The White Reindeer

Shamans, vampiric reindeer, and the Finnish winter are the ingredients to this Nordic horror classic.

With Spooktober we approach the winter months, and what better way to make that transition than through a horror film taking place in the cold winter landscape of Finland. The film is based on Finnish mythology, winning the award for Best Fairy Tale Film in the 1953 Cannes film festival. In it, we follow Pirita and her husband Aslak who live up in the arctic. Aslak works as a reindeer herder, and his work requires him to spend a lot of time away from home. Pirita becomes lonely in her husband’s absence and visits a shaman who gives her what she wants, but with the side effect of turning her into a vampiric reindeer. Dialogue and narration are kept to a minimum, and the visuals and music are the main focus which, along with the grainy black-and-white film, create a cold and isolating atmosphere.