It’s rare that we ever come across a film that crosses two very different genres so seamlessly as the Finnish film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Based on the series of shorts in which a Finnish shipping company explains the best and worst ways in dealing with renegade Santa Clauses, this story tells the tale of how that fictional company came to be.
Marketed as a horror, yet played as a Joe Dante-esque holiday adventure, Exports is able to both scare the crap out of you with hundreds of naked old men, as it is able to make you smile at the ridiculousness of hundreds of naked old men running through the snow.
If you’ve got the stomach for a film in subtitles, we recommend watching this one in its original tongue. Skip the dubs so you don’t get lost in some of the performances that make this playful horror film as fun as it is.
Some may consider the film to be a bit of a slow build for what is surely an epic and explosive ending, but if you relate with the two curious boys or any of the members of the search party then you will be along for every minute of the action here.
Fans of the film will also get some great features attached to this Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack including the two shorts that the film was based on, a making-of special, animatics, stills, and a ton of other fancy stuff for you to enjoy. A personal favorite of ours is the special, Blu-Ray exclusive feature of the 1964 cult flick Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in which – you guessed it: big red takes on aliens.
Definitely worth the purchase for $19.99 that will hold you over in this long wait between scary movie season and Christmas movie season. Pick it up on Amazon or iTunes today.
