Santa Claus has been getting away with some pretty suspicious behavior for generations. He comes into your house while everyone is sleeping, keeps tabs on who’s been naughty or nice, and somehow knows everything about the people inside. Maybe we should have been asking more questions all along!
Now, those suspicions are getting a little more justification in Red Snow, a Finnish horror comedy that gives the man in the red suit a decidedly bloodthirsty makeover. Variety has debuted an exclusive clip from the film, featuring Santa Claus attempting to convince a family to let him inside. There’s just one problem: he’s a vampire, and he needs an invitation to enter. Of course, who wants to leave Santa standing outside on Christmas Eve?
WATCH THE FIRST CLIP FROM “RED SNOW” BELOW
The film comes from Finnish filmmaker Ilja Rautsi (Hatching), who takes the familiar vampire invitation rule and gives it a particularly twisted holiday spin. As Rautsi previously explained when discussing the premise with Variety, the idea came from imagining what would happen if someone welcomed Santa into their home without realizing what he really was. The result? A Christmas visitor who could devour the entire family.
The person least likely to object to this particular visitor is Johanna (Anni Iikkanen), a 16-year-old emo girl who dreams of finding her own Twilight style vampire prince. Unfortunately, the man wearing the Santa suit is Martti (Hannu-Pekka Björkman), a 49-year-old, balding, beer-bellied vampire with a very different idea of a holiday romance. His appetite is considerably more dangerous than anything Johanna has imagined.
Rautsi has also acknowledged the unexpected sexual undertones that come with putting a vampire in a Santa suit. He sees the film’s outrageous, absurd world as the perfect setting to push those boundaries, describing the result as a particularly gruesome Christmas present.
Red Snow marks Rautsi’s feature directorial debut. Shudder acquired the Finnish horror comedy ahead of its premiere at Fantastic Fest, bringing this unusual holiday nightmare to the streaming service.
Santa Claus may be coming to town, but this time, you might want to think twice before opening the door.
