Christmas won’t ever be the identical once more after the premiere of “Red Snow,” directed by Finnish filmmaker Ilja Rautsi and boasting the world’s first vampire Santa Claus.
Charades has offered the upcoming horror comedy to Selecta Imaginative and prescient (Spain) following the movie’s presentation at Cannes throughout the Subsequent from the Nordics showcase.
“I was thinking about Christmas and the pain of it all, this forced togetherness, and then suddenly I went: ‘What if Santa was a vampire?’ It just clicked. You invite him in, just like a vampire, and then he can eat your entire family,” Rautsi tells Selection.
“Red Snow” might be Rautsi’s directorial debut following award-winning – and bloody – shorts “Helsinki Mansplaining Massacre” and “Night of the Living Dicks.” As a screenwriter, he’s additionally behind Sundance success “Hatching” and “Nightborn” with Rupert Grint, which not too long ago premiered on the Berlinale’s important competitors.
It stars Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Anni Iikkanen, Tommi Korpela, Krista Kosonen and Kari Hietalahti. Björkman beforehand took on everybody’s favourite vacation within the 2007 movie “Christmas Story.” His new movie is certain to shock followers.
“That [2007] film was about a lonely boy who grew up to become Santa. Now, he’s a serial-killing vampire Santa. There’s a whole generation of people who grew up watching [‘Christmas Story’], so it’s going to be interesting. It might make for a good double bill. First, you see how Santa was born, then you can see how Santa kills,” laughs Rautsi.
Within the movie, set to premiere later this yr, a teenage goth lady – who loves “Twilight” and hates her household – will lastly come nose to nose with him, and issues are certain to show nasty.
“I like the physicality of it all,” provides Rautsi, who opted for prosthetics within the film, finally combining numerous methods.
“I like to see the shadows in the contours of the mask, and the slime. You can only do so much with CGI or AI, but liquids – and we are fire hosing people with blood here – just don’t feel right unless they actually land on someone.”
Nonetheless, regardless of some “creepy scares,” “Red Snow” is meant to be enjoyable.
“It’s more like a funhouse, carnival type of scariness. It deals with some heavy subjects, but I also wanted it to be really enjoyable.”
Rautsi provides: “The best thing about horror is that something you imagined suddenly becomes real. That’s magic.”
The movie is produced by Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff for Bufo, finest identified for Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes Jury Prize winner “Fallen Leaves.” Which, it must be stated, has nothing to do with horror. It’s co-produced by Ivo Felt for Allfilm (Estonia) and Peter Krupenin for Hobab (Sweden).
“They have a history of producing arthouse films, but they’ve always wanted to do genre stuff as well. They are very selective about what they pursue and who they pursue it with, so it’s really nice to have them in my corner.”
Is Rautsi hoping that “Red Snow” will grow to be the subsequent Christmas traditional?
“This setting helps, because the whole idea of a horror comedy is tricky. You can make a horror that’s not scary or a comedy that doesn’t make you laugh. Still, together they create this hysteria, which I think matches my own relationship with Christmas perfectly. There’s all this tension, with people telling you to be ‘jolly’ and polite to each other,” he says.
“It would be the best outcome imaginable if it became something that people watch every Christmas.”
