Tis The Season

Christmas is not necessarily the holiday you would associate with the horror movie genre but there have been plenty of movies that have tried to balance the festive spirit with death and mayhem. Now of course there are some very good Christmas based horror films but for every Gremlins or Nightmare Before Christmas (not strictly horror I know but still a gothic take on the holiday) there are a slew of godawful efforts such as Jack Frost (not the Michael Keaton film), Santa Claws and Silent Night Deadly Night, a movie that spawned 4 sequels and a loose remake which was released in 2012.

Going back to Gremlins for a moment, Joe Dantes film not only stands the test of time as an instant classic that is loved by a generation of movie lovers and beyond but it also shows how horror can be both kid friendly yet quite horrific at the same time. This leads me onto the reason for this post which is to review another film that brings horror to Christmas but tries to walk the thin line between its child and adult audiences, the movie in question is 2015s Krampus.

For those of you who may not know Krampus is a monster of sorts which originates in Austro-Bavarian folklore. He is half goat and half demon and his job is to punish children who have been naughty, so in effect he is the anti-santa. There is of course alot more to him than that but if you want to find out more then channel your inner googlefu and the wonders of the world wide web will deliver you all the information you desire.

The character of Krampus has appeared on TV and in video games as well as recently battling the Evil Deads Ashley J Williams in a one shot comic book. When it comes to the world of film there were a couple of TV movies in the 1960s and in 2013 Jason Hull directed Krampus: The Christmas Devil and he returned this year with a sequel called Krampus: The Devil Returns. Last year we had Krampus: The Reckoning which was directed by Jason Conway and also spawned a sequel in 2016s Krampus Unleashed.

In terms of bigger budgeted releases however 2015 also brought us Michael Doughertys Krampus. Dougherty is best known for directing Trick R Treat (which has a sequel in the works) as well as being on the writing teams for Superman Returns and X2. His movie based on the evil Christmas spirit stars Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation) and Toni Collett (Hostages and The Sixth Sense) as well as young actor Emjay Anthony who not unlike the kids of Stranger Things is most definately one to watch for the future.

So the story starts as many a Christmas movie does with a seemingly perfect family having to put up with their obnoxious relatives who are descending upon their home for the holiday (think National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and you're not far off the mark). The trailer parkesque relatives are so nasty and reprehensible that you wish nothing but bad fortune upon them from the moment they arrive which I guess is the point although here they are made almost so horrible that they go beyond being irritating and just fill space on the screen, I will say however that as the film progresses you do warm to them somewhat.

Anyway the hero of the piece is Max (Anthony) who is walking the thin line between believing in Santa and being too old to fall for such nonsense. He is torn as to whether to send his usual letter to Father Christmas but his elderly German grandmother convinces him that he should. However once his obnoxious cousins arrive and mock his belief in the fat man in the red suit Max tears up the letter and throws it out the window. The moment he does this a blizzard begins and by the morning the whole town is snowed in.

There is of course tension within the house as with no electricity and no way to leave the family start to pick away at each other. When Maxs sister goes missing however (she is killed by a jack in the box) Maxs dad and uncle join forces to go looking for her. What they discover however is that the house they though she had gone to is empty and there has clearly been some sort of attack by what they believe to be some sort of large animal. On the way back to their family the uncle is attacked and their truck is destroyed although they get back to the house where they decide they need to barricade themselves inside and wait for the storm to stop before trying to get help or make a run for it.

From there we discover that when Maxs grandmother was a child she too wish that Christmas would not happen and her entire family were taken by Krampus who spared her life in order that she live with the guilt of knowing it was her fault. The house then comes under attack from all manner of Christmas related creatures such as maniacal Gingerbread Men, Christmas Elves and demonic toys such as a Teddy Bear and the aforementioned Jack in the box which seems to grow with each person it eats.

Eventually just Max is left and he confronts Krampus demanding that the beast take him and spare the lives of his family. He then wakes up in his own bed and when he goes downstairs everyone is alive and well and it appears that the whole thing has either been undone or was just a dream. Don't get too settled though as this is no typical fairytale ending as it turns out that the family are now living in a house inside a snowglobe inside the workshop of Krampus who has hundreds of the globes full of his victims.

Now one of the reasons I watched Krampus was because my daughters (aged 10 and 8) had expressed an interest in seeing it and so as the dutiful parent I am I of course had to watch it first to test whether it was appropriate for their perusal. The films actual certification is PG-13 which advises that some material may not be suitable for children under 13 years of age which having now watched this film I can understand as there are definately moments in Krampus that I would consider a bit much for my kids to watch. ow this of course is my own personal decision and I get that not all parents play by the same rules and standards and if you are so inclined to allow your children to watch this then by all means do so as they may very well enjoy it, my girls however are a couple of woosies and would likely tell me to turn it off anyway.

Now comparing Krampus to Gremlins (which was rated PG and is a film that my children have seen) I do have to say that it does a good job of channeling a similar spirit and certainly works as a film that can be enjoyed by both younger and more mature audiences, I for one certainly thought it was quite good with great effects and good performances by all the lead actors on display. I'm also a huge fan of Trick R Treat and look forward to any potential sequel to that film as well as seeing what Dougherty can do at the helm of the sequel to Godzilla (which has its work cut out for it after the brilliant Shin Godzilla).

Scoring Krampus I would have to go with a strong 7.5 out of 10 as I enjoyed it immensely but it is nowhere near as good as the likes of Gremlins which I would give 9 out of 10.