Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: RED SNOW [Fantastic Fest - Austin, Texas]
The aspect of a vampire Christmas movie can be many things. Add on the fact that this is Finnish and it creates a different tinge. But the tonal element that might skew darker in Denmark or Norway plays for almost tongue-in-cheek satire here. "Red Snow" follows Johanna (Anni Iikkanen) a emo type teen who wants to live "Twilight". She wants to live that life. At the same time Martii (Hannu-Pekka Juhani Bjorkman) is a middle aged balding beer-bellied vampire who has been posing as Santa to take out families. Martii always seems like he is looking for a new person to turn. That said he has a brother who really holds a grudge. Said brother is trying to take himself out via suicide but wants one final mission. Everyone converges on grandma’s house and everything unravels from there. What is different about this is that the vampire more seems oriented when he opens up to devour like something from "The Thing" instead of just fangs. However, the transformation brings to mind other aspects which pushes the film in a different direction as well. Johanna feels abandoned by her father and threatened by her would-be stepmother. Everybody seems lost in their own importance even as the vampire is just trying to take them out.
This of course is all played with a comedy of errors and a certain body horror aesthetic without being too gory. There is a lot of blood to be sure but it is almost splattering to the side. It is a bit more entertaining and tonal than last year’s "Silent Night Deadly Night" and this film has already been picked up domestically for Shudder. What is also interesting about shooting and setting the film in Finland is the constant twilight at that time of the year. There is some sky replacement which gives it that eerie feeling since Finland is mostly in darkness at that time of year. In addition, there is also a great nurse figure who is a nihilist in her own right that just thinks it would be fun to become a vampire. She lets the big guy drink just enough blood from her to want more. "Red Snow" plays with that subversive connotation of the vampire as tortured savior. Here he is just a guy trying to find an efficient way to take people out at the holiday. Of course Johanna’s aspect of control at the end speaks to something else. Granted there are plot holes especially involving rules and light. That said, "Red Snow" is just trying to be a wacky genre film, not taking itself too seriously with the rules, but being brutal and edgy enough to make you laugh even as the blood flies. 85%/B-
By Tim Wassberg
