Rating: 4/5
Hooptober 4.0 | 8/31 | Countries 2/6 | Finland | Decades 3/6 | 50s
A girl is born to a fiery snow Grew a girl with hay shoes Like a young reindeer doe Didn’t know at her father’s home When she went to her bridegroom’s house, That she was born a witch An evil spirit grew in her stomach. Sacrificed at the altar of Kermikka a white reindeer doe From there, she ran as a mountain reindeer Until the moment was at hand A lightning impales the white They lay the girl with the hay shoes The snow blanket as her cover And a pillow made of snow under her head
Pirita participates in the annual reindeer competitions. During the competition, she falls off her sleigh. Aslak helps her and the two tumble into the snow. They return together in a single sleigh. Later, they marry.
Aslak is a reindeer herder, sending him away for work. When he comes home, work has exhausted him, stifling their once-passionate relationship. He’ll then leave and Pirita is lonely again. She cares for a small white reindeer in his absence.
Pirita visits Tsalkku-Nilla, the local shaman. She offers him bread, cheese, and alcohol as payment. He prepares a love potion for her, reciting a spell over it. He instructs her to kill the first living creature she encounters. During the spell, Pirita displays an unusual power that neither understands.
When she returns home, the first living thing she sees is her husband and the white reindeer. She reluctantly takes it to the sacred reindeer graveyard, draws a blade, and kills the white reindeer. The wind picks up, and she passes out.
When she awakes, she finds the other herders. She camps with them while waiting for Aslak to return. But as the sun sets, she awakens. She leaps outwards and lands as a white reindeer. Not an ordinary reindeer, but one that craves human blood.
This movie is so beautiful! Finland’s snow-white terrain, the trees bent over and burdened by snow, the reindeer roaming the country. The reindeer herders wear skis to traverse cross-country, the reindeer chain stretching behind them — the ocean of antlers undulating and shifting.
The close-ups have sharp, dramatic lighting to tell us the internal state of the characters.
Like other folk horror, this film doesn’t embody the typical horror style or ambiance. It feels like a nature documentary sometimes. The moments when the vampire reindeer strikes feel like being lost.
Mirjami Kuosmanen has such a strange energy to her. I saw another review comparing her to Barbara Steele, and I would say that’s accurate. She also reminds me of Debbie Harry of Blondie.
I liked this!