Top Five Horror Films of 2010

The year in Horror for 2010, it was full of sequels, remakes and 3D. Among all the sometimes silly, many times entertaining and occasionally frightening films of the year, a number stood out of the crowd. Here are five of those films that made the biggest impression on Doc Rotten - the top five horror films of 2010.

5 - SPLICE
Making bold decisions along the way, Splice weaves a challenging tale of science, parenthood and sexuality all in the disguise of a well crafted science fiction horror hybrid. The performances were top notch and the creature was highly imaginative and visually interesting. For the most part more about spectacle than gore, the film does sport a very "Gallagher" moment when a cage containing two squabbling creatures overturns and splatters the audience in red gooey goodness. At its core, it’s a genetic take on the Frankenstein story infused with sexuality and parenthood. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the year, Splice is a fun, thought provoking, visually stunning monster film.

4 - SHUTTER ISLAND
All I really have to say is the director’s name, Martin Scorsese, and the inclusion of Shutter Island to a top 5 list is immediately understandable. Add in popular actor Leonardo DiCaprio and it’s impossible to ignore. Based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel, Shutter Island is a genre blending thriller weaving a haunting tale of U.S. Marshall investigating a missing inmate at a secluded asylum and dealing with his own demons along the way. Hanging on the fringes of the horror genre with its psychological undertones and revelations, Shutter Island illustrates the more fragile corners of one man’s mind and questions what is perceived versus what is real. Scorsese is in top form, displaying astonishing transitions and set pieces. He subtly drops in visual cues hidden in the narrative to cue the more observant viewers in on the story. All the actors are fantastic, riveting. Shutter Island is a mind challenging treat that deserves to be viewed - and enjoyed - multiple times.

3 - RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE
Last year, Dead Snow was the little independent foreign flick that could; this year, it belongs to the Finish film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, a confident gem of a twisted holiday treat. Never has the legend of Santa Claus taken such a devious little turn. In Rare Exports, an English archaeologist excavates a mysterious frozen block of ice out of the Korvantunturi mountains unleashing an unfriendly holiday threat the to the locals trying to keep their family business from bankruptcy. Impressively directed by Jalmari Helander with beautifully cinematography by Mika Orasmaa, Rare Exports a wonderful adult genre treat for the genre fan for the holidays. A must see.

2 - LET ME IN
A Hammer Films remake of a hit Swedish film Let the Right One In, Let Me In stars Chloe Moretz and Cody Smith-McPhee as Abby and Owen, a pre-teen vampire and an outcast lonely boy. Directed by Mike (Cloverfield) Reeves, Let Me In matches the haunting beauty found in the international success and creates a touching, emotional English companion. Moretz and Smith-McPhee deliver the best genre performances of the year with the rest of the cast equally stunning. Devoid of all the typical State-side genre tropes (over-aged teens, jump scares, jokey dialogue, and bad CGI effects), Let Me In is the most mature adaptation of a vampire tale the US theaters have seen in a long time. Well done.

1 - PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2
Last year, a tiny budgeted shocker took America by storm and created a monster hit. Paranormal Activity touched on a common fear - what if your house is haunted. A sequel announced for October 2010 had most curious whether it would measure up or fall flat. Would it be an Aliens to Alien or a Blair Witch Project 2 to Blair Witch Project? Director Tod Williams follows the same formula originated by Orin Peli and brought only a few needed tweaks and changes to great effect. The most successful being the addition of a fleet of security cameras through out the house which allowed Williams to ramp up the tension allowing the viewer to see more than the residents in the home. Of all the movies seen this year, Paranormal Activity 2 was the best time I had in the theater. I jumped, screamed and laughed at all the right places. It may not have been the best crafted film (that would have been Shutter Island), but it was the film that resonated with me the most and has become, without a doubt - for me, the best horror film of 2010.

