Rare Exports 2010

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: A thing of frigid beauty and twisted playfulness. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Some moments are so deliciously shivery that you wish the film were naughtier and less nice. A cult crowd might coalesce around this, but Bad Santa is safe. Read more

Ted Fry, Seattle Times: If you see only one fiendishly bizarre Finnish film about an evil Santa Claus and his naked band of marauding elves this holiday season, make it "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale." Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: It's hard not to like a movie in which a little kid who's so skittish that he totes around a protective stuffed animal suddenly stares down the grown-ups, cocks a gun, and snarls, "It's either me or Santa. I suggest Santa." Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: Too crazy? Good luck telling that to the filmmakers inviting you to spend the holidays with the anti-Claus. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Santa shows his dark side in this wildly idiosyncratic horror flick from Finnish writer-director Jalmari Helander. Read more

Christine Champ, Film.com: Rare Exports also twists the season's staples with a morbidly merry, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Read more

Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter: A darkly mischievous, bracingly original and thoroughly captivating Yuletide import. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: Likely to become a winter favorite for those allergic to holiday treacle. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: 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. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale explores the dark side of the Santa Claus myth -- if myth he is -- and finds humor, and horror, lurking there. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale" is a rather brilliant lump of coal for your stocking hung by the fireside with care. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: It's dark fun, in the spirit of "Gremlins." Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Though it promises more than it ultimately delivers, this charming little holiday horror story is a welcome counterweight to the usual yuletide sentimentality. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: Helander delivers a playfully dark tale with just the kind of cynical twinkle so many need during this season of maudlin, heart-warming movies. Read more

Jason Anderson, Toronto Star: Rare Exports turns out to be as heart-warming as Miracle on 32nd Street, albeit in its own twisted little way. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: 'Rare Exports' is an enormously entertaining and unpredictable Yuletide romp packed with sly wit, solid scares and naked geriatrics. Read more

Jay Weissberg, Variety: Conceived with winking humor and a terrific visual style, the pic is a rare treat. Read more

Mark Olsen, Village Voice: It's likely the best anti-Christmas Christmas movie since Bad Santa. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: For anyone who can look a little askance at the monster that contemporary Christmas has become, this artfully made Finnish tale is -- I kid you not -- a real treat. Read more