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Krampus

Krampus: Surprisingly Entertaining Christmas Comedy-Horror

  • Adam ScottAllison Tolman...
  • ComedyHorror
  • Michael Dougherty
reviewed by
Marija Loncarevic
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Krampus: Surprisingly Entertaining Christmas Comedy-Horror

While it may not be the scariest of horrors you’ll come across this holiday season, Michael Dougherty’s Krampus – following his 2007’s directorial debut and Halloween hit, Trick ‘r Treat – is still a perfectly suited and crafted holiday-horror entry that manages to serve up just enough comedic darkness and gritty tension to keep audiences satisfied.

Set a couple of days before Christmas, Krampus is centred on a young pre-teen, Max (Anthony) who, along with his older sister, Beth (Owen), and their painfully suburban parents, Tom (Scott) and Sarah (Collette), is getting ready for the family’s annual Yuletide gathering. As the family welcomes Sarah’s envious sister, Linda (Tolman), her gun-toting husband, Howard (Koechner), and their army of kids for the annual holiday visit, it’s clear that family disputes and personality clashes are in the offing, especially when let’s-complain-about-everything Aunt Dorothy (Ferrell) joins in on the holiday fun.

Bearing witness to the dysfunctional nature of his family and after being embarrassed by his cousins for still believing in Santa, the ever so sensitive Max decides to give up on his beliefs by tearing up his letter to Santa, before eventually throwing it into the wind. His actions, unfortunately, end up bringing one seemingly dark and unforgiving consequence into play; an ancient demonic force named Krampusknown as Santa’s shadow – who seeks to punish those who have decided to throwaway their beliefs and give up on their holiday spirit altogether.        

There’s a certain level of playfulness and whimsy throughout Krampus; the type of dark comedic quirkiness we have witnessed in another very special – though undoubtedly better – 1984 holiday classic, Gremlins. The film starts of at a slow pace and takes a while before the scares – which there is only a handful of – begin to turn up and a long time before the story’s central villain – and his loyal and scary minions – begins to spread his menace.

Nevertheless, it’s the film’s ingenious and detailed approach to special effects – courtesy of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital (see Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit) – that keeps things engaging while the cast muster up enough energy to bring the story to life. The gore-o-meter is pretty low – this is a PG-13 movie after all – however, it plays on the tension of the ‘unseen’ pretty well 

Like This? Try

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Black Christmas (2006)

360 Tip

Krampus is a huge part of German folklore. In southern Germany, they have 'Krampus Runs'where boys, ages 14-18 dress up as Krampuses and parade through the city streets. Fun!

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