Movie Monsters of 2010: Abby from Let Me In

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Vampires have gotten way to soft lately with the advent of Twilight. For had core fans, vampires seem to have lost their bite. Hammer Film’s Let Me In introduces a challenging spin to the vampire legend with a pre-teen blood sucker moving into a small town in the US southwest. Chloë (Hitgirl from Kick Ass) Moretz stars as Abby in Mike (Cloverfield) Reeves’ remake of Let the Right One In. Moretz’s Abby, at times both innocent and evil, begins a relationship with young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) soon after she moves into her apartment in Los Alamos, New Mexico and slowly becomes his saviour and protector. Owen also begin to develop feelings for Abby even after learning her terrible secrets. Moretz’s performance is inspired and breathtaking, an emotional crash coarse that few vampire or genre films get. A top notch performance in one of the best horror films of the year.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Victor Crowley in Hatchet 2

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Director Adam Green brings his creation Victor Crowley back to the big screen (briefly) for a sequel, Hatchet II. Crowley is a deformed, swamp-dwelling monster of a man who chops and hacks his way through most of the cast is deliciously old-fashioned slasher ways. He’s back for Hatchet II gorier and more gruesome than ever - in unrated glory. The much publicized small theatrical release in the States on October 1, 2010 was cut short when AMC theaters started receiving complaints and the film was quickly removed after only a few days. The film failed to make a mark on the horror scene in 2010 only achieving a footnote as a film that didn’t get it’s release. The film was released VOD in December and will be released on DVD and Bluray in early 2011.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Sharktopus

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Roger Corman produces a Sy-Fy channel classic directed by Declan O’Brien called Shartopus. A brilliant combination of shark and octopus, as the title infers, the monster is as cheesy as it sounds constructed from subpar CGI special effect the only way Sy-Fy channel seems to know how. But, that’s also what makes it so … fun. It’s preposterous, from the story to the acting to the dreadful special effects. They all combine to make a whole that is better than the sum of its parts. A stand out of a stable of such beasties (Mega Pirahna, Gateroid, Dinocroc, Supergator, the list goes on and on), Sharktopus is a spectacular creation - a shark head and torso with the tail(s) of an octopus, all eight limbs. Throughout the picture, it gets to chomp on the cast, leaping out of the water onto boats, dry lands or in the air to snatch a Bungee jumpers dangling from her line high above the water. Brilliant.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monster of 2010: The Last Exorcism

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

While the Last Exorcism belongs to Patrick Fabian as Reverend Cotton Marcus, it would not have been as effective without the extraordinary performance from Ashley Bell as Nell, the child suspected of being possessed by a demon. Brilliantly portraying Nell as both an innocent child with a heavy religious background and the same child possessed by the devil, contorting her body in horrendous ways, Bell is able to elicit sympathy and fear at the same time. Its a horrifying character arc that ends as disastrously as the audience fears it might, despite the lead character believing it is all a scam. Much like Jennifer Carpenter in the similarly themed The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Ashley Bell brings the fear, innocence and terror to the character to enable the film on which she is the subject to become one of the most frightening films of the year. The film grossed over $64 million on a budget of $1.8 million.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Rare Exports

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Can Santa be scary? Many have tried over the years, but none have been as successful and original as the delightfully twisted Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Evolving out of a pair of celebrated shorts films by director Jalmari Helander (Rare Exports, Inc 2003 and The Official Rare Exports Inc. Safety Instructions 2005), Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a darkly comedic gem about a young boy, Pietari (Onni Tommila), in the Korvantunturi Mountains who must save his village when a team of archaeologists unearth the hidden tomb of the real Santa Claus. This Santa isn’t found dressed up in the classic red and white jump suit – although he does end up being dressed in the costume – instead this Santa wears no clothes, walks barefoot through the snow covered forest and has a intense focused stare that will send chills down your spine. As a horror film, this is more in the vein of Gremlins than the slasher films listed above. Rare Exports is a dark comedy with horrific undertones and some seriously creepy Santas. The film, well worth seeking out, is being released this December by Oscilloscope Laboratories and is already fodder in the rumor mill for a U.S. remake.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monster of 2010: Sint

