Review of Krampus (2015) by Marc D — 25 Dec 2015

Twisted Christmas Fun.

Having recently lost his Christmas spirit and formed bitterness towards his family, a young boy unintentionally summons the wrath of a vicious demon to his home for the holidays.

For the first time in what feels like decades, we're fortunate enough to have something fresh and new come out from the shadows and surprise us. Unlike many of the countless reboots that are coming at us, like a flock of seagulls chasing after food, Krampus offers something that any film enthusiast could appreciate: originality. Sure, the character might be based on ancient Eastern European folklore, but who are we kidding? I'm pretty sure that most of us in North America have never heard of this legend beforehand, which makes it feel as fresh as putting on a clean pair of socks straight out of the dryer. Just don't expect to feel too warm and fuzzy when this terrifying shadow comes to town.

What makes Krampus so effective is its intentional throwback to old-school horror mixed with the tone of a family Christmas flick from the '80s. This is certainly not an easy concoction to mix, but writer/director Michael Dougherty comes the closest to achieving exactly what the flawless Gremlins did for this twistedly fun sub-genre. His decision to implement the use of real-life monster puppets instead of going full CGI certainly has a lot to do with this. But it was his clever decision to keep them hidden from the cast until filming that truly made them come alive. As stated by Park and Recreation's Adam Scott, the first time they'd see most of the creatures was on-camera, so their reactions ended up being completely genuine. Not that this film's wonderfully dysfunctional family, which also includes Anchorman's David Koechner, The Sixth Sense's Toni Collette and Two and a Half Men's Conchata Ferrel, needed it, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Krampus might be one of the world's darkest Christmas movies, but it manages to hold just enough light-hearted qualities with its family values to maintain some holiday spirit. I have no doubt that some audiences will find its premise a little unsettling, but its spiritual sensibilities and strange sense of humor prevent it from being a pointless tale of bloodshed. Thankfully avoiding typical horror clichés, this is one unexpected gift for the holidays that's sure to slay.