Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Jalmari Helander
Cast
Per Christian Ellefsen,
Jorma Tommila,
Tommi Korpela,
Onni Tommila,
Jonathan Hutchings,
Rauno Juvonen
Genre
Fantasy
It's the eve of Christmas in northern Finland and an "archeological" dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn't the one you want coming to town. When all the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig.
The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen
A fiendishly entertaining Christmas yarn rooted in Northern European legend and lore, complete with a not-so-jolly old St. Nick informed more by the Brothers Grimm than Norman Rockwell.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
The focus of this bizarre Finnish fairy tale - as black as anything the Brothers Grimm could have dreamed up - is a sinister old codger who chews off ears and whose demon minion kidnaps innocent children. Ho ho no!
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
A rather brilliant lump of coal for your stocking hung by the fireside with care. How else to explain an R-rated Santa Claus origin story crossed with "The Thing"?
Los Angeles Times
What unfolds is a dark comic thriller and action-hero send-up, a strange alloy of daredevil helicopter maneuvers and night of the living elves. Captured in atmospheric widescreen camerawork, the end-of-the-world frozen landscape (actually Norway) is spectacular and spooky.
Empire by Kim Newman
If you're a bah-humbug type looking for an alternative to Santa Claus: The Movie or Miracle On 34th Street, this could be a holiday perennial. May be too strange for normal people, but weird kids will love it.
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
What unfolds is a dark comic thriller and action-hero send-up, a strange alloy of daredevil helicopter maneuvers and night of the living elves. Captured in atmospheric widescreen camerawork, the end-of-the-world frozen landscape (actually Norway) is spectacular and spooky.
The A.V. Club by Noel Murray
Slight but fun.
San Francisco Chronicle by Walter Addiego
It's dark fun, in the spirit of "Gremlins."
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jennie Punter
A taut, gorgeously filmed and enjoyably wicked cinematic treat.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
This Santa Claus story is for a midnight movie crowd, not the kiddie matinees.
New Orleans Times-Picayune by Mike Scott
To be clear: Despite the holiday flavor, and despite the pint-sized hero, this is no kids' movie. There is swearing. There is blood. There is an army of 180 very nude Santas coursing through the snow. That's not the kind of thing Frank Capra ever could have dreamed of -- and that change of pace is exactly what makes Rare Exports a rare, if unexpected, holiday treat.
Boxoffice Magazine by Sara Maria Vizcarrondo
This oddball tale of life on a snowy mountainside is consistently upbeat and surprising, with action intensity that stays sturdily at "Goonies" level.
Village Voice
It's likely the best anti-Christmas Christmas movie since "Bad Santa."
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Much of Rare Exports is seen through the eyes of its preteen protagonist, which explains some of the story's minor omissions (who, exactly, hired this nefarious multinational mining outfit and why exactly?).
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
It isn't recommended for impressionable children, who might well experience nightmares. But for grown-ups looking for an alternative to the annual onslaught of ho-ho-ho Christmas tales, the visually pleasing oddity is just the thing, even if it does slow down in its middle portion before picking up again.
Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf
Some moments are so deliciously shivery-our heroes' breath condensing in the air like in John Carpenter's "The Thing"-that you wish the film were naughtier and less nice.
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