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Dutch film director, Dick Maas, who achieved fame after the success of the movies De Lift (1983 and 2001), Amsterdamned (1988) and Flodder (1986), returns to the big screen with the comedy horror hit, Sint (Saint). In Sint, Santa is replaced by a close holiday cousin named Sinterklaas – or Saint Nicolaas – who returns each December 5 having a full moon as a murderous evil ghost. The film, which is scripted more like an 80’s style slasher flick, has its holiday beastie dressed like a 1400s Bishop riding a large white steed and is accompanied by a band of holiday helpers called Zwart Pieten. Released in the Netherlands in late November, the movie broke native box office records for a film rated 16 and above bringing in an estimated $1.3 million on 96 screens. The film also benefited from some pre-screen controversy when the film and tv classification body Nicam filed suit against the filmmakers trying to get the posters removed from public display claiming the image would frighten younger children. The court ruled in Maas’ favor, the posters remained and the film is a runaway hit. At this time of this writing, there are no firm plans for the film to be released in the States, but surely it’s only a matter of time.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Monsters

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

In Gareth Edwards’ low-budget independent sci-fi movie Monsters, the alien creatures that occupy a large swatch of land between the United States and Mexico are rarely seen but ever present throughout the pictures run time. They’re being discussed, they’re the subject of warnings and signs, they’re affecting the escape of our leads back to the States and they’re being heard as they howl in the distance or in the night. Their affect on the plot and world in which the story lives is paramount. The result drives the story through to its conclusion when the characters (and the audience) finally gets to witness the monsters in full view. So far, only seen in scope: a tentacle here, a leg there and a destroyed carcus from time to time, when they’re finally revealed it is inspired. towering above the small gas station where the two leads are awaiting the army to rescue them, two of the alien creatures sing and circle around in the nearby distance - their bodies flashing in the night as lightning illuminates the sky behind them. With a minuscule budget and creating the effects himself on a lap top, Edwards manages to do what many larger budgeted films are unable to do - create a realistic world where alien monsters have already inhabited the Earth and attempt to coexist with the human race. Spectacular.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Predators

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Til Dawn, Grindhouse) produces and Nimrod Antal (Vacancy) directs a sequel to the Predator franchise simply titled Predators. The film, starring Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga and Danny Trejo, follows a group of strangers stranded on a foreign landscape surrounded by otherworldly hunters - Predators. The alien creatures, originally introduced in John McTiernan’s Predator (1987) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, are back in full force - except now we are introduced to a new race of Predator, a bit more massive and a whole lot more cunning. The action is top notch and the creature effects are impressive. With a variety of characters, strong leads and a mix of Predator types, Predators is a rousing success and performed well at the theater, making over $126 million on a $40 million budget.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Dren in Splice

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

In the science gone mad film Splice, geneticists Clive Nicola (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarrah Polley) manufacture a creature spliced together from the DNA of a variety of different animals and beasts, including human DNA from Elsa. Hiding the resulting creature from the rest of their research team, they raise the female beast who grows to an adult at an increase rate. Giving her the name Dren, Clive and Elsa discover she is omnivorous and amphibious and has a tail with a stinger full of lethal poison. Later, she is revealed to have wings and a growing affection for Clive. Toward the end, she unveils a surprising evolution that threatens Elsa, spells doom for Clive and sets the events up for a sequel. The film opened to generally positive reviews but still only made $25 million on a $30 million budget. The creature is well designed and marvelously executed. Actress Delphine Chanéac brings a broad spectrum of emotion to Dren, rounding out one of more unique and challenging creature brought to the screen this year.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Skyline

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

In the alien invasion feature Skyline directed by Greg and Colin Strause, a small group of survivors struggle to exit Los Angeles and avoid capture. Skyline is a special effects film and little more, but it is also full of alien monsters - some fly, some are hulking beasts and others are squid-like uglies. Perhaps the most impressive of the batch is the huge “tank” monsters that roam the city fighting of ground troops, stomping cars, and sucking up any wandering humans dumb enough to be on the streets. Resembling a cross between the creature in Cloverfield and the critters found in the later two Matrix movies, the monster has electric blue glowing eyes, long legs, a big head and a gaping mouth that slings tongue-like tentacles out at helpless civilians. During a climatic battle, one such beast scales the side of the building the films cast is hiding in and traps them on the roof before meeting his end battling a jet fighter. The directors were also responsible for the second Aliens vs Predators movie and are the special effects team behind many of today’s science fiction spectacles: 300, Terminator 3, X-men, Fantastic Four, Day After Tomorrow and more.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Paranormal Activity 2

