Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale Photos

View All Photos (12)

Cast

Onni Tommila
as Pietari

Jorma Tommila
as Rauno

Ilmari Järvenpää
as Juuso

Peeter Jakobi
as Santa

Per Christian Ellefsen
as Riley

Tommi Korpela
as Amimo

Rauno Juvonen
as Piiparinen

Jonathan Hutchings
as Greene

Risto Salmi
as Sheriff

View All

News & Interviews for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Critic Reviews for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Audience Reviews for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

• Dec 30, 2019

  This movie wasn't really what I expected it to be. If you're anticipating something on the level of Krampus or other American Christmas horror entries, it's not really that. It is definitely a darker take on Christmas, but it does so with a much cheekier edge. It's a slow-burn movie, more character driven, and based on ideas and storytelling moreso than outlandish imagery and effects. That said, there's some pretty insane stuff near the end, but a lot of this movie is the characters learning the legend and figuring out what's going on for themselves. For that, it still works for me. I enjoyed the characters, and even though I knew what they were going to discover how they discovered it was still fun to watch. It's a weird little film.
  Michael M Super Reviewer
• Dec 11, 2018

  I love the idea of looking at the darker aspects of the Santa myth, but the movie just never fully realizes its potential.
  

  Alec B Super Reviewer
• Sep 11, 2014

  Completely loopy Scandinavian riff on the Santa Claus legend told as a foreboding ghost story! He originally wasn't the rosy-cheeked character he's become for today's commercial marketplace you see, the historic Santa was vicious and posed a particular threat to naughty children. When a wealthy businessman locates the body of the first Santa literally buried under a mountain in Finland, the nearby villagers deal with the ramifications. Well acted and wholly original Christmas escapade never really experiences any flashpoints, preferring a muted and realistic (believe it or not!) approach leading to an inspired, pleasingly ridiculous ending.
  Doctor S Super Reviewer
• Feb 26, 2013

  In "Rare Exports," Rauno(Jorma Tommila) is incensed that the annual Christmas Eve reindeer roundup has been ruined when he and his fellow hunters come across the carcasses of nearly all of the reindeer which cost them upwards of $80,000 in lost profits. The target of their ire is the drilling site near the Russian border but luckily for the outsiders, nobody is home. Rauno's son, Pietari(Onni Tommila), had snuck over there earlier this month with his friend Juuso(Ilmari Jarvenpaa) who asks his younger friend to not only keep quiet about that and the hole they made in the fence but also all of his crazy sounding theories concerning fairy tales and Santa Claus. "Rare Exports" is a well-photographed movie. Aside from that, it has a truly original take on the Santa Claus mythos and a neatly subtle approach to its dark material which I would normally appreciate. However, in this case, the movie is mostly all suggestion. As noted expert Stephen King would say about horror, you have to deliver the goods at some point which this movie sadly does not do. That's not to mention an ending I'm not sure what to make of. Otherwise, that leaves some neat father-son interaction and lots of stuff on arcane Finnish hunting regulations.
  Walter M Super Reviewer

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale Quotes

Movie & TV guides