Movie Review: Rare Exports

FANTASY

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE (Oscilloscope)

STARS > Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Ilmari Jarvenpaa, Peeter Jakobi

DIRECTOR > Jalmari Helandar

RATING > 3.5/5

OPENS > DEC 10 (Finnish with English subtitles)

Once upon a time, in the “pre-Christian Alpine traditions” of yore, the figure of Saint Nicholas was accompanied on his holiday rounds by a horned, cloven-hoofed red devil called the Krampus. While jolly old Saint Nick—then dressed in purely snow-white robes—handed out gifts to the good kids, Krampus punished the bad ones, often beating them with birch switches or carrying them back to Hell in his basket (this may or may not be the origin of the phrase “to hell in a handbasket”). Sometime in the beginning of 20th century, the two figures somehow became fused in popular tradition: Santa Claus, now dressed in red, doled out both presents and punishment, the latter usually in the form of coal in the old stocking. Similarly, the threat of retribution for bad behavior became ingrained in the American tradition. “He knows when you’ve been bad or good,” goes the popular 1934 Christmas tune, “So be good for goodness’ sake!”

It was probably only a matter of time before a savvy filmmaker seized upon the fusion of Santa and the Krampus, but it’s still a wonder it didn’t happen sooner. Of course, the idea of a bloodthirsty Claus was introduced to cinema years ago, most notably in 1984’s highly controversial (at the time) Silent Night, Deadly Night and its lesser-known predecessor, Christmas Evil (also known as You Better Watch Out, a favorite of John Waters’). But those were slasher flicks, and in both cases, it was understood that the St. Nick in question was just a killer dressed in a Santa suit. Finnish director Jalmari Helander does something far more clever and insidious in Rare Exports: The film’s evil presence is the mythological Santa Claus himself, buried for centuries in the Finnish Lapland and unearthed by an American excavation company on Christmas Eve.

The movie’s main characters are young Pietari (Onni Tommila), his father Rauno (Jorma Tommila) and Pietari’s slightly older friend Juuso (Jarvenpaa, whose repose, demeanor and dangly earring make him a dead ringer for Joshua John Miller in River’s Edge). When Pietari and Juuso cut a hole in a fence that surrounds the excavation site so they can spy on the proceedings, they inadvertently leave an opening for someone—or something—to enter their isolated village and slaughter a herd of reindeer. Those same reindeer amounted to a year’s income and food supply for Pietari’s father and the other herders. When they set out to find those responsible for the killings, they get quite a bit more than they bargained for.

Superbly shot and expertly conceived, Rare Exports strikes an impressive balance between a genuine horror film and a feel-good family Christmas vehicle. Just when things look as though they’re about to get really gory, Helandar lightens the mood with some broad comedy. Similarly, the goofiness one might expect from what is essentially a family Christmas movie, albeit a fairly strange and highly enjoyable one, is leavened with a darkly imaginative tone. When you pare back the story, it’s essentially about commerce: The excavators inadvertently screw the herders by introducing a new species into the environment, resulting in the death of the reindeer and the potential destitution of the village. By the end, the herders are selling “Santa” to wealthy and willing customers (we can’t really explain without giving too much away), and the whole thing becomes a clever parody of the commercialization of Christmas. Any way you slice it, you’ll never think about Santa—or his elves—the same way again.