Red Snow wastes no time showing what kind of Christmas movie it intends to be. This Finnish horror comedy sends a vampire dressed as Santa Claus into people’s homes, where holiday cheer quickly gives way to graphic deaths. Written and directed by Ilja Rautsi, the film is violent, gory, and deliberately disgusting at times. It also made me laugh, even though I never warmed to the film overall.
The story centers on Johanna, a teenager who dreams of meeting the romantic vampire she knows from Twilight. Instead, she encounters Martti, a middle-aged vampire in a Santa suit whose visits to families end in bloodshed. The contrast between the vampire Johanna imagines and the one standing in front of her is amusing. It gives the film a reason for its Christmas setting and room to poke fun at vampire fantasies.
My problem was never that Martti is balding, out of shape, or anything less than a handsome hunk. A vampire can be frightening or compelling without a perfect physique. It was the creature design, especially when his true appearance was revealed, that took me out of the movie. He looked more like an alien than a vampire, and the image struck me as more phallic than toothy. Once I saw it, I had a hard time getting past it.
The film’s dark, disgusting humor lands at times. Some of the deaths are so over the top that the shock becomes part of the joke, and there are genuinely interesting characters and well-played moments amid the carnage. I could appreciate those performances and laugh at the film’s nerve, yet I still felt its story didn’t give me enough to hold on to. The blood and outrageous imagery kept coming, but I wanted more substance behind them.
I can see Red Snow working for viewers who want a gleefully grotesque holiday horror movie. It delivers the gore, commits to its nasty sense of humor, and certainly does not pretend to be a traditional Christmas tale. For me, the occasional laughs and strong performances weren’t enough to overcome the thin story or the vampire reveal I didn’t like.