Christmas will never be the same again after the premiere of “Red Snow,” directed by Finnish filmmaker Ilja Rautsi and boasting the world’s first vampire Santa Claus.
Charades has sold the upcoming horror comedy to Selecta Vision (Spain) following the film’s presentation at Cannes during the Next 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 Variety.
“Red Snow” will 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 also behind Sundance success “Hatching” and “Nightborn” with Rupert Grint, which recently premiered at the Berlinale’s main competition.
It stars Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Anni Iikkanen, Tommi Korpela, Krista Kosonen and Kari Hietalahti. Björkman previously took on everyone’s favorite holiday in the 2007 film “Christmas Story.” His new film is bound to surprise fans.
“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.
In the film, set to premiere later this year, a teenage goth girl – who loves “Twilight” and hates her family – will finally come face to face with him, and things are bound to turn nasty.
“I like the physicality of it all,” adds Rautsi, who opted for prosthetics in the movie, ultimately combining various techniques.
“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 people.”
Still, despite some “creepy scares,” “Red Snow” is supposed to be fun.
“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 adds: “The best thing about horror is that something you imagined suddenly becomes real. That’s magic.”
The film is produced by Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff for Bufo, best known for Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes Jury Prize winner “Fallen Leaves.” Which, it has to be said, 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 become the next Christmas classic?
“This setting helps, because the whole idea of a horror comedy is tricky. You can make a horror film 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.”
