This horror/comedy/fantasy from Finland makes it very clear that Santa is weird, not only that but he kills children.
Close to Christmas among the mountains of Finland something strange is happening. A team appear to be drilling into one of the mountains, whilst down below the local residents get ready for the reindeer round up, only to discover them dead. One young boy does some research and finds that centuries ago the original Santa was killed by the Sami people and they buried him under a man made mountain. The original Santa was a despicable person, who took children and 'spanked' them to a pulp if they had been bad. But now with people disturbing the mountain, it seems that Santa is making a comeback.
The idea itself, is a truly brilliant one: Gone are the white beard and the rad coat, now Santa is a evil and massive demon with huge horns and minions of old men who are his elves, who collect children for their master. Gone are the white beard and red coat. With it's blend of classic horror, likable kid/hero, dark humour and a twist on myth, Rare Exports has a lot to enjoy, with both funny moments and some great moments of tension, it's a great piece of entertainment which really shows that Santa is a bit weird (sit on an old man's lap, child?).
The latter part of the film was maybe a little bit more of a silly approach, (hey that boy is just hanging onto a massive net of kids in sacks being carried by a helicopter!), but perhaps no more than the actual idea. The scenery looks splendid and the final outcome is great and makes sense of the title (although some may be aware of the two shorts sequels on youtube) but it's just a shame we didn't get to see the original Santa.
More of my reviews at iheartfilms.weebly.com
Close to Christmas among the mountains of Finland something strange is happening. A team appear to be drilling into one of the mountains, whilst down below the local residents get ready for the reindeer round up, only to discover them dead. One young boy does some research and finds that centuries ago the original Santa was killed by the Sami people and they buried him under a man made mountain. The original Santa was a despicable person, who took children and 'spanked' them to a pulp if they had been bad. But now with people disturbing the mountain, it seems that Santa is making a comeback.
The idea itself, is a truly brilliant one: Gone are the white beard and the rad coat, now Santa is a evil and massive demon with huge horns and minions of old men who are his elves, who collect children for their master. Gone are the white beard and red coat. With it's blend of classic horror, likable kid/hero, dark humour and a twist on myth, Rare Exports has a lot to enjoy, with both funny moments and some great moments of tension, it's a great piece of entertainment which really shows that Santa is a bit weird (sit on an old man's lap, child?).
The latter part of the film was maybe a little bit more of a silly approach, (hey that boy is just hanging onto a massive net of kids in sacks being carried by a helicopter!), but perhaps no more than the actual idea. The scenery looks splendid and the final outcome is great and makes sense of the title (although some may be aware of the two shorts sequels on youtube) but it's just a shame we didn't get to see the original Santa.
More of my reviews at iheartfilms.weebly.com