Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale Review

• 3rd Nov 2011

It seems that in recent years a plethora of cult films from the 80s (many of which you yourself might well have loved or grown up with) have been, whether fans like it or not, remade by uninventive producers to make a quick buck. Thankfully with this timely release of Finnish Christmas horror film, audiences are blessed with a smart, witty and incredibly enjoyable slice of entertainment. One which has the mischievous spirit of 80s family creature features and still manages to be fresh and different, even at a slim and slender 79 minutes.

This tale of Christmas terror centers around a young boy named Pietari (played by Onni Tommila) and his single father Rauno(played by Jorma Tommila) who notice that strange things are occurring within their small village. When all the local reindeer suddenly turn up mauled to death and the young children of the village go missing, little Pietari takes it upon himself to find out what is going on.

If there is one directors influence which constantly springs to mind when watching Rare Exports, it is that of Joe Dante. In this neat little package director Jalmari Helander channels the Gremlins director, always invoking a sense of well balanced fun and frights within its (understandably) simple story. Never since A Nightmare Before Christmas has there been such a fun and scary Christmas tale, which has such a 80s feel to proceedings.

It’s also a blessing that his feature has little in the way of CGI effects (only slipping slightly during the films final third with a few cheap effects shots). But there is rarely a moment when things feel slow or uninteresting as Helander manages to provided some great set pieces and even a few twists (which will not be spoiled here). Helander has managed to take the various shorts from which this film is based from and craft an enjoyable Christmas feature that breaks all the rules and, thankfully, only has a few moments that fail to genuinely impress as much as the reset of the film.

Ultimately this is a Christmas film for the more cynical among you or those who might deem the yuletide season as a bit cutesy and commercialized. Santa Claus The Movie this is not and this is mainly down to the darkly comic violence that is on display. This is Santa for grown ups and those that grew up with Gremlins and The Goonies from the 80s. It contains a sense of adventure, a boy who is coming of age and enough moments of effective creepiness to make even the seriously jaded Christmas hater think again.

In (put boys character name here) there is a character that anybody young at heart can sympathize with or relate to. Not since Data from The Goonies has there been a child character decked out in some truly impressive, makeshift adventure attire. And certainly there has not been a film since the cult classic The Monster Squad, where you root for the kids instead of the adults.

One of the rare issues with this film is that all of the adult characters are pretty one dimensional, which is a shame considering there are moments of genuine hilarity to have from at least two of the supporting men (one who speaks bad English and the other a jolly rotund gentleman who resembles the stereotypical Santa Claus). It is also peppered with some genuinely bloody scares, most of which will provoke a few jumpy moments even for the most jaded horror fans.

Overall this one of the best anti-Santa Claus Christmas films since Bad Santa. Granted it has its share fair share of faults but this is still an interesting and largely different festive film, filled with adventure and scares. Add to that an interesting twist that is given away late in the film and this all makes for a hugely original film and a rather rare treat.

Highly recommended for all those who have given up with kid friendly, slushy and downright uninventive seasonal fare. It seems Santa is best, not when he is jolly and fat but rather when he is big, bad and incredibly ill tempered. Who’d have thought that?

No extras available for review.

Dominic O’Brien