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

An angry spirit, a demon or the devil himself - it’s unknown for sure what the Rey family truly encountered in the supernatural spook-fest Paranormal Activity 2. But what is known is that a supernatural force has entered their home and has targeted Kristi Rey for possession in order to get to her son Hunter. The haunting includes a variety of strange and loud noises, furniture that moves on its own, and Kristi eventually succumbs to the spirits invasion. The father, Dan, is able to ‘exorcise’ the ‘demon’ from his wife, but the consequences of doing so are far greater than they could have ever imagined. A sequel to the phenomenon that was Paranormal Activity (2009), part two maintains the feel and pace of the previous hit film. The force the Rey family encounters is the same force Katie and Micah combat and both characters return briefly for this installment. Paranormal Activity 2 was a smashing success generating $163 million in revenue on a budget of $3 million. A third in the series was quickly announced for 2011.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Piranha 3D

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

After a year of teasing, Alexandre Aja’s remake of the classic Roger Corman 70’s film Piranha finally made it to the big screen , in 3D no less. Equally campy in the most spectacular ways, the entire cast (including Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, Ving Rhames, Chritopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss) are overshadowed by the toothy fishy monsters unleashed from the subterranean caverns by an earthquake. Once the action starts, there’s no hold back the piranha’s attacks as they start gobbling up the swimmers in Lake Victoria, Arizona. Created with CGI, the creatures are magnificently conceptualized and the havoc they create is gory and dark humor at its best. A sequel has been announced for 2011 titled Piranha 3DD - very fitting.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Doctor Heiter from The Human Centipede

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Beginning its infamous underground movement in 2009, Tom Six’s The Human Centipede was finally released VOD, BluRay and DVD in 2010 to astonished and disturbed horror fans across the States. In the wildly original story, Doctor Heiter kidnaps a group of tourists and begins to sew them together anus to mouth connecting their internal organs to create a human centipede. Dieter Laser plays Heiter and, much like Peter Cushing’s Victor Frankenstein in Hammer’s Frankenstein pictures, he is more of the monster of the movie than the obscenity he creates. With a cool, calculative demeanor set to a short fused temper, Heiter is scientifically detached from the horrors he performs on the films unsuspecting victims, both in the film and in the audience. The sight of the 3 humans joined together to create the titular creature is the attraction to the movie; however, the inhumanity of Heiter’s actions are the true monster of The Human Centipede.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: The Crazies

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Based on an overlooked George A. Romero film of the same name from the Seventies, Breck Eisner’s The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson and Danielle Panabaker as they face their entire township becoming infected with the “Trixie” virus, turning them into ravenous, bloodthirsty zombie-like creatures. The makeup for the “Crazies” was designed by Almost Human Studios who were also responsible for the infected in Quarantine. The creatures were frightening, their veins enlarged and visible through their skin and their eyes hyper-enlarged and bloodshot. The film was budgeted at $20 million and grossed $53 million in the States.

Doc Rotten's Holiday Horrors

Doc Rotten shares some Holiday Cheer Fear

From time to time horror film makers point their carnivorous camera lenses at Santa Claus and create holiday horror treats that tear and claw at the world’s fascination with jolly old Saint Nick. This season is no different with two European filmmakers putting Santa through the wringer. With both features hearkening back to the ancient European legends of Saint Nicholas, the Krumpas and Sinterklaas, Jalmari Helander’s Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale from Finland and Dick Maas’ Sint (Saint) from the Netherland take two different paths in exploring the old legend. Both are wildly successful. With Rare Exports, Santa and a horned helper called Krampus are excavated from the Korvantunturi Mountains creating a chilling bizarre anti-holiday tale; with Sint, the focus is on the spirit of Sinterklaas returning on December 3rd to take revenge and feels more like a modern day version of an 80’s slasher film. It doesn’t matter if you’re naughty or nice, you don’t want to run up on either of these creepy old men.

