and is a darkly comic gem soon to be required perennial holiday viewing.
Cast
Per Christian Ellefsen Jorma Tommila Tommi Korpela Onni Tommila Jonathan Hutchings Rauno Juvonen Ilmari Järvenpää Risto Salmi Jens Sivertsen Sigmund Bøe Olav Pedersen Nils M. Iselvmo Steinar Skogstad Nils Nymo Hjalmar Iselvmo Steinar Tunes Torgeir Fosberg Tor Kvammen Hans Prestbakmo Alf Roald Pedersen
Studio
Genres
Popular reviews
More-
Well this turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of last year. After the great trailer and positive reviews I was gutted I didn't get a chance to see it at the cinema but sadly the film was not worth the wait. There are of course some positives about the film: the core concept has bags of potential (and is sadly wasted at every turn), the cinematography is great and performances are fine. Unfortunately the film is a string of missed opportunities.
I've seen the film compared to everything from John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro and '80s Amblin films but this is a massive exaggeration because what we end up with is a boring film that takes an…
-
If you're looking for a different, more twisted kind of Christmas movie, you should definitely check out this utterly unique fantasy/horror/adventure from Finland.
A group of scientists have located, way at the top of an ominous mountain, the ancient, frozen tomb of the one and only Santa Claus. Only this isn't the same, cuddly Santa we think of today. Apparently, the REAL Santa Claus is a bearded demon that EATS naughty children (and anyone else that gets in his way)!
With the scientists easily dispatched (Santa's hungry after being asleep so long!), it's up to a few reindeer-herding (and shotgun-packing) farmers and one plucky little boy (Onni Tommila) to put this monstrous, evil Santa back to rest...permanently.
As the great…
-
A weak third act almost brings down an otherwise great movie, but it's nevertheless unique and highly enjoyable.
Beer: Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer - 4.5/5 (now THIS is a ginger beer!)
-
Who knew a film about an evil Santa could be so painfully boring? At 80 minutes this felt very long. Sorry to Grinch out but this didn't work for me at all. I was just waiting for something cool to happen and it never did.
-
Until recently, I had no idea that Scandinavia was producing really fantastic genre films. In just the past few years, Sweden has released LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, Norway has released THE TROLL HUNTER, and Finland has released RARE EXPORTS. This film has a wonderful blend of horror elements, Lapland mythology, Christmas iconography, and frames it inside of a kids' adventure movie (not unlike Monster Squad or The Goonies). The small Finnish mountain town setting is gorgeously sparse and desolate, and the photography is sharp and well executed.
-
There have been some fantastic films out of Finland recently. The fabulous Let the Right One In and more recently with Troll Hunter, so I entered Rare Exports expecting something half decent with a few comical offerings. It almost succeeded but only just scraped a 2.5/5. The first act was great with a creepy feel that began to set the story up nicely. What I did not expect was a third act that quickly descended into a mess of over the top low budget effects. Disappointingly they seemed to spend all their budget on every little effect in the third act apart from the big pay off... The actual one you wanted - no, needed to see.
Rarely funny with…
Recent reviews
More-
Film 39/100 of the June Challenge
Creepy, humorous, and super entertaining. That's all that can be said about Rare Exports without spoiling the film's fun surprises. Although the third act has multiple ending syndrome and becomes overly sentimental, this is one of the better Christmas films to come around in a long time and despite its 80 minute runtime, it manages to create developed characters, a cohesive and complete story, and overall a rollicking and original roller coaster ride.
-
The film builds up well, with ancient lore, kids going missing, creepy dolls but eventually boils down to naked old men walking around not really doing anything. Its a stupid, fun ending but if you go in blind, you might get excited for a horror film and be disappointed.
-
There have been some fantastic films out of Finland recently. The fabulous Let the Right One In and more recently with Troll Hunter, so I entered Rare Exports expecting something half decent with a few comical offerings. It almost succeeded but only just scraped a 2.5/5. The first act was great with a creepy feel that began to set the story up nicely. What I did not expect was a third act that quickly descended into a mess of over the top low budget effects. Disappointingly they seemed to spend all their budget on every little effect in the third act apart from the big pay off... The actual one you wanted - no, needed to see.
Rarely funny with…
-
30 Countries in 30 Days Film #1 - Finland
This movie is generally entertaining and kept my attention, but it does not live up to the potential of the concept. I was expecting more from this. It is not dark enough for a horror, not funny enough for a dark comedy.
Enjoyable, but forgettable.
-
[pass] (22min) Glacial pacing left me cold. ; )
-
Pretty ambitious project for an adaptation of an online-published short (vimeo.com/16878465). There is some quite good father-son drama and the take on the Father Christmas myth is done quite well. It's worth seeing, though be ready to see some naked old men.
-
This movie has more empty promises than a drunken daddy with anger management problems who hasn't bought his kids anything for Christmas yet.
And like a desperate, present-less parent on Christmas Eve surrounded by closed shops and a lack of crafting ability, the movie delivers something creative but far short of the real presents us kids were expecting.
I wanted a Giant Buried Santa playset and all I got was a box of air fresheners from the corner gas station!
-
ótimo filme de humor negro
-
This week Cory kicks off the holiday season with Rare Exports, and Forest reviews the anthology film from 1990, Tales From the Dark Side. Cory also shares his weekend tale of how he met Elvira at the Steel City Comic Con. All this and Forest explains how he is a beer chugging thief! Pour yourself a big glass of Eggnog and enjoy.
Also, the guys have a philosophical conversation about micro brews & Rocky films, and make sure to check out Big Sushi's edition of Spoiled Sushi in which they review and discuss The Walking Dead video game.
Listen to, and download the podcast at Slaughter Film
Listen to us on iTunes
Like us on Facebook