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Horror october #23
Both Sweden and Denmark have their embarrassing 1950s horror movies - Terror In The Midnight Sun and Reptilicus, respectively - so I figured I'd watch the Finnish equivalent.
Except The White Reindeer is actually kind of good? Set in 19th century (I think?) Lapland among the Sami reindeerherders, where a young woman sacrifices a reindeer to the Old Gods to keep her husband... except then she starts turning into a white reindeer that lures men to their death instead. Yes, it's a werereindeer movie!
So it's a bit hokey, but it's got great imagery, shot and plotted almost like a silent movie (well, Finns don't talk much) and the lead actress pulls off a great performance as the movie builds to a really effective climax. Also, I'll always have time for movies that scratch at an ostensibly Christian world to reveal a barely forgotten pagan myth underneath (see also: The Wicker Man, Pumpkinhead, Virgin Spring, Shadow of the Raven, etc).
Except The White Reindeer is actually kind of good? Set in 19th century (I think?) Lapland among the Sami reindeerherders, where a young woman sacrifices a reindeer to the Old Gods to keep her husband... except then she starts turning into a white reindeer that lures men to their death instead. Yes, it's a werereindeer movie!
So it's a bit hokey, but it's got great imagery, shot and plotted almost like a silent movie (well, Finns don't talk much) and the lead actress pulls off a great performance as the movie builds to a really effective climax. Also, I'll always have time for movies that scratch at an ostensibly Christian world to reveal a barely forgotten pagan myth underneath (see also: The Wicker Man, Pumpkinhead, Virgin Spring, Shadow of the Raven, etc).