Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale 2010

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale 2010

So who likes campy holiday horror movies?  Well to be honest I do, but Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is actually much deeper than your average Santa slasher flick (see Santa's Slay 2005).  It is a Finnish flick and is a dark tale around some of the pre-Coca Cola versions of our favorite Christmas character.  It reminds me of an old fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm more than the horror flick I assumed it was going to be.  It might be a bit too dark for me to show it to a child that I don't wish to inflict nightmares upon, but it is pretty comic and has a good child actor in the lead.  It would be fantastic for kids that can handle movies with a dark turn like one of my childhood favorites, Gremlins 1984.  Well other than the liberal use of old man full frontal nude shots...

... Make up your own opinion about nudity and society, but for me this falls under personal opinion and to me it was inoffensive.  The nude shots were mostly from far away and quick so you won't be getting the 'giant blue ween' problem I noted in the Watchmen, but it is definitely there. Combining the nudity, dark themes, and a few translated swear words and this film earned itself an R rating by the MPAA (send them an email to complain about the rating, draconian ruling as usual).  I think the director, Jalmari Helander, might have served himself better with some editing for North American release, but that may have been his only mistake in this flick.  With the budget, style, and content it could not have been handled better.  The effects fall short of a big Hollywood movie, but much like Trollhunter they make great use of what they have.  It is done as realistically as a movie about Santa can be which keeps the camp down to a level that is comic without changing the movie into full blown spoof.  The story is great and the main character, played by Omni Tommila, is a protagonist my inner child identified with. Some of the dialogue is bad as it was translated and some of the characters do some odd stuff, but overall this movie isn't serious enough to worry about problems every holiday flick is guilty of.

Rare Exports is one of those foreign gems that I adore.  It is quirky, fun, and completely outside of the modular story telling I am used to in modern cinema.  I caught a few promo videos and the short films it is based on last year and have been eagerly anticipating its North American release.  After finally getting to see it, I can say that I don't regret the rental and will be picking up my own copy soon.   I would recommend Rare Exports to very open minded families and those looking for a completely different Christmas flick.