When a family loses the Christmas spirit, they are visited by a dark and ancient spirit called Krampus and his minions who seek to punish them for their selfishness, cynicism, and general humbuggery.
While I’m sure that this movie will be a divisive movie, I personally loved it. I enjoyed the original story, I enjoyed the dark humor, and I enjoyed the scariness of the picture. What is it about Christmastime that makes scary movies even scarier? I’m serious, children, there’s nothing scarier than a music box playing “Silent Night” in an abandoned house.
This movie is also atmospheric as balls. The sets, the lighting, and way that the monsters are presented and, in some cases, not presented is all virtually perfect. There is so much care and charm and personality in this movie, you can’t dismiss it. For goodness sake, it goes animated at one point and it’s glorious!
The downside is the movie’s PG-13 rating. I just feel that the movie could have been better if it had been more bold and more brutal. As it is, the violence is skimmed over and sanitized and the danger never feels like it completely manifests as it should.
That being said, though, this is still an immensely enjoyable movie, both scary and funny. It shows wonderful restraint and, as a result, the creature effects look amazing. It never opts for outlandish special effects or CGI and, so, there’s a more realistic feel to the monsters.
Best of all, this is a movie that spews originality into the old horror siege movie. Yes, it may go goofy and stupid at times, but when you remind yourself that this is a film about an evil Santa Claus, it all fits in nicely.
Jason Gaston 