KRAMPUS – The Review

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Surprise—KRAMPUS is entertaining! It is certainly better than anyone might have expected. The film introduces well placed satire, and uses this to play with the audience. The purpose of KRAMPUS is to reveal the true meaning of Christmas — except with gore and monsters.

KRAMPUS is not a perfect film, but it’s satire surely is. From minute one, KRAMPUS seems less concerned with actually being scary in the sense that its trailers reveal, but more unnerving in the sense that it wants people to consider how terribly materialistic they are around this time of year. It is the type of film that will let little things like a Christmas tree catching on fire seem to hit so hard, but then turn around and leave you asking “Why is it that I actually care so much about the tree burning down?” Krampus isn’t a horror film. It is a vicious satire.

As it is written, KRAMPUS is in fact a funny movie, and many of the lines call to mind the work of John Hughes, especially near the beginning when the family at the center of the film first meets up to “enjoy” Christmas dinner (not that they do very much). The hosts (played by Adam Scott and Toni Collette) are exhausted, and judgemental of their in-laws. The in-laws are a stock “poor trailer family” with guns and a dog, who have brought along the complaining and boozing Aunt Doris (Conchata Ferrill). The family’s troubles lead their little boy, Max (played with surprising range by Emjay Anthony) to give up on Christmas and Santa Claus. John Hughes’ name came up earlier, and that’s not a mistake. The film’s first 20 minutes are reminiscent of Hughes’ own HOME ALONE as the siblings very aggressively prod at Max’s feelings. These opening 20 minutes also bring to mind Hughes’ archetypical writing style, unfortunately. The jokes all work, but the characters aren’t particularly as interesting as they could be. Still, the actors make do, and Adam Scott and David Koechner really steal the show. They’re given the most bonding time when the horror elements start to crop up, and that is the closest the film ever gets to taking itself seriously.

As far as the horror elements go, the film’s use of practical effects is commendable. The snow creates a perfectly eerie atmosphere of dark cold and despair, and the monsters, when they get to shine, are fascinating. KRAMPUS shows up about 25 minutes in, and his first showing is wonderfully executed with his tall and foreboding presence making a large impact.  None of it is really frightful though, just kind of creepy. The parts that should be fearsome are more intense, but they are well constructed and by the end the endless bombardment of creatures and horror is undoubtedly effective.  Director Michael Dougherty seems to be working with the same tools that Sam Raimi might have in his early career in making ultimately goofy things terrifying, but he only partly succeeds in actually scaring the audience.

KRAMPUS is a shallow festive horror film that probably would have turned out to be a bad film if the actors and filmmakers didn’t care. Instead, it is 98 minutes of solid entertainment that manages to be chilling, and amusing.

3 1/2 of 5 Stars