Over the years, there have been many variations on the concept of an evil Santa stalking his victims through the snowy December landscape. One of the first and most famous was Amicus’ Tales from the Crypt (1972) where a naughty Joan Collins faces a killer in a Santa suite on Christmas Eve. Based on a strip in EC Comic’s Vault of Horror, the film was produced by Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg and directed by Freddie Francis. In 1980, director Lewis Jackson brought Christmas Evil, featuring a homicidal Santa, to the theaters to little or no fanfare. Since then however, the film, also known as You Better Watch Out, has become a cult classic with cult filmmaker John Waters calling it the “greatest Christmas movie ever made.”

Check out the rest of the article at HorrorNews.net

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: The Executioner from Resident Evil: Afterlife

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Paul W. S. Anderson returns to the Resident Evil franchise, again with Milla Jovovich staring as Alice, with the 3D sci-fi horror zombie extravaganza Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D. In the film a small band of survivors trapped inside a prison, including Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller, come face to face with the mysterious giant zombie known as The Executioner. Taken from the video game Resident Evil 5, The Executioner, played by Ray Olubowale stumbles into L.A. and makes his way past the horde of zombies surrounding the prison safe house and begins to pound down the front gate as the survivors frantically search for another exit. Not long after he successfully breaks through the barrier, The Executioner faces Alice and Claire in a tour-de-force slow motion 3D battle.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: Angela from Night of the Demons

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year. Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Based on the original film of the same name from 1988, Adam Gierasch’s Night of the Demons tells the tale of Angela Feld (Shannon Elizabeth) who while throwing a Halloween party in a deserted mansion unleashes demonic forces. The freed demons begin to possess the partiers one by one. The cast also features Monica Keena, Edward Furlong, Bobbi Sue Luther and Michael Copon with a special cameo from Linnea Quigley, who had a prominent role in the original movie. Originally set for release during October, 2009, the film was held for a release in 2010, but only found limited release. It was finally released to DVD and Blu-ray to mixed reviews. The special effects and digital effects were created by Drac Studios.

Review: Rare Exports (2010)

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a delightful surprise. Set in the mountains of Finland during the Christmas holidays (December 23 and 24 to be exact), the story is about a group of archaeologists excavating a mountain and the locals from the surrounding village. The narrative focuses on young Pietari (Tommi Korpela), a pre-teen boy who is keenly aware of what the archaeologists have unearthed and the danger the village is in. When Pietari’s father, Rauno (Jorma Tommila), and his fellow slaughterhouse butchers discover their reindeer prey have been mysteriously mutilated near a fenced in entrance to the mountain, they begin to investigate and soon come face to face with a creature resembling the Santa Claus of local legend - a much different version than the current commercialized iconic character. After a few twists and turns, the full threat of the monster is revealed, and it is up to Pietari to save his family and village from “Santa’s elves” and possibly the demonic Krampus from Northern European legends.

From the description, one may think this is a holiday film for the entire family and in many ways it could be; however, it is a fantasy for adults who are children at heart. The film may not be appropriate for most kids; it is full of f-bombs and full-monty Santas. Not exactly material for U.S. families. But the story is a fascinating coming-of-age tale of a young boy discovering his worth while exploring the legend of Santa and his elves. This isn’t the dime-store jolly Santa in a red coat and black boots, this is the age-old European Santa legend and, boy, is he creepy and frightening - and he’s ready to punish the local children. At a brisk 80 minutes running time (a perfect length), Rare Exports keeps things moving along and smiles on the audience's faces. Except for Pietari, the script is light on character work; instead, it focuses on telling the story, running over conceived notions of Santa, and allowing its lead character to win the hearts of the audience.

