Review of Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) by Johnny T — 20 Dec 2015

Rare Exports is an unexpectedly delightful crossbreed of deadpan comedy and Christmas horror. Rare Exports is a darkly amusing and mildly menacing film whose chief benefit is the skewed courage with which it undermines all that is decent and heartwarming at this time of the year. The end gets a little silly, but the building tension of the first two acts allows for some deliciously creepy moments and a true feeling of dread: the sense of something very old, and very hungry, shuffling toward you in the Yuletide dark. The focus of this bizarre Finnish fairy tale - as black as anything the Brothers Grimm could have dreamed up - is a sinister old codger who chews off ears and whose demon minion kidnaps innocent children. Both a father-son bonding picture and a Santa-skewering satire, this oddball tale of life on a snowy mountainside is consistently upbeat and surprising, with action intensity that stays sturdily at Goonies level. What's awesome about movies from other countries is that you get to experience strange juxtapositions of elements you might not find in Hollywood movies that get test-marketed until all the jarring bits have been sanded down. Beautifully shot and always fascinating, Rare Exports succeeds on many levels. But the final payoff just never seems to come. A bloody, but oddly entertaining, holiday ho-ho-horror story.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).