A Finnish horror-comedy that marks the feature directorial debut of Hatching writer Ilja Rautsi, the upcoming Red Snow has been acquired by Shudder ahead of its Fantastic Fest premiere.
The news was first reported by Variety this afternoon.
Red Snow will World Premiere at Fantastic Fest this weekend.
“Red Snow is exactly the kind of wild, original genre filmmaking that Shudder audiences embrace,” Shudder’s Emily Gotto said in a statement. “Ilja Rautsi has created a film that envisions a funny, bloody and genuinely surprising Christmas nightmare.”
“Red Snow comes from my lifetime of love for all things horror, so I’m beyond thrilled to have the film be so widely available on Shudder,” Ilja Rautsi said in a statement. “It’s a splattery Christmas present made by freaks for freaks. I couldn’t hope for a better home.”
In Red Snow, “A vampire posing as Santa Claus invades the home of a family whose rebellious teenage daughter wants only one thing: to become a vampire herself and escape her miserable life.”
Here’s the longer official synopsis:
“In Finland, sixteen-year-old emo teen Johanna dreams of a glittering Twilight vampire prince. What she gets instead is Martti — a balding, beer-bellied 49-year-old bloodsucker who slips into a Santa suit to gain entry to homes and devour entire families. When Johanna crosses paths with Martti on Christmas Eve, she thinks her dark fairy tale has come true. But instead of eternal romance, she finds herself trapped in a bloody and horrific nightmare of aging masculine toxicity, family trauma, and festive slaughter. By morning, the snow will turn red.”
Hannu-Pekka Björkman and Anni Iikkanen lead the cast of the horror-comedy.
Red Snow will release in Finland on November 20, 2026.
