211) Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

"The real Santa was totally different. The Coca-Cola Santa is just a hoax."

Director

Jalmari Helander

Cast
Onni Tommila - Pietari Kontio
Jorma Tommila - Rauno Kontio
Tommi Korpela - Aimo
Rauno Juvonen - Piiparinen
Per Christian Ellefsen - Riley
Ilmari Järvenpää - Juuso
Peeter Jakobi - Pietari's Elf

I wanted to review a sci-fi Christmas movie for my platform 1000daysofscifi.blogspot.com. My first post over there, "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" is the only sci-fi Christmas movie I know of. Otherwise, I had trouble finding another one. 

When Googling other movies in the holiday sci-fi subgenre, if there is such a subgenre, I came up with a list of Christmas movies that look more like horror that sci-fi. One of the movies suggested by Google was the 1984 movie "Gremlins." I suppose that can be labeled science fiction. It is a Christmas movie. Afterall, the holiday plays an integral part in the "Gremlins" story, so it checks that part of the formula in what constitutes a Christmas movie. As for sci-fi, that's another discussion for another time, which I'll probably never have on this nor any of my other platforms. 

On IMDB's list of "Christmas Movies SciFi & Horror Style" the titles I found there seem to be horror rather than sci-fi. 

And "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale" from 2010 is number one on the list. So, I cozied up in a Christmassy blanket, poured me a glass of egg nog and brandy (I can't have one without the other) and watched this list-topping sci-fi or horror movie. 

"Rare Exports" is a Finnish movie labeled as a fantasy action horror comedy. The horror is light. The fantasy is moderate, and the action increases as the story progresses. Above all, it's certainly a take on Santa Claus and his lore the likes of which I haven't seen in any other movie. 

The film starts as a research and excavation team, working for the firm "Subzero," are drilling for samples on top of a fell called Korvatunturi located in the Lapland region of Finland. 

Riley (Per Christian Ellefsen), the excavation leader, thinks this fell is really a burial site built by the ancient native people known as the Sámi. He hopes to unearth the remains of Santa Claus whom he believes is buried within. 

Meanwhile, from the village at the foot of the fell, two young boys, Juuso (Ilmari Järvenpää) and Pietari (Onni Tommila), sneak up to the top of the fell to watch the workers blast open and search inside the alleged huge burial site. Pietari lives with his father, Rauno (Jorma Tommila), in the village.
Juuso tells Pietari that Santa Claus is, in fact, real. However, the common depiction of Santa as the jolly old fat man dressed in red is made up. The real Santa hands out punishments to bad children that are far more severe than putting coal in their stockings. He does, however, watch children closely. And that includes Juuso and Pietari. 

Meanwhile, reindeer hunters from the village discover nearly hundreds of dead reindeers near their village. They think wolves were driven to kill all these reindeer by the Subzero workers scaring the wolves down to the village, especially after using dynamite to blast into the stone. 

So, several villagers march up the top of the fell to demand reparation for the dead reindeer as they rely on the hunting for food and such. 

When they reach the top, there's no one up there. All they find is a massive deep hole. 

Meanwhile, one of Rauno's wolf traps ends up capturing a strange, seemingly deceased, naked old man on Christmas Eve morning. 

Rauno and his neighbor Piiparinen (Rauno Juvonen) take the body into the slaughterhouse and lay him down. They soon realize the old man is still alive. Piiparinen leans in close to the old man, who suddenly jumps up and bites his ear. 

As they tie him up and discuss what they should do next, Pietari tries calling his friends only to find that they're all missing. 

Pietari fears the old man is actually Santa, and that his friends are missing because they must have been bad and were therefor taken by Santa. 

So, he's compelled to confess to his dad that he snuck up to the fell and caused the deer to be eaten by wolves. If he confesses, then maybe Santa will leave him alone. 

Rauno and Piiparinen decide to dress the old man as Santa and offer to sell him to Subzero workers as compensation for the money lost from the dead deer. 

They haul this guy up to the fell where they meet Riley. However, he tells them the old man is not Santa. Rather, he's one of Santa's elves. 

Soon, several other elves appear and end up killing Riley. 

The men run into a nearby hanger where they find a looming horned figure frozen in ice, which turns out to actually be Santa Claus. 

Next to him is a huge sack filled with crying screaming children. 

Their discovery turns into a destroy and rescue mission, and Pietari takes it upon himself to come up with and carry out the plans to accomplish this unbelievable task. 

"Rare Exports" is more horror with little (if any) sci-fi elements as general audiences would claim the meaning of "sci-fi" to be.

The movie has an unsettling tone unlike other holiday horror movies I've seen, particularly those movies that depict an evil Santa in some way or another. That also includes the 2015 movie, "Krampus" which has a tinge of satire to it.  A lot of that tone comes from its dramatic tone and realistic (real world) atmosphere.

There's something about the evil child-punishing elements surround Santa Claus, or whatever depiction of Santa various countries have, that seems to be all the trend now.

What I don't appreciation is the trend in celebrating folkloric Christmas characters like Krampus who has become a symbol of anti-Christmas and defiance in general in modern society. Various places now offer kids an opportunity to visit Krampus just as they would visit Santa Claus, and get their picture taken with him.

Society today lambasts personal responsibility for crimes and misdeeds, so it's no wonder that the evil side of Christmas folkloric characters like Krampus are celebrated in place of Christ or Saint Nicholas at Christmas. Being contrarian in the face of innocence and goodness is nothing to aspire.

Anyways, I think "Rare Exports" is a horror movie with subtle comedy or satire that audiences might interpret in different ways. Perhaps it's a criticism or cynical take of modern Christmas commercialism and how it sees the history of Christmas celebrations. 

It's a different take on the whole "bad Santa" schtick seen over and over again in movies, especially horror movies.  

What I like about this is it's real-world realism. I enjoy movies that take a true-to-life approach to fictional and fantastical aspects of life...like Santa Claus. Mel Gibson did it really well in the 2021 movie, "Fatman." The 2004 independent movie, "Primer" is such a movie that takes a realistic depiction of time travel comes to mind. Although, "Rare Exports" still carries a hint of fantasy. How can a movie about Santa, no matter how serious it tries to be, not carry a tone of fantasy? 

It's an entertaining, certainly different, type of movie. I have an interest in movies that portray otherwise fantastical things in a true-to-life manner. 

I'm skeptical about what I'm supposed to take away from this movie, at least as far as consequences go for a person's misdeeds. What are the characters saving the world from? A retributive Santa? The consequences of misdeeds? Old ancient lores? Is the movie satirizing that whole notion? Or is it just a creature-feature rendition of Santa Claus and his elves? 

Whatever the case might be, it's unpredictable. I honestly couldn't determine what was going to happen. When I thought I knew where the story was leading, it went in a different direction from what I expected.  

The movie is well structured and certainly something unlike anything I've seen before in the huge library of Christmas movies of any genre. 

It has satisfying suspense with the spice of terror, action, and fantasy. Within all that maintains a true Christmas feel and charm. And I mean that! As far as its story goes, I'm still unsure what sort of message it's trying to leave me with. Otherwise, the movie doesn't overstay its welcome, and doesn't waste time with excessive build-up, nor does it feel conceited.