Rare Exports (Jalmari Helander, 2010)

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale hijacks the Santa Claus myth much as that other Finnish horrorshow Lordi ran away cackling with the Eurovision festival. The idea is that the real Santa is a child-eviscerating monster buried under a mountain centuries ago by fearful Lapps. Now he's got out, and it's down to one little boy to stop him. It's a slight conceit, but executed neatly with laconic humour and makes the most of its barren, snowy locations. The intrepid boy hero is also refreshingly matter-of-fact and kick-ass rather than cutesy or squealing. Lastly, the director seems to be aware that he's only got one point to make and accordingly doesn't labour it. You do wonder who it's made for, though, being too slapstick to work as horror and yet too creepy to serve as children's entertainment.

5/10