Format: Streaming video from AMC+ on Fire!
Halloween is the holiday most clearly associated with horror, but there’s a definite connection between holidays and horror in general. Aside from Halloween, no holiday connects to the terrifying as readily or as often as Christmas. That being the case, it seems surprising that it took until 2015 for someone to come up with the idea of Krampus. The ancient Krampus mythology is both clearly horror-connected and Christmas-themed. In a world of Santa’s Slay and Christmas Evil and Silent Night Deadly Night, a Krampus story seems like low-hanging fruit.
The Krampus legend is of a dark Santa Claus who punishes naughty children in December. According to folklore, Krampus shows up on December 5 and beats bad children with switches and sometimes kidnaps the more poorly-behaved kids. His appearance is demonic—horns, cloven hooves, and chains. As a pagan creation, more than a little of the creature has been incorporated into Christian folklore as Satan. Regardless, a giant Christmas monster is a natural choice for a horror movie.
Our hero is Max Engel (Emjay Anthony), a young boy who, despite living in a terribly dysfunctional family, still believes in Santa Claus. Christmas is not a particularly happy time for the Engel family, even though Max’s grandmother (Krista Stadler) does her best. As expected, though, the family is stressed out, not taking time to treat each other well, or even spend any real time together. Max’s father (Adam Scott) is always working and his mother (Toni Collette) is desperate to make the perfect Christmas to the point where if anything is a problem, it becomes a catastrophe. His sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen) has grown distant from him. All Max really wants is for things to be like they were.
And it gets worse when his extended family—Uncle Howard (David Koechner), Aunt Sarah (Allison Tolman) and his cousins (Lolo Own, Queenie Samuel, Maverick Flack, and Sage Hunefeld) arrive with their bulldog. Worse, they’ve brought Aunt Dorothy (Conchata Ferrell), an angry and abusive old woman. Things quickly become mean and contentious, argumentative and unpleasant.
This culminates in Max ripping up his letter to Santa Claus after his cousins find it and read it aloud at the dinner table. Once Max tosses the destroyed letter out of his window, the fate of the family is sealed.
A blizzard engulfs the area around the Engels’ house and there is slowly mounting evidence that there is something out in the snow. Beth leaves the house to check on her boyfriend a few blocks away and never returns. Soon enough, it’s clear that there is something happening outside in the blizzard and whatever it is is trying to get inside the house with the family. This includes possessed gingerbread men, demonic toys, a possessed Christmas tree angel, and far more.
There are some obvious connections between Krampus and other films. Killer Klowns from Outer Space comes to mind immediately—things that are normally and typically seen as harmless become objects of fear. There’s also a bit of the same style of humor. Someone being devoured by a monster is scary. Someone being devoured by a jack-in-the-box has a strong comedic element to it. There’s also a strong connection to a film like The Mist, albeit with far less abject terror. The idea is the same, though—something terrible is outside in horrific weather, trying to get in.
But is it scary? There are some good moments. For younger kids—the target audience for it—there are some genuine scares here. The back half of the film stops being comedy and really dives head-first into the horror. This is fun-scary, like a carnival ride. For dedicated horror fans, there’s not going to be anything here that is upsetting, but for younger fans, there will definitely be some scary moments.
It may not seem like it on the surface, but films like Krampus are important. A lot of people in the horror film community look at Krampus and similar films with disdain because they don’t push any envelopes or offer any new and thrilling scares. While there’s a part of me that understands that attitude, it’s a short-sighted one. The horror film community needs entry films for people to figure out if they like horror or not. So, while PG-13 films are generally going to disappoint dedicated horror fans, for the younger fans, newbies, and the more squeamish, Krampus is necessary.
Why to watch Krampus: Christmas and horror are a perfect match.
Why not to watch: If you’re already a horror fan, Krampus is going to feel tame.
