Save your money for something good and enjoyable

best movie i've ever seen.

Best movie ever!

Blistering performances.

Set in a small Finnish village near the North pole, a group of men discover what they think is the real Santa Clause. Unbeknownst to them, he is an ancient, evil spirit punishing naughty children. Rare Exports is a dark and clever horror tale with a minimalistic plot, decent performances, and a thrilling atmosphere. Lacking common horror movie tropes, this independent feature shines because of its witty plot and its great use of music to highlight the more thrilling scenes.Overall 7/10 Full review on movie-discourse.blogspot.de

While entertaining, this movie just went completely off the rails in the last third.Story and the atmosphere starts off strong, and it goes strong for a while, in definitely somber horror manner. But then after maybe two thirds, movie and everyone in it just gives up and goes nuts in a boring way. While I'm not going to spoil anything big, I personally found that annoying and very uneven. I see some people found it fun and entertaining, but for me that last third was just "well this is dumb and not good and the it becomes even worse". So it's not bad of a movie for sure, but for me, that last third just killed it because it was just uneven and went to some really stupid places. Places that the director and writer found probably silly and funny but it just felt tacked on and stupid and brought the whole movie down to that one stupid joke with a logo and movie title.

This film has been on my watch list for a couple of years now and I finally sat down to watch it. What a treat! I don't quite understand everyone who comments on its "black comedy" and how "biting and refreshing" the comedy is. I don't see it as a comedy. I get that it plays a little to the camp quality of horror films and as with any good horror flick it has a few moments of truly dark humour but overall I would never classify this as a comedy cult or otherwise. It is a well done and twisted tale on the old Christmas lore. One of the only things I can say "bad" about it is that it ended too soon and could have gone into so much more depth on what was happening on that mountain. I fully expect an American remake and while that tends to lower the quality of the franchise they know that future instalments could really open up this story. There is a distinctive creepy factor about the world they live in, the dark snowy tundra around them and the mysterious mining in the mountain that looms over them. In a true display of low budget brilliance you never actually SEE Santa Claus and I mean that truly I think it was a clever direction to go in because it leaves so much to the imagination and you are never disappointed by having this monster revealed.The cast is superb. Onni Tommila is absolutely brilliant as the young boy who immediately prepares for the worst. While some would say his outfit that he wears through most of the film is "comedic", I think its actually chilling because this little boy believes in the horror that is about to befall him and his family and friends. Tommila has such great charisma on screen and you live everything through him. His father is played by Jorma Tommila (real life father perhaps?) That would explain their exception father/son chemistry. Jorma is perfect as the protective and stern father who already has a creepy butchering barn on his property. The supporting cast are all very good in fairly small roles including Tommi Korpela and Ilmari Järvenpää is particularly very good smaller roles. The actors who portray the elves particularly the very first one see are just brilliant and so incredibly creepy. Hopefully you go into this film not truly knowing a lot about it so that the minor twist to the story surprises you.Director and co-writer Jalmari Helander has crafted a true cult classic. His style and cinematography just suit the film so well and he carefully spins a story that will get under your skin and best of all its truly unique. There are plenty of "slasher" flicks out there about killer Santa's but this is part monster movie, part coming of age film (in a dark twisted sort of way), thriller, action film, horror film and yes I suppose some very dark tongue in cheek comedy though I still debate that point (iMDB also does not list "Comedy" in the genres for this film.) As mentioned before I would truly LOVE to see a sequel to this done in the same clever and careful way this one is crafted. Absolutely check this out for horror fans or if you're looking for something a little bit out of the box. This was a genuine treat!! 8.5/10

In 2003 there was a short film released on the internet called Rare Exports Inc. Then in 2005, with the success of the first short, director Jalmari Helander was able to make the sequel, Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions. Now, Helander has made the feature length film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale and it is extremely creative, and original.Some of the townsfolk in Lapland, Finland are trying gathering the herd of reindeer that will feed them for the cold winter, but they find the herd mysteriously slaughtered. Meanwhile a group of scientists are excavating an ancient grave site on the Korvatunturi Mountain. The grave belongs to Santa Claus, but not the jolly fat man everyone is familiar with. This particular Santa, instead of rewarding the good children, he kills the naughty. This is one film that I never lost focus on. It's beautiful scenery, great acting, fantastic camera work, and the overall suspense that is created is done flawlessly. Now im not trying to give away any spoilers to this film because its amazing how it unfolds. I also recommend watching the two short films (which are on youtube) but not until you watch the full-length film. I think you would appreciate the shorts even more after the full length movie. I give Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale a 9 out of 10.