Such a frustrating disappointment

As Good As It Gets

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

"Rare Exports" is a clever, fun, Christmas themed horror-film from Finland. The cryptic title and incongruous ending refer to the short "Rare Exports, Inc." from which this feature-length film was spun-off (worth watching in its own right). Briefly, people are once again digging where they shouldn't be digging and a wrathful Christmas spirit is awakened. Pietari (Onni Tommila) is the 'little child that leads', as he tries to tell his friends and father what dwells beneath the mountain. At times comic, at other times grim, the clever story unfolds as mysterious events in the remote Lapp town begin to coalesce the night before Christmas, and there is a great 'twist' leading up to the climatic confrontation with the evil that is Santa Claus. Note: content warnings may refer 'full-frontal male nudity', which is present but completely non-erotic.

While entertaining, this movie just went completely off the rails in the last third.Story and the atmosphere starts off strong, and it goes strong for a while, in definitely somber horror manner. But then after maybe two thirds, movie and everyone in it just gives up and goes nuts in a boring way. While I'm not going to spoil anything big, I personally found that annoying and very uneven. I see some people found it fun and entertaining, but for me that last third was just "well this is dumb and not good and the it becomes even worse". So it's not bad of a movie for sure, but for me, that last third just killed it because it was just uneven and went to some really stupid places. Places that the director and writer found probably silly and funny but it just felt tacked on and stupid and brought the whole movie down to that one stupid joke with a logo and movie title.

I didn't know what to expect from this - it had a reasonable bit of exposure for a foreign film (yes, it has subtitles), but I couldn't quite figure out what it was about.It's basically a horror film from Finland. However, horror films generally yield to certain clichés allowing you to guess what's going to happen from the start. Here's the newsflash - this one will keep you guessing as to where the story's heading.It's got a bit of black humour, but it's basically the alternative to all those cutesie Disney movies where children sit on a smiling Santa's knee.Russian businessmen have dug up 'the real' Santa Claus. Guess what, soon they wish they hadn't.Overall, it's a great little gem, however the first half is pretty slow. The second half picks up a lot and is worth the wait. If you fancy something a little different that's very dark and can put up with the subtitles, give this one a try (just don't show it to your small child - it'll scar them for life).http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

In 2003 there was a short film released on the internet called Rare Exports Inc. Then in 2005, with the success of the first short, director Jalmari Helander was able to make the sequel, Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions. Now, Helander has made the feature length film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale and it is extremely creative, and original.Some of the townsfolk in Lapland, Finland are trying gathering the herd of reindeer that will feed them for the cold winter, but they find the herd mysteriously slaughtered. Meanwhile a group of scientists are excavating an ancient grave site on the Korvatunturi Mountain. The grave belongs to Santa Claus, but not the jolly fat man everyone is familiar with. This particular Santa, instead of rewarding the good children, he kills the naughty. This is one film that I never lost focus on. It's beautiful scenery, great acting, fantastic camera work, and the overall suspense that is created is done flawlessly. Now im not trying to give away any spoilers to this film because its amazing how it unfolds. I also recommend watching the two short films (which are on youtube) but not until you watch the full-length film. I think you would appreciate the shorts even more after the full length movie. I give Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale a 9 out of 10.