Papai Noel das Cavernas

For me this is one of those films that I just instantly took to heart, it has the sort of implicit comedy that you expect from the Cohen brothers, and a theme which really plays with your ideas of horror. It does help if you have a bit of background in Finnish mythology, there's no explanation, even in the subtitles, of the yule goat, and the word Joulupukki's close links to old stories about a sort of mischievous Christmas devil. It does introduce some of the old stories, but doesn't explain how they are actually commonly known history pertaining to Father Christmas in Finland, and weren't made up for the film or anything like that. Other than that, the film is visually beautiful, musically dramatic to at least the extent that Danny Elfman had ever achieved for Tim Burton, and has a sort of dignity that something with an undercurrent of comedy rarely has, relying on its ability to be funny without trying, something that Quinten Tarantino and the Cohen Brothers often leave us slack jawed over. I definitely recommend it.

Excavators in Finland discover something buried in a mountain. A local boy (Onni Tommila) believes it to be Santa Claus. No, not the lovable gift-giving Santa of myth, but an ancient demonic creature that punishes naughty people. Soon children start disappearing and the boy must lead his father and others in rescuing them and stopping Santa's creepy helpers.

I've seen quite a few "evil Santa" movies over the years. Some are campy fun and others are mean-spirited garbage. This is one of the better movies of this type I've seen. It's entertaining, but not campy, and it has a smart story and solid production values. This isn't some low-rent made-for-DVD slasher flick. The direction, cinematography, music, acting -- everything is of a good quality. Onni Tommila is a talented child actor with a bright future ahead of him I'm sure. So if I liked this why didn't I rate it higher? Well, the story never pays off and the ending is totally underwhelming. Without giving away a specific spoiler, I'll just say that the movie teases something that it never follows through with. One other complaint I have is that the subtitles are sometimes hard to read because, in many scenes, the ground is covered in snow. So you have white letters over a white background, which is tough on the eyes. Despite these issues, I think this is an interesting and enjoyable film. It isn't as good as it could have been but it's certainly worth a look.

Full review here: http://thewildbore.blogspot.com/2010/12/rare-exports- Christmas-tale.html Finland isn't known for it's film exports, so here truly is a 'Rare Export' but should we return it? It's not exactly in the spirit of Christmas is it? This film is rather a prequel to two short films that the director made in 2003 and 2005 (both I will stick at the end of this article) where Santa isn't the merry old fat man we've come to know and love but is rather a beast of the wild that is tamed and exported around the world. But deciding that some short films weren't enough, Jalmari Helander decides to make a feature film about his 'hunters' before the events of Rare Exports Inc. & Rare Exports: Official Safety Instructions. I have to put this film into context because when viewing the film, not knowing much about it, it seemed very strange afterwards but now it kind of makes sense. However, it might be worth watching without seeing the videos included here, but it's your choice. Either way, the story is about how some corporate diggers are excavating something from a mountain near a remote village in the snowy outdoors. But it is a young boy who works out what is buried beneath and is taking every precaution just in case, whether it's taping cardboard to your bum or carrying around a shotgun, he's not taking any chances. I read somewhere that this harks back to the kiddie films of the Eighties like The Goonies where the kids were always right and the adults were idiots, but this has much more of a horror element to it. In fact, it is very funny in different places for different reasons but always keeps a dark, sinister edge whether it's the weird wooden dolls, the crazy rich excavator or the creepy Santa they find, there's always a tinge of horror at all times. The film is very well directed and, like many have said (mainly because of the snow) reminds people of The Thing, but all the set-up's are there and around the whole thing is the myth of Santa Claus (or Claws in this case). It makes for a very exciting, disturbing experience that is set around a time where people are supposed to get together and for someone who doesn't really enjoy Christmas, like myself, it makes a welcome distraction to all the 'niceness' of the Christmas season. The acting is, for the most part, very impressive and the end sequences with hundreds of naked old men running across the mountains is both funny and breathtaking at the same time. The film finds a great balance between horror, terror, humour and remembering that it shouldn't take itself too seriously, the gag is that it's about Santa after all. I always found something creepy about a fat, old man going into children's houses at night and giving them presents, seeing if they've been 'naughty or nice' and this plays on people's insecurities especially at a time where paedophilia is all over the news these days. It also has a rather serious, dramatic edge with an obviously painful father/son relationship, a man who is frustrated with the world and a 'coming-of-age' element about sacrifice and becoming independent. It could also be seen as a war of male generations, the son against the father, and the father against his own father, which in this case is represented by Father Christmas, it would make sense seeing as there is no females in the whole film but rather a world of manly hunters where soppy things like Christmas have no place. Overall, the film is enjoyable and the last five minutes is rather strange but makes sense once you see the short films. It might have a few plot holes but has been well thought out, perfectly directed and for something that could have so easily been one big joke, remains an impressive piece of work that the director clearly cared about. I recommend that you forget the usual Christmas ho-ho-Hell's and delve into a dark place where being naughty or nice is a life or death decision.

'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)' is weird. Not weird in the quirky sense, just weird. It has a bizarre plot but it takes itself almost entirely seriously, it's increasingly outlandish but it it's never playful, it's dark and gritty but it's never tense or scary... it's difficult to describe, really. It isn't quite a comedy, despite being absurd; it isn't quite a horror, despite being grim. It sits in an odd sort of limbo between genres. Who is its intended audience? I'm not sure that even it knows. I can't see it being a cult classic because it isn't 'bad' enough, but I can't see being a critical darling because it isn't 'good' enough. It has a decent atmosphere and it's fairly compelling, but it doesn't seem to move past its initial stages and a huge chunk of its plot is portrayed as a montage just before its end credits. Like I said, it's weird. It's a fairly decent effort, though, and I don't think anyone can claim that it's generic. 6/10

I saw this the other day at the London Film Festival and went in with no expectations, not having seen the short films it was based on. It was a fantastic surprise and i would put it right up there, if not in number one position, as the best film festival films i have ever seen. The pace and storyline were top notch and although some of the characters were a bit weak in substance and originality it took nothing away from my enjoyment of the film. This is one i would highly recommend to any film fan except those under 13. Indeed it is one i would be proud to recommend as it has a dark and dry sense of humour and an original twist on the Christmas tale. I will buy the DVD and happily see it again; I rarely say those words these days.