Finds a creepy yet whimsical way to reinvent established holiday lore without sacrificing the expectations of audiences regarding its Christmas connections.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 20, 2023

Although it has a lot of imagination, the lopsided outcome never balances its elements in a satisfying way.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 7, 2023

From a slow and suspenseful start held by the charming Onni Tomilla as Pietari and Jomra Tomilla as his wiry, weathered and taciturn widower father, the brutal thrills ramp up deliciously.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 25, 2021

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale may go down as one of the classic holiday movies for people that don't really like classic holiday movies.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 12, 2020

Not quite as funny as you'd expect if you have seen the shorts, the film largely plays it straight.

| Feb 28, 2019

If you and/or the young folks in your life like spooky folklore, snowy menace and brave young heroes, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale fills the bill.

| Original Score: B | Feb 16, 2019

An unnerving, funny and inventive Santa origins story set on the border between Finland and Russia, it reminds us that most fairy stories are truly dark. No one seems surprised when the border between myth and modernity breaks down too.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 24, 2018

[There is] very obvious, and somewhat jarring use of some very underwhelming CGI effects in a number of key scenes. However, the tremendous performances and the film's unique tone more than make up for this technical misjudgement.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 6, 2018

Director Jalmari Helander melds the Krampus myth perfectly onto that moment of childhood when belief is all the stronger for being challenged by skepticism.

| Aug 28, 2018

If you need something to wash the taste of good cheer out of your mouth, you won't want to miss Rare Exports.

| May 23, 2018

This belongs on the shelf alongside other Christmas favourites such as A Christmas Story; it brings that kind of sardonic sensibility, along with a sense of adventure, and a fresh take on the usual Christmas fantasy narrative.

| May 15, 2018

You could say it's a black comedy but writer/director Jalmari Helander doesn't play it for laughs. It's more like a surreal action thriller in the isolated frozen north on the Finland-Russia border...

| Dec 16, 2017

OK. it's a silly folklore tale. But I found it both pleasingly absurd and funny.

| Original Score: B- | Dec 26, 2015

The end gets a little silly, but the building tension of the first two acts allows for some deliciously creepy moments and a true feeling of dread: the sense of something very old, and very hungry, shuffling toward you in the Yuletide dark.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 14, 2014

[A] deliciously loopy oddball of a film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 14, 2014

A James Bond movie, fairy tale and potentially a full blown horror story rolled into one, if you enjoyed the original Swedish vampire thriller Let The Right One In, you'll find much to admire here.

| Dec 14, 2014

I'm at a loss for words for how cool this is. It's a Killer Santa. Killer Santa, people. It's a great concept.

| Dec 14, 2014

The flaws of Rare Export offer an important reminder that looking good on YouTube does not provide qualifications for a bigger screen.

| Dec 14, 2014

This dark, haunting and cold tale is more of a comic horror movie for all ages than a happy children's story.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 14, 2014

Rare Exports also twists the season's staples with a morbidly merry, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.

| Original Score: A- | Dec 14, 2014