Writer: Michael Dougherty, Todd Casey, Zach Shields (Screenplay)
Starring: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, Krista Stadler
Plot: A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a Christmas demon to his family home.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Christmas Cracker Nightmare
Story: Krampus starts with the opening credits showing the chaos of Christmas shopping before moving to meet the Engel family father Tom (Scott), mother Sarah (Collette) and children Max (Anthony), Beth (Owen). They are preparing for family visiting Howard (Koechner), Linda (Tolman) along with their children and Aunt Dorothy (Ferrell). What looks like a normal horrendous family holiday together takes a turn when we learn that Max’s letter to Santa is very personal about wanting things to come back to normal.
When a blizzard hits the family find themselves with no hot water increasing tensions and Beth leaving the house finds out that something terrifying is lurking outside their house. When Beth never returns Tom and Howard go searching and find themselves having to fight Krampus and all of his demons of Christmas to protect their own families.
Krampus is a horror fantasy comedy that is set at Christmas much like Gremlins did back in the 80’s. We get to see how a family Christmas is really just like normal with different parts of family coming together. I did like how this took a Christmas wish idea and take a twisted looking at how you need to be careful what you wish for. We get to see things happen we wouldn’t normal see in a Christmas film because the only characters we meet are the family making any victims being close to home. I really didn’t know where it was going which is always good in a horror movie making this one to add to the list of horror Christmas films.
Actor Review
Adam Scott: Tom Engel is the father of the household, he does spend a lot of his time traveling but this year has promised to stay home with his family. He doesn’t get along with Howard but deals with him to make Christmas work. He must step up when his own daughter Beth disappears and they have to fight Krampus and his helpers. Adam is good in this leading role even a slightly generic father character.
Toni Collette: Sarah Engel is the mother of the household, she is a neat freak and has to deal with her sister’s untidy family at Christmas. She will do anything to protect her son after her daughter goes missing. Toni makes for a good supporting character as always.
David Koechner: Howard is the brother in law who is very loud and gun happy. He has never really seen eye to eye with Tom but the events of this night bring them closer than they have ever been. David gives what is the trademark supporting performance you get from him.
Allison Tolman: Linda is Sarah’s sister who has bought her family to stay for Christmas, she comes off soft as she deals with what is happening with everything before the events of that night. She comes off as the push over parent compared to the over the top husband Howard. Allison is good as the supporting character.
Support Cast: Krampus has a big supporting cast that is only family which helps add the peril side of the story.
Director Review: Michael Dougherty – Michael continues to take over the holiday horror scene with this addition to Christmas horrors.
Comedy: Krampus has good comic moment through the film without turning to it every time.
Fantasy: Krampus puts us into a world of fantasy creatures that all come off original with the terror through the film.
Horror: Krampus brings us a new Christmas horror that could easily stand next to Gremlins.
Settings: Krampus keeps us in a small setting with everything in and around the house.
Special Effects: Krampus uses great special effects to create the demons terrorising the family.
Suggestion: Krampus is one for all the horror fans to enjoy. (Horror Fans Watch)
Best Part: Attic scene.
Worst Part: Not much.
Funniest Scene: Gingerbread time.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: Yeah
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Gremlins
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $42.5 Million
Budget: $15 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
Tagline: He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good. So be good for goodness’s sake.
Overall: Christmas Horror Comedy that is one of the best in recent years.
Rating