Reviews

For me this is one of those films that I just instantly took to heart, it has the sort of implicit comedy that you expect from the Cohen brothers, and a theme which really plays with your ideas of horror. It does help if you have a bit of background in Finnish mythology, there's no explanation, even in the subtitles, of the yule goat, and the word Joulupukki's close links to old stories about a sort of mischievous Christmas devil. It does introduce some of the old stories, but doesn't explain how they are actually commonly known history pertaining to Father Christmas in Finland, and weren't made up for the film or anything like that. Other than that, the film is visually beautiful, musically dramatic to at least the extent that Danny Elfman had ever achieved for Tim Burton, and has a sort of dignity that something with an undercurrent of comedy rarely has, relying on its ability to be funny without trying, something that Quinten Tarantino and the Cohen Brothers often leave us slack jawed over. I definitely recommend it.

Clearly rips off Hideo Nakata's Ringu (Ring, 1998) and Hongurai Mizu no Soko Kara (Dark Water, 2002), with hints of Ju-On (The Grudge, 2000), but atrociously done gore (a green corpse with red eyes!?) weak story, and a weak theme (I find it very difficult to find a picture message scary). There were two moments in this film that made me shudder, both involving an unexpected hand, and after Oodishon (another Miike Takashi one, this one from 1999) had me tingling all over for hours after seeing it, and all of the films this steals from were actually scary, I can't see this film as anything other than a sell-out to the western popularity of the big Japanese horror films. Two out of ten.

As far as I can tell, this is the most metal film ever made. The songs are excellent cheesy mid-eighties metal/rock - and everything else in the film matches. Imagine the studded leather jacket - fingerless leather gloves - denim clad, moustache and mullet way of life represented by an anthemic film that represents everything that metal has ever been! Along with memorable songs that stand out by anyone's standards - this film has the dodgy horror plot and posing girls you might expect if one of the cheesiest metal bands of the eighties were allowed to extend their video clip to a feature length film. Everything about this film is awful, but in a way that those who love cheesy eighties horror and cheesy eighties metal (which go hand in hand anyway)should love, and in this, it is paramount.

I saw this on late night TV with a couple of friends, and all three of us were screaming with laughter all the way through it, much to the dismay of the lady of the house. I'm not usually a huge fan of Jackie Chan, but this film was just so funny that it instantly became one of my favourite films ever, and probably my favourite comedy. The stunts were funny and impressed me, the cheesiness was brilliant, and there were a couple of totally classic scenes (particularly the Street Fighter scene). It's hard to explain what makes a film funny, there's something about a girl attacking a huge, built, martial arts guy with a ponytail, and getting punched in the stomach which has you moaning and laughing at the same time, like some Trey Parker/Matt Stone humour, though without ever really resorting to cheap laughs through it (except with the cheesiness, which really adds to it). Loved it, just loved it, a must see.