The White Reindeer

The White Reindeer (1952)

Runtime: 68 minutes

Directed by: Erik Blomberg

Starring: Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nisslia, Ake Lindman, Jouni Tapiola, Arvo Lehesmaa

From: Junior-Filmi

An appropriate movie to review; in the United States, most are experiencing brutally cold weather. This includes Florida; a few hours northwest of me-still in Florida-it SNOWED several inches, which is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Right now at home it is 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius!) Henceforth, my decision to view something related to the winter vibes.

Regrettably, despite its presence on the second volume of All the Haunts be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror (released just several months ago), it took a particularly deep dive into The Bowels of the Internet to find a copy that either was dubbed or subbed in English-fortunately a subbed copy was found.

It was a standard story set in the northernmost Finnish area of Lapland-full of rural woods and snow-where boy meets girl, boy & girl fall in love, boy starts ignoring girl, girl decides to visit a shaman for a love potion, potion goes awry so she turns into a shape-shifter who’s a white reindeer but also a witch AND a vampire… like I said, a standard story.

As many are experiencing conditions comparable to the planet Hoth, the sparse, snowy landscape of the past and the barren dwellings is the perfect vibe for this week. There are nice performances from lead girl Mirjami Kuosmanen (director Erik Blomberg’s wife; they wrote the story) and Kalervo Nissila, a.k.a. the Finnish Joseph Cotten, to steal a phrase. There were strong vibes throughout, whether it be the whimsy of the lead couple’s burgeoning love during sled racing w/ reindeer as their noble steed or the lead girl’s horror at realizing she’s cursed.

The dialogue is usually sparse; thus, it’s a blessing that the bold score from Einar Englund was awesome. It was a compelling 68 minutes and it’s a shame that in the United States, the movie is hard to track down for streaming purposes and in terms of physical media it’s not easy either unless you have the second volume of the Haunts set.