Rare Exports also has two extraordinary accomplishments going for it: the cinematography by Mika Orasmaa and the original sound track by Juri Seppä and Miska Seppä. The shots of the Finland mountaintops are breathtaking. When Riley, the financier of the archaeological dig, is giving his opening speech with the snow-covered Korvatunturi mountains behind him, it’s jaw dropping and beautiful. The village homes and slaughterhouse are lit and photographed in a realistic manner making their lifestyle all the more authentic. The small village feels very isolated from the modern world. When the mysterious mountain creatures begin to reveal themselves from within the forest, it’s haunting and foreboding. In another scene the falling snow dances around young Pietari as he stands his ground. For the sound design, as the camera pans the locales, the accompanying original music is lush and rousing - as well done as any Hollywood film. Rare Exports contains one of the more memorable efforts in some time. The orchestrated score pulls you into the story, the landscape and adventure that lies upon the screen.

While all the actors do a tremendous job at presenting a convincing world for Rare Exports, Per Christian Ellefsen as Riley the financier and Onni Tommila as Pietari the young boy are stand-outs in the cast. Ironically they both have the same innocence and youthful imaginative performances even though they differ in age by fifty years. Riley is chasing the Santa legend from his youth, but is corrupted by his adult experiences. He understands what he has excavated from the Finnish mountain and the revelation of the discovery enlivens the character. He is both giddy and apprehensive about his discovery. Likewise for Pietari, he also knows what is happening in the dark countryside and the revelation of the creature's origin brings his character a similar life and purpose. Riley stands atop the mountain claiming “We have a grave to rob” while Pietari sits at the mountain's base fighting to save his family and friends. Pietari’s character arc reveals the man inside the young boy and the intelligence and courage that his fellow villagers fail to recognize, including his own father. “Tell my father what I did” he requests as he prepares to sacrifice himself to the creatures in order to save his village and the children.

Also of note is Peeter Jakobi who plays the Santa-like creature that Riley releases from the mountain prison. His slender, sharp features and quiet stillness are chilling and fascinating, likely to produce some goose-pimples. He has no lines but his gaze alone is as memorable as a well-written soliloquy. The trio of men that portray the slaughterhouse family are a winning bunch as well, drawing the audience’s sympathy to their plight - their struggling business and their deadly encounter. They are so disarmingly entertaining, it is not difficult to root for them throughout the conclusion. Oddly, there are no women in the cast (aside from a few extras), Pietari has no mother and there are no women in the hunting party nor the excavation team.

Directed by Jalmari Helander, Rare Exports is a darkly comedic holiday treat with a chilling twist on the Santa legend. The film is an expanded version of his award winning shorts from 2003 and 2005. While the direction is still horrific in tone, Helander holds back from being too graphic, enabling the narrative to maintain a warm, childlike innocence. A little too free with its language and nudity for U.S. audiences, Rare Exports is still a perfect winter treat for the young at heart and can easily warrant annual viewing. Already being rightfully compared to Joe (Gremlins) Dante and Tim (Sweeny Todd, Alice in Wonderland) Burton, Jalmari Helander is a promising new talent and his Rare Exports should not be missed. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is being released in the U.S. this December by Oscilloscope Laboratories beginning in New York and L.A., then expanding throughout the States with limited screenings.

Doc Rotten's Movie Monsters of 2010: The Walking Dead

For each weekday throughout December, Doc Rotten will be looking back at 2010 examining 20 Movie Monsters of the year.Check back each day and rate how successful the monster worked on the big screen, DVD or BluRay. On December 31, we'll look at all 20 Monsters in order of their popularity. Let's take a look at today's Movie Monster of 2010.

Robert Kirkman's zombies in THE WALKING DEAD

One of the biggest successes of 2010 was AMC’s zombie TV series adapting Robert Kirkman’s comic book The Walking Dead. Produced by Gale Anne Hurd and developed by Frank Darabont, the 6 episode series is tense, dramatic, emotional, scary and full of gore. Horror on television has never looked this good. The zombies are some of the best zombies ever created (effects by Gregory Nicotero) for TV, movies - anything, ever. From the opening shot of a zombie girl confronting the show’s hero, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), to the attack on the survivor camp, the zombies are gruesome, realistic and bloody. The Walking Dead is an instant classic that will be talked about for years to come.