Krampus

The idea of a Christmas set horror film is by no means a new idea. From the likes of Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Gremlins, Santa's Slay and the "All Through the House" segment of Tales from the Crypt (as well as the episode from the TV series of the same name), there is enough holiday themed horror to sate the thirst of even the most hardened gore hound. So, to see the makers of Trick 'R Treat take a spin at some festive scares with the legend of Krampus, I can only say bring it on. 

Max (played by Emjay Anthony) is having a rough Christmas. There is a growing distance between his parents Tom and Sarah (played by Adam Scott and Toni Collette). His house has been invaded by his obnoxious Aunt and Uncle Linda and Howard (played by Alison Tolman and David Koechner), their Aunt Dorothy (played by Conchata Ferrell), and assorted cousins. When his cousins find his letter to Santa and read it aloud at the dinner table, Max is humiliated. He snatches it back and runs off. In a fit of rage, he tears up the letter and tosses it out the window, shocked to see the pieces fly up into the sky rather than fall to the ground. Just then a blizzard rolls in and shortly after the power to the entire town is knocked out. Only Tom's German speaking mother, Omi (played by Krista Stadler), knows what is going on: Krampus is coming. She instructs her family to keep the fire in the fireplace hot as the family hunkers down, waiting for the storm to break. 

It's not long before Krampus and his minions show up. And these minions are not the cute and adorable yellow ones. They are demented forms of a Jack in the Box, Teddy Bear, Christmas Angel and Gingerbread men (the latter of which are both strangely adorable and terrifying). Luckily, Uncle Howard is packing heat and the guns come out as the family tries to fend off the monsters until they can come up with a plan to get to safety. In the meantime, this fractured and dysfunctional family starts to rebuild their ties in the midst of the supernatural crisis.  

I was actually pleasantly surprised by Krampus. While it doesn't reinvent the wheel, I kept wondering how it was all going to turn out, especially as the family members started getting picked off, including the kids, which surprised me. As we got towards the end I started to see where it was going, but for a long stretch it did keep me wondering. The film also has a sharp sense of humor running through it which helped ease some of the tension. The film was well directed by Michael Dougherty, who created a great sense of atmosphere of a holiday wonderland slowly dismantled by festive ghouls. The film takes a sharp stab at a consumer driven Christmas from the opening scene at a local department store filled with shoppers run amok for the latest sale. The stop motion animated flashback as the grandmother relates the tale of Krampus to her family was a nice touch too, a throwback to those old holiday specials by way of Tim Burton. 

The film is well cast, with Adam Scott leading the group as the typical suburban Dad who impresses his far more redneck brother-in-law as he steps up to protect his family. Toni Collette manages to capture what most mothers must feel like during the holidays, stressed out and trying their best to make everything picture perfect. Alison Tolman does well as her sister and long suffering wife, trying her best to keep the peace between both sides of the family. Both women were great as they step up as well to protect their children.  

Overall, Krampus fits nicely in with the holiday themed horror films of past. Will it ever be as well revered as say Black Christmas or Gremlins? It's hard to say but it does pack a wallop all of it's own with some unique creature design and some fantastic effects. At the same time, it has a wicked sense of humor and a certain playfulness to it that makes it hard to take it quite so seriously. And despite all the monsters and mayhem, deep down it is a genuine Christmas movie, playing out like a sort of demented It's a Wonderful Life as Krampus blows into town and helps this family rediscover what is really important. Besides, I just can't dislike a movie that has a character exclaim, "I just got my ass kicked by Christmas cookies!"