The Americans call him Santa Claus. The British call him Father Christmas. Anglos be aware. That jolly fat old white man with matching beard is a Coca-Cola™ invention1. What is common knowledge to some is revelation to others.
This year American horror cinema is 100 years old (Frankenstein 1910). To celebrate the centenary Hollywood released A Nightmare on Elm Street and My Soul to Take amongst other bilge. That is not to say the genre is bankrupt – Hollywood storytelling maybe but not horror films. The aficionados have learnt to look elsewhere for their scares: Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain. There are other finding places – other countries and cultures each rich with legend and myth.
One of Hollywood’s great inventions is the zombie; an inspiration from Haiti. Hollywood should go to Africa the oldest and richest of cultures. In Nigeria there is the tale of the mermaid. A temptress, a seductress, a demon dressed in female skin to lure men to the depths to their deaths. The Europeans have mythology too. In Finland Santa Claus is derived from the pagan Yule Goat. Not that jolly.
Rare Exports is more fantasy than horror. As was The City of Lost Children 1995 and Pans Labyrinth 2006. If it’s as good as the latter two or as its trailer suggests then our rewards will be at Christmas.
Read more Thrill Fiction: Re/Made: The Thing
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