A corporation digging in a mountain in Finland discovers that it is man-made, housing the grave of Santa Claus. But this isn't the modern version of the guy--this is the original, child-eating one. Let's just say that those workers meet a violent end.
The majority of the story focuses around a young boy and his father, who runs a reindeer slaughtering house. The day after the boy and his friend sneak in to look at the archeological dig their parents find hundreds of reindeer slaughtered. The adults thing it's wolves but the kid sees the human footprints and knows it may be Saint Nick. Then, someTHING falls into the deadfall pit the father had dug to catch the wolves. It looks like a white bearded sixty-year old man and at first they think he's dead. Then, he starts to awaken and ends up biting the ear off one of the guys. Strange things are happening in the area---all of the boy's friends are disappearing, replaced by effigies, and radiators are being stolen from homes. It's not until the last half hour when all the questions are answered.
This fascinating movie had me hooked from the beginning. RARE EXPORTS is one of the best Christmas themed horror movies ever made.