Krampus

So apparently getting coal for Christmas isn’t the worst thing that can happen to kids on Santa’s naughty list.

Based on the real folklore character, Krampus, a horned demon-like creature that preys on the naughty, is a story that is mostly told in Europe around the holidays to keep kids in line and on Santa’s nice list. He (it?) doesn’t relent until his purpose is served and in the film, Krampus is accidentally summoned by a young boy named Max (Emjay Anthony) when he loses faith in The Spirit of Christmas; just in time to instill some good scares in his family and visiting relatives.

First of all, this is a wacky movie. Directed by Michael Dougherty, the same guy behind the equally as wacky Halloween film Trick ‘r Treat, Krampus is decidedly less violent and gory (this is a PG-13 movie after all) but still brings Dougherty’s type of off-beat and dark humor just the same.

Casting a bunch of comedic actors, while something I didn’t originally think would work for the more scary parts of the film, really benefitted the movie in the long run. Instead of having regular actors and actresses forcing a few jokes and failing miserably at comedic timing, Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Conchata Ferrell, and Allison Tolman bring the early comedy of the film to life like second nature, easing us into the tense environment these families are stuck in for the holidays. Both families are completely different: one is a more “normal” type of family (as if a normal family is a real thing), the other is pulled straight out of redneck central. The tension between these two different worlds is palpable which leads to a bunch of funny scenes while at the same time developing an interesting emotional core to the film that we see play out when Krampus comes calling.

After a short but extremely well done tease of the titular monster about a quarter of the way through the film, Krampus arrives in full force complete with his Gremlin-esque gingerbread minions, elves that would straight up murder Santa’s cheery little helpers in the blink of an eye, and a few disturbingly demonic toys that reminded me of Jack Skellington’s attempt to hand out gifts for Christmas. It’s here that the previously mentioned wackiness is turned up to eleven, and while the inherent weirdness of this film is no doubt its strength, there are a few things that happen here that are just a bit too much to take seriously.

Again, this is most certainly not a serious film by any means, but the careful balance between the more outlandish aspects of the story, coupled with the comedy and horror that had been done so well up until this point is somewhat lost here. Don’t get me wrong, these scenes are fun as Hell to watch, I was just hoping that the tone didn’t change so much from the previous half of the movie.

As for Krampus himself, man is that guy disturbing to look at. Not only is the entire idea behind him extremely messed up, but the approach Dougherty takes in portraying him only adds to his aura of dread. His dark features obscured by a hood and cloak, his hunched stature, his spiraling horns, his elongated claws: I can completely see why kids would be scared shitless when these stories were told about him; jolly old Saint Nick this ain’t. As the movie wears on we obviously start seeing him a bit more often and while I do love the way he is handled overall, I didn’t really like that we got to see so much of his actual face in close up detail. Using practical effects is great, but when you start showing them up close and too often, everything we hold in our imaginations about what’s under that hood kind of dissipates.

My only other gripe with the film is the ending. It’s not bad by any means but after the third act kind of goes off the deep end, the resolution is a bit underwhelming. A nice twist after the fact saves the finale as it gives a bit of chilling closure to the idea of family coming together during the holidays. I got a weird Home Alone “careful what you wish for” vibe here and I dug it.

I honestly thought this movie was a joke the first time I heard about it and while I wasn’t too far off the mark, Krampus does an impressive job blending its comedy and holiday fear into a worthwhile experience. In fact, coupled with The Night Before, this is the second holiday film this year that I’m rotating into my catalogue of flicks to watch come Christmas time.