Review #316: Krampus (2015)

The Twelve Slays of Christmas #2 - Krampus (2015)

[While this movie is not streaming for free anywhere, it should be available on many streaming services, including- as of this writing- Peacock, Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.]

The mid 2010s was in LOVE with Krampus, it seemed. We had Krampus movies, Krampus memes, Krampus Halloween costumes- despite existing in European folklore for centuries, it was like everyone collectively discovered this brand-new way to celebrate the winter season (and profit off of its merchandise, of course). And so, we ended up with a glut of Krampus-themed Christmas horror films, the most famous and star-studded of which being this movie from 2015, starring Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, and more.

In this film, Krampus functions kind of like an "Anti-Claus", arriving in the protagonists' neighborhood to punish everybody after Max, the main character, begins to lose his faith in Santa Claus as a result of being bullied by his friends and family. The power goes out, the neighborhood is blanketed in snow, and the family is attacked by living confectionary and murderous toys until Max can admit that he learned a lesson and apologizes to Krampus for losing faith- at which point the movie gives us a happy ending (or is it?).

Once again, we have a movie about an incredibly dysfunctional family where literally everyone hates literally everyone else and is actively antagonistic to each other at every opportunity. I feel like this is going to be a staple of Christmas Horror- after all, Christmas is about togetherness and loving your fellow man, so what easier way to create tension and draw a line than to show a story about people who hate each other? I sincerely hope the rest are less lazy than this but we'll see.

As far as the quality of the movie goes, this one is fairly lackluster. The beginning of the film is annoying, before Krampus arrives and everyone is just being rude to everyone else. The middle of the film is pretty boring, with a long period where the tension isn't quite able to make purchase and the characters are very gradually picked off one by one (and there's a LOT of characters, most of them utterly forgettable, so this takes a while). The ending is okay but happens very suddenly and the morality play of it feels unearned- why does Max need to apologize to Krampus for losing faith in Santa? And did the apology actually do anything, or is the family still trapped? Really, there's a very small portion of this movie- maybe like a ten-minute period starting with the power going out and ending after Adam Scott and David Koechner return from trying to find the missing daughter- where the film really feels like it comes together, with the characters acting like real people and setting aside their differences to work together towards a common goal. But then the movie slumps into the boring section and it loses me. But for that brief shining moment, this is actually a pretty good film.

I feel like this is giving it way too much credit, but if you squint your eyes this movie feels kind of like a mix between Home Alone and The Mist. There's the inexplicably rich family hosting their lower-class relatives around Christmas time, then the neighborhood gets turned creepy, and the family has to figure out if it's worth venturing out into the creepiness or if they can hole up inside their safe haven- until the unspeakable horrors show up and they're forced to make a break for it. Again, I'm giving it way too much credit, but just maybe, if you liked both of those movies, you might like this one.

Overall Rating: 4/10 Torn-Up Letters to Santa

Secret Connections: There's a lot of Easter Eggs in this movie (like how most of the houses in the neighborhood are designed to look exactly like specific houses from 80s horror films) but one that I thought was especially fun is its connection to another great film I've reviewed, Trick 'r Treat. Both were written and directed by Michael Dougherty, but also, in a deleted scene, a radio broadcast mentions the nearby town of Warren Valley, which is the fictional setting where Trick 'r Treat took place!