Krampus (2015)
Horror, Comedy, Fantasy
Directed By: Michael Dougherty
For most, Christmas is a time of merriment and love but for some it's a month of family hell and domestic troubles. The latter is what Michael Dougherty decided to focus on with his newest holiday horror film Krampus, and it is all the better for it. Taking us away from the usual holiday drab about a good hearted family and their wonderful christmas memories he gives us a story of a family akin to the Griswolds whose miserable family christmas leads a young boy to make a huge mistake. Boasting gorgeous practical effects and a brilliant cast Krampus manages to capture the spirit of the season while still being a creative and intelligent horror film.
When young Max (Emjay Anthony) has his christmas spirit broken by his seriously dysfunctional family his faith in the holidays is lost. After a heated and animated family dinner where he is made a fool of in front of everyone, he declares his newfound hate for the holiday and destroys his yearly letter to Santa. When he scatters the tattered pieces of the letter into the winds something happens that he could have never imagined. His broken faith calls upon an ancient Christmas demon known only as Krampus who has now descended on their small neighborhood with his army of "little helpers" to deliver a holiday punishment.
The film wastes no time getting into the good stuff, Max destroys his letter and Krampus has made his way to town all before the end of the first act. This is fairly simple when the majority of the characters are simply horrible and irredeemable people, all it takes is one quick dinner table scene to know how insufferable this family is. This isn't at all a bad thing either, much like in Dougherty's last holiday horror Trick'r'Treat this is a rather mean-spirited film. This family sucks, it's as simple as that and when Krampus comes to town you can't wait for him to deliver his wrath upon these whiny and annoying people.
The biggest takeaway from this movie is the gorgeous blend of practical and digital effects that end up making this film feel like a more modern Gremlins style horror movie. Most of the creatures are done practically giving them and old school reality that we don't see too often anymore. Even when CG is used it is done as minimalist as possible and never feels out of place, in fact it looks damn good in the few places it is used. This is in large part due to the physical design of Krampus' little helpers, each monster has a unique holiday aesthetic to them that captures the holiday spirit. From a sadistic jack-in-the-box to deviant gingerbread men, this film is as "Christmas" as a creature feature can get.
What helps to elevate this film to a higher level than most others that attempt to do what this has done is the cast, both in front of and behind the camera. Michael Dougherty has once again shown us that he has an understanding of the horror genre that almost no one has anymore and the fact that he keeps choosing to show us that in holiday form is all the better. Having written and directed both this film and Trick'r'Treat he has now proven beyond doubt that he is one of the best horror filmmakers working today. It isn't without some help though, and having comedic geniuses Adam Scott and David Koechner in your film never hurts. Not to mention Toni Collette and Allison Tolman in supporting roles that all come together to make this family feel truly authentic.
With all of the quick cash grabs that studios have been releasing in the horror genre it is beyond refreshing to see one as original and off base as this one on the big screen. The movie blends horror and comedy seamlessly to create big scares followed by big laughs followed by more scares all while maintaining a PG-13 rating. Don't let that detract you from this film either, it in no way needed to be rated R and should be seen by as large of an audience as possible. Grab the family and head to the theater this weekend to support this brilliant horror film while it is still in theaters, Michael Dougherty has given us the best family horror film since Gremlins and it deserves all of the love it can get.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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