UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Fantasy >

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

December. 03,2010
|
6.6
|
R
| Fantasy Horror

Young Pietari lives with his reindeer-herding father in arctic Finland. On the eve of Christmas, a nearby excavation makes a frightening discovery and an evil Santa Claus is unleashed…

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Moustroll
2010/12/03

Good movie but grossly overrated

More
ShangLuda
2010/12/04

Admirable film.

More
WillSushyMedia
2010/12/05

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

More
AnhartLinkin
2010/12/06

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

More
sol-
2010/12/07

Having discovered that the "real" Santa Claus was a half-man monster who punished naughty children before being frozen in ice, a young boy living in icebound Finland comes to suspect that Santa has been dug up and unfrozen when his father's reindeer herd are slaughtered in this decidedly offbeat Christmas movie. The film gets off to a strong start with some truly horrific drawings of what Santa apparently actually looks like and the reindeer slaughter is certainly quite eerie. The film spends too long though building up suspense and tension with the suggestion that Santa is on the very verge of going on a rampage; it is an over hour in before any real action as such begins... and the overall film is less than an hour and a half long! The payoff is not even as frightening or thrilling as it is built up to be (we never see Santa actually punishing naughty children) with the film eventually coming off as a fairly prototypical monster movie, Christmas twist aside. It is hard not to admire the film's willingness to challenge conventional notions of Santa Claus and Christmas, but at the same time, the potential for more is striking. The mythology only ever seems half-developed without the right dose of exposition, and it is no surprise to learn that the film was spun off from two short films by the same director that, apparently, explain things in more detail. The film at least ends on a strong note with a memorable suggestion of where one traditional Christmas staple comes from, and the overall film is daringly different no doubt - but not for all tastes.

More
botev1921
2010/12/08

No disrespect to the Hollywood holiday crap, but that kind of masterpiece would have never been made in the US and that's the beauty of European cinema. The moment I saw certificate 15 on a movie with little kid on the poster, supposedly about Christmas, I was intrigued and it delivered from start to finish. You won't find the commercial "Coca Cola" Santa in this and you won't get any heart-warming family crap about Christmas - it is dark, intense and full of emotion piece of art that can only be made outside the US. Of course one should not show it to their 7-8 year olds, but while it is being described as a horror by some, it is more of a thriller type of movie, closer to Orphan than Hostel. The acting is superb and Onni Tommila leads a small but exceptionally committed cast, directed to perfection.

More
Armand
2010/12/09

bitter story. dark humor. new version of an old story. seductive for the science of mixture. and for a remarkable performance of young Onni Tommila. a film about courage and wise childhood,about adults and their lost of basic signs perception. ironic, almost sarcastic, seductive and clever, it is a good film against its imperfections. and key is courage and science to use a mythology in a different manner. result - a puzzle and a special end. and the interesting fact is to be a Finnish story not only for team or production, script and actors but for its essence. a risky work with smart result. maybe, not exactly a Chrismass movie but useful as a bitter comedy with its own taste.

More
Callum Assinder
2010/12/10

A creepy tale about Santa Claus, a demon-like horned creature that spanks children who are naughty to death and who apparently also eats raw meat. During the movie they showed great illustrative depictions of Santa which was a little bit of a let down when they find the real Santa, a creepy and skinny old man. Later it is unraveled that this is actually one of his many elves who are hellbent on protecting their boss (also explains how "Santa" can be in more than one place at once) The real Santa is a huge horned creature encased in an enormous ice block prison. My only issue is that you don't get to see the real Santa in action whatsoever, this may well be due to the budget of the movie, it also annoyed me how easy they managed to do away with him. But all in all, a very original title with a lot of great things going for it! Finding a decent stream of this in English was hard work but definitely worth the time. Will probably watch with friends at some point in the near future :)

More