Rare Exports isn't the sinister horror the trailers promised. But it is an incredible Christmas/Family film. It really captures the childlike essence of 80's films such as Gremlins, Goonies and ET. The end sees a dramatic action heavy finale, which surprisingly works. Rare Exports also remembers to have a heart, as the boy struggles with his distant father.

i'm not familiar with the kind of thing i'm seeing

A hilarious black comedy that is refreshingly subtle, not always exploiting or taking its absurd premise to the extreme. A unique addition to the Christmas canon.

It's unevenly put together at times, but this is such a delicious inversion of the Christmas story that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Under the black comedy lurks a genuine sense of menace which gives it a great atmosphere.

Great concept let down by the execution. It's an entertaining film but I can't help feeling the Santa myth is rich enough to be subverted in many more ways than they manage to include in this film.

what the hell did i just see?

It started out interesting and quite promising but I guess I expected something different. Maybe some things got lost in translation but anyways, I don't think it was too good. Oh, and never in my life did I want to see the naked bums of about 200 old men!

And now for something completely different. This is an odd film.

The film has a lot of gorgeous cinematography. It takes a long time to get to the point, but the last 20 minutes just make it all worthwhile.

The first hour rocked! Kinnda wish they'd kept it at that. Surprisingly good acting.

Crazy story and I really liked it.

It wasn’t as good as I was hoping for, but I suppose it was entertaining. The ending was pretty anti-climactic though, I felt.

Earns points for the Spielbergian, child's-eye fantastical tone it takes, but sometimes silly's just silly. Worth seeing, though, and I won't forget the image of a dozen naked old elves stalking our heroes anytime soon.

Building on the two amusing shorts it doesn't quite deliver. The idea is still great and they developed it into something even better, but they don't quite reap the fruits of it in the third act, which really had potential to be the most awesome part of any horrormovie ever made. Sadly it falls short and doesn't achieve this. Also: I know that several countries are calling themselves "the home of the real Santa" but after this one, I think Finland is definitely out of the race.

Visually pleasing and the adult actors do a good job. The script is rather poor given how good the idea is.

To fully enjoy this movie, you truly have to be a Finn or one that knows the Finnish people well, as a lot of the atmosphere and banter is based on the nationality. From the constant swearing to the Finnish Äijä-stereotype (with not even one single female character around, mind you) it's an entertaining black comedy that will certainly delight those who generally dislike the "traditional" Christmas hassle.

"Santa is one bad mamma jamma in Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, a yuletide fable that's equal parts sincere, silly, and scary." - Nick Schager

Ingenious idea and pretty nice visuals though you cannot find that majestic mountains from Finland (it was shot in the Northern Norway instead). Tommi Korpela was brilliant as always, but the kid actors were painfully bad. Jalmari Helander spoiled almost totally the promising black comedy script.

Holiday horror: very entertaining.

Good Movie