Review of Krampus (2015) by Tekia W — 23 Jan 2016

Michael Dougherty has to be one of the best and most creative writers and directors I could ever have hoped to encounter, Trick 'r Treat was a glamorous and spectacular horror anthology that reminds all of us that Halloween will always be the greatest and most dominant holiday there will ever be.

Plus the horror of it was fun and bloody terrific so it really is such a damn, damn shame that Warner Bros would keep such a criminally-under appreciated film on the shelf for three years until it could hit the scene with DVD, to its advantage it has sparked a well-deserved cult following and getting grand praise that it deserves, it paved the way for Michael Dougherty to be allowed to make and theatrically release "Krampus"!

With mainstream critics prepared to sneer at any horror movie that flaunts the scene with bloodshed and slashers, the horror genre being one of my most favorite there is, these critics might be missing out on this year's holiday classic that will stand the test of time of being a timeless Christmas classic akin to Gremlins.

Krampus is an amazing film, it has fantastical atmosphere that drench you into the Christmas season as well as the horrors that lie in winter, the suspense and build up to some of the craziest horror never feels like it's dragging, if anything it's a movie that takes horror tropes that mainstream audiences have grown so cynically used to and twists them on their heads and surprises you at every turn, where most uncreative horror films fall apart or cut too quick so audiences don't get bored, Krampus does the job with both grace and morbidity!

The family we're centered on are those we can reminisce of Goonies past with great acting throughout that makes these characters likable, identifiable and lovably-hateful, dysfunctional families can only be so done well for horror and most of them are just throwawayable to where you just want to watch them get killed so your time is not wasted with annoying child actors and screaming babies while the adults act like idiots, but Krampus is more thoughtful than that.

We have a story of a boy who writes a letter to Santa Claus asking for nothing but to be closer to his family and for everyone to get along until his terrible cousins make fun of him for believing in such tripe so he tears up the letter and throws it out and Krampus comes to their home to show them the true meaning of losing hope on Christmas Day, by terrorizing the fuck out of everyone with killer toys, kids getting turned into snowmen and gingerbread men shooting people with nail guns...TRUST ME that isn't all but you'll have to see the movie to find out how much more horror for the holidays this movie can scream out and it delivers on every aspect.

In the wrong hands, this movie could have EASILY been fucked up, it could've just had Krampus be a guy in a mask killing people or just making it into a boring CGI cartoon about how the Christmas demon finally finds his happiness, but Michael Dougherty used every creative idea to his advantage as all ideas for movies SHOULD be done and it's amazing because of it and it never holds back despite the PG-13 rating, even with a PG-13 rating, Dougherty can get away with some of the most terrifying imagery that no one would ever have the gulls or the spine to do in an industry that thrives only on the boring, depressing and safe world of filmmaking.

Every aspect of the movie works, the writing works, the comedy works, the drama works, the scares work and they didn't even have to use any jump scares to do it, the practical effects are amazingly done and give real dimension to the horrifying creatures like the soon-to-be-remembered Jack-in-the-Box, Deddy Bear, Angel Face and much more they will be in your nightmares for the rest of Christmases to come and they are awesome!

Krampus himself is an amazing sight to behold something that had crawled out of ancient folklore and made love to Guillermo Del Toro's beautiful and gruesome brain, his presence in the movie, while brief, is a very terrifying and intimidating figure who stops at nothing to punish those deemed wicked on the face of the earth and using any methods of nightmarish torment and punishment to those who deserve it.

Krampus is one of the best movies I have seen this year, never have I been more excited and in love with such a movie like this since Guardians of the Galaxy but even that is selling it too short, really it's a movie that knows how to do horror-themed holiday movies right and will go down as a great Christmas classic for generations to come and one I will never forget even a movie I can not praise enough and a true testament of what happens when a mainstream film studio takes a risk and delivers with unprecedented success at the hands of a mad man such as Michael Dougherty, if only the mainstream and indie film industry could take more notice to such a beast!

Don't miss this!