The White Reindeer (1952)

Finnish cinematographer Erik Blomberg's directorial debut gets a lovely 4K restoration in this new dual format release from Eureka.

In a small. windswept, freezing-looking village, Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen) gets married to a reindeer herder who by necessity has to spend a lot of time away from home. She quickly gets bored and, desiring of male company, she visits a shaman in a remote cottage.

He gives her a potion that he claims will make her an irresistible object of desire. What he doesn't tell her is that it will turn her into a bloodsucking shapeshifting were-reindeer.

So off Pirita goes, luring men to their doom in the shape of a reindeer but turning back into a vampire woman at the last minute to do them in. Which does make you wonder which the men are actually more interested in - the rare and mythical animal or the beautiful woman. Or are they considered one and the same?

Erik Blomberg's black and white 1952 feature is worth watching for several reasons, one being the stunningly filmed snow-laden landscape. It's hard to imagine how anyone could survive in such an environment, never mind the massive herds of reindeer we get to see. The supernatural bits are, by necessity, restrained and minimal, but they're still stylish with excellent use of the expressionist style. In fact, if Mario Bava had been given a similar budget and location I wonder if THE WHITE REINDEER wouldn't have looked that much different.

I know nothing about cinema from this part of the world, or indeed this film so I was grateful to Kat Ellinger for her commentary track that offers insights into both. Eureka's disc also includes a video essay 'Religion, Pain & Punishment: The Portrayal of Witches in Nordic Cinema' by Amy Simmons, Erik Blomberg's 1947 short With The Reindeer, some colour test footage and a piece on the 1952 Jussi Awards where THE WHITE REINDEER did quite well. Finally, there's a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Philip Kemp.

Erik Blomberg's THE WHITE REINDEER is out on dual format DVD & Blu-ray from Eureka now.