Krampus

The inspiration behind the creature in Krampus is a legendary figure from European folklore whose roots date back to before Christianity.  He is essentially the "shadow" of Saint Nicholas, a massive and horned beast out to punish naughty children, or those who have lost the spirit of the holiday season.  The inspiration behind the movie itself is clearly Joe Dante's original Gremlins film from 1984.  Both movies try to mix goofy and violent horror with equally goofy Looney Tunes-inspired slapstick humor.  This movie isn't quite as strong as that warped Christmas classic from over 30 years ago, and it's never really all that scary, but it is fun and kind of effective in a very silly way.

As the film opens, we're introduced to a fairly typical dysfunctional family getting ready for the holidays, which includes perfectionist mother Sarah (Toni Collette) workaholic father Tom (Adam Scott), sarcastic teen daughter Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), and youngest son Max (Emjay Anthony), who serves as the heart of the film.  Max still believes in Santa Claus and the Spirit of Christmas, but it's getting harder for him to believe in peace and goodwill when he sees the way the rest of his family acts around the season.  It gets even harder when his obnoxious relatives show up for a couple days.  The relatives are a group of loud, rude gun-nuts headed by Sarah's sister Linda (Alison Tolman), her loutish husband Howard (David Koechner), and Sarah and Linda's cranky and foulmouthed Aunt Dorothy (Conchata Ferrell from TV's Two and a Half Men).  The first half of the movie focuses solely on the clashing egos of the two families as they get together for Christmas, and reminded me of other dysfunctional family holiday comedies such as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, or the criminally underrated 1994 comedy, The Ref, starring Dennis Leary and Kevin Spacey.

After tensions between both families finally explode at the dinner table, leading to an all-out holiday brawl, young Max has completely lost faith in the holidays and tears up his handwritten letter to Santa, throwing the scraps to the wind outside.  That's when things start to get strange.  First, a massive blizzard strikes, taking out all power to the neighborhood and removing all contact to the outside world.  Then, some mysterious and creepy looking snowmen suddenly appear seemingly overnight on the front yard of the house.  And when Beth decides to brave the storm and go see her boyfriend, she never comes back.  When Tom and Howard go out as well to look for her, they are attacked by a mysterious creature burrowing in the heavy snow.  Only Tom's kindly immigrant mother (Krista Stadler) knows the cause behind these strange happenings - the ancient demon Krampus has come to punish them for losing their holiday spirit.  Not long after, the family home is besieged by Krampus' army of evil elves, deadly toys, and psychotic Gingerbread Men.  By the time Krampus himself finally shows up to deal with them, they will have to cling together as a family if they want to survive.

Director and co-writer Michael Dougherty (2009's Trick 'r Treat) seems to be aiming for laughs more than flat-out scares with his holiday monster movie.  Even when the family is under attack by evil monstrosities, it still goes for silliness.  Sure, there are a couple tense moments here and there, especially during the third act, but anyone expecting a serious jolt from Krampus may walk out disappointed.  That being said, I enjoyed the movie for what it was.  It expertly mixes the thrills and jokes in such a way so that one element never overpowers the other.  The cast is also strong, and do a great job playing off of each other during their first half when they are comically at each others throats.  While the characters they're playing are mostly stereotypes, the actors are able to inject enough life into their performances that I didn't really care.  There are even a number of well done moments throughout the film, such as the opening credit sequence which depicts a violent free-for-all among holiday shoppers while peaceful Christmas music plays ironically on the soundtrack. 

But I think what appealed to me the most is how old fashioned the film is in a technical sense.  While there is some CG on display, a majority of the effects are practical and done with puppets and actors in costume.  My favorite scene revolves around Tom's elderly mother telling the rest of the family about Krampus, and how the film tells her story using stop motion animation in the style of old TV Christmas specials.  This is not as corny as it sounds, as the animation is quite well done, and creates a genuinely creepy and unsettling mood.  Even if the movie is never quite as strong as it could have been, it's a very inventive and well done holiday thriller, and I always appreciated the effort that the filmmakers were making.  You get the sense that with another rewrite or two, this movie would have been perfect.  But as it is, it's a lot of fun, and actually did a better job of putting me in the Christmas spirit than recent films like Love the Coopers or The Night Before.

Surprisingly, the studio releasing the film (Universal Pictures) has decided to give Krampus a quiet release, and have not screened it for critics in advance.  This is usually a sign that the studio has little to no faith in the film, and hopes that no one notices it.  I can't see why.  While it's far from perfect, it's imaginative, often quite funny and different enough to stand out.  This movie doesn't deserve to be buried, and hopefully it will find an appreciative audience.

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