Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A group of archaeologists have uncovered the world's best kept secret hidden deep within the Korvatunturi mountains, a being of such ancient and terrifying evil that it had to be locked away for centuries in an icy tomb beneath the earth. But now, Santa has been released, and it is up three of the town's trappers and their brave young boy to stop the creature before it can wreak its bloody vengeance on all of the Earth's children! RARE EXPORTS met with immediate success upon its initial release in 2010, gathering the support of cineasts world-wide as "an instant Christmas classic." Ancient lore mixes with modern humor as director Jalmari Helander explores the darker side of the Christmas tradition. Helander tells this whimsical fairytale with a wink, allowing the twisted humor to flow naturally from his characters as they approach the feral Santa Claus with utter apprehension. Onni Tommila gives a heartfelt and endearing performance as Pietari, who passes easily through the rites of manhood as he conquers his childhood fears in order to save his friends. The only misstep falls on the rushed and gimmicky finale, which breaks away from the slow and deliberate pacing while dispelling much of the film's magic for a few cheap laughs. RARE EXPORTS is a complete departure from any other holiday-themed horror film that will surely be revisited for many years to come.

It's certainly a unique Christmas film. We get a very different take on Santa here. It's a Christmas adventure-horror flick with light doses of humor and a fantasy vibe. The results are quite entertaining. The movie's biggest strength is in it's young lead Onni Tommila. He maybe young, but he proves to be just as talented as the rest of the adult cast. He fits the hero role well despite his young age. The only thing the movie is missing to fully bring it's concept to life is a bit more in the excitement department. It's lacking in action or real tense moments. A final showdown of some sort would have been appreciated. Yet, it's hard to complain when this fantasy-horror is so teeming with imagination. The knowing winks with some well included humor are also appreciated. All in all it's just an entertaining watch that does something out of the ordinary for Christmas films.

Perhaps it's because I saw "Rare Exports" on Steven Spielberg's birthday, but: Director Jalmari Helander was clearly inspired by the grandmaster of the family-friendly adventure **** plot goes like this: In a godforsaken place in northern Finland, right on the Russian border, there's a mountain where Americans are conducting excavations. Because the mountain is actually a gigantic, ancient tomb of the real Santa Claus. Who, in turn, is actually a terrifying monster. A young boy and his father are drawn into the story when all the children in the area disappear and their livelihood – reindeer – is slaughtered by **** just under 90 minutes, you get a watchable adventure from the perspective of a young boy, but it never quite settles on one particular theme. A touch of spookiness with a few monsters, a hinted-at adventure with a rich mythological backdrop, a father-son story (Where's the mother?), a coming-of-age tale, and a dash of anti-Christmas comedy à la "Gremlins" and "Krampus."It's all very family-friendly, endearingly quirky, but also a bit long-winded. While there is a big payoff, the build-up is far too drawn out and fails to make Santa Claus truly menacing. The score and visuals, however, are fantastic, the effects are good, and the ending is delightfully absurd—it's definitely worth watching.

This film sounded more interesting than it really was. I went through the entire movie waiting for something even remotely interesting to happen, but it never did. The first part of the film is extremely boring, and the second half is just average. The problem here is that the origin of this evil, ancient Santa is never fully realized; hell, you never even actually see him. This movie is comparable to having intercourse and having to stop before you get a chance to climax. It's a real shame, too, because the premise was very interesing, so it's a real bummer the movie is such a bore.