‘Red Snow,’ a Vampire Santa Horror-Comedy, Acquired by Shudder (EXCLUSIVE)

Shudder has announced the acquisition of the horror-comedy “Red Snow.” The film has its world premiere this week at Fantastic Fest in Austin, and it will hit Shudder at a later date.

Per the official description, the film “takes place in Finland, where 16-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 family trauma and festive slaughter. By morning, the snow will turn red.”

The film is written and directed by Ilja Rautsi, known to genre fans as the cowriter of recent horror films like 2022’s “Hatching” and “Nightborn,” which also debuted on Shudder earlier this year. Hannu-Pekka Björkman and Anni Iikkanen star in the film, which is produced by Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff for Bufo and co-produced by Ivo Felt for Allfilm and Peter Krupenin for HOBAB.

“’Red Snow’ is exactly the kind of wild, original genre filmmaking that Shudder audiences embrace,” Emily Gotto, senior vice president of acquisitions and productions at Shudder, 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,” Rautsi said in a statement. “It’s a splattery Christmas present made by freaks for freaks. I couldn’t hope for a better home.”

Gotto negotiated the acquisition on behalf of Shudder, with Charades on behalf of the filmmakers.