Krampus (2015)

Here we are with another Christmas horror movie. This time around we watch as a young boy named Max deals with his extended family and all the bickering that comes with it. After being thoroughly embarrassed by his cousins he storms off saying he hates Christmas and all of them! That is a bad thing since it gets the attention of Krampus aka. Saint Nicholas’ shadow. Instead of Santa they get a very angry spirit and his minions who are determined to get up to some serious mischief. One by one they all fall victim to them until only Max is left. But then he wakes up in his bed and goes downstairs to see his family next to the tree opening gifts. It must have been a dream and we are getting a happy ending… or not.

I enjoyed the heck out of this movie. The story is entertaining and jumps right to the action without hesitation. There is always something annoying, creepy, or scary happening on screen, which makes for a quick ninety-seven-minute runtime. The movie quickly becomes a siege with all sorts of spooky festive critters trying to get in the house. Spoilers they do manage to get in and that is when it really hits the fans. We also get a fun animated flashback where the German grandmother, who knows things, explains her history with Krampus and what is about to happen. There is a lot to enjoy with this one.

The cast is excellent in their roles with the highlights being Adam Scott, Toni Collette, and David Koechner. This one is played for laughs at times so Scott and Koechner are given a chance to shine. This movie also proves that if you give Collette something decent to work with, she can be a great actress… I’m looking at you Hereditary! We even get some fun with the late Conchata Ferrell as the unpleasant Aunt Dorothy who can handle a shotgun pretty well.

When I sat down with this one, I expected a decent looking creature and that is what I got. The Krampus design is all practical effects work and looks awesome. What I didn’t anticipate was the menagerie of mayhem that accompanies our main bad guy. There are CGI Gingerbread men who wield a nail gun, a maniacal teddy bear that tripes to chomp on folks, a crazy jack in the box that acts like an anaconda in the way it eats people up, and a creepy baby doll. Oh, and I almost forgot the creepy elves and the stabby machine in the attic. I did say there was a lot going on. Though be warned that this one is PG-13 so you aren’t going to get a lot of gore or creative kills. In fact, while we get a few implied deaths in the end it appears that everyone survived.

Sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. What we have with Krampus is a movie that is just fun. Other than a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming this is a predictable flick that checks a lot of boxes. There is some humor, some horror, and some fun creature effects work. If that would make your holidays merry, like it did mine, then check it out.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer