- Directed by Erik Blomberg
- Written by Erik Blomberg, Mirjami Kuosmanen
- Stars Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissila, Ake Lindman
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 14 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECyp3fJBI20
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Instead of the vampire turning into a bat, she turns into a white reindeer – that was a different take we’ve never seen before. This was kind of interesting seeing what life was like in a small Finnish community in 1952. The movie has a dark fairy tale vibe to it, literally starting out with a woman setting up the story, and there’s also vibes that it’s a documentary about these people and the nature they live with. It wouldn’t be for everyone, but we thought it was a decent watch.
Spoilery Synopsis
We watch people wandering around in a desolate snowscape as the singer tells us about a witch with “evil in her belly.” There’s also a story about a girl who turned into a deer and died when a hunter killed her. We watch the woman make it to the witch’s tent, give birth, and die.
We cut to Pirita at the reindeer-sled races. It’s like the Iditarod meets Ben Hur. Pirita is way ahead when a man throws a lasso over her and pulls her off the sled. They laugh and then kiss.
Later, the man, Aslak, meets her parents and says he has good intentions and pays a dowry. There’s a party and lots of drinking and toasts. It’s a happy day for everyone!
Some time passes, and although the two love each other, they have a dead bedroom. He leaves to go on a weeks-long reindeer cattle drive, which leaves her at home alone.
Pirita goes to visit an evil-looking man with no legs, Taslkku-Nilla, out in a very remote cabin. She wants a love potion from him. His magic drum gets out of control, and even he’s afraid of it, calling her a witch. He does tell her that she has to sacrifice the first living thing she sees when she leaves– which is her pet reindeer, a little white tame one.
She takes the little reindeer to the altar of the Stone God and kills it with her knife. She then passes out in the snow and gets a vision.
Pirita goes looking for Aslak, but he’s not in the camp when she gets there, he’s out hunting. She goes to sleep in the tent with all the other men, but she wakes up in the middle of the night. She leaves the tent and becomes a big white reindeer.
Some hunters see the white reindeer and start tracking it. One of the hunters ropes the animal and wrestles it to the ground, just as we saw Pirita do earlier. Suddenly, the deer is Pirita, laughing at the shocked hunter. As he leans in for a kiss, she gets a surprised look and bites him on the neck, killing him.
Other hunters find the body and bring it back to the village. All the village men find Pirita attractive, especially after the love potion spell, and that night, she eats another man.
The men talk about the “White witch reindeer,” and argue about superstition. They discuss their favorite weapons. They spot a white reindeer outside and one man chases it and shoots it, but his gun explodes. He sees Pirita there, laughing at him.
That night, back in camp, the man with the exploding gun recognizes Pirita and chases her with a torch. The other men wrestle him to the ground, but now, Aslak is a little suspicious of his wife. She looks in the mirror and sees that she now has fangs. That night, she almost kills Aslak, but doesn’t at the last moment.
At church, Pirita doesn’t sing with all the other women, and people notice. Aslak sharpens his spear; he wants that reindeer. “Cold iron is the only way to kill a witch,” he explains. We see that a lot of people in town are readying iron weapons.
The white reindeer returns, and all the men grab their spears and go after it. Pirita knows she’s in trouble and goes back to Tsalkku-Nilla to undo the spell, but she finds him frozen to death inside his hut; no help there.
She runs back to the sacrificial altar and begs the stone god to take back his magic. Instead, she turns into the reindeer right then and runs off. Aslak sees the reindeer from a distance and pursues it on his skis. He gets it with his spear and approaches, only to find out that it’s his own wife.
Brian’s Commentary
I had no idea people used reindeer as sled dogs or could just catch a wild one to tow your sled. Very cool! There are a lot of shots of reindeers and people herding, hunting, and wrestling them.
There’s very little dialogue, so even if you don’t like subtitles, this isn’t excessive. Visually, it’s excellent, especially if you’re curious about Finland in the old days (it’s vague about when this takes place, but it could’ve been as late as 1952).
It’s interesting due to the location and time period, but there’s not really much of a story or drama here. A lot of it feels like a nature documentary rather than horror. I suspect many modern audiences would find it boring.
Kevin’s Commentary
The best part about this was getting a historical peek at a very different culture, thriving in a frozen land, from many decades ago. It’s low key on horror, more like a fairy tale, but I thought it was worth the watch.
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