Krampus

Plot

At Christmas, a young boy accidentally unleashes a demon due to his desire for things to go ‘back to the way they were’ because he sees how family only tolerate each other rather than truly love each other. The family now must fight to survive.

Direction

There are some ups and downs here, there are some chaotic moments where it is hard to really see what’s occurring onscreen – especially in some extreme close ups. Not familiar with Dougherty’s directing style as I’ve never seen his work previously. The big up for me was the animated sequence in the middle part of the movie.

Cast/Characters

This was a bit of a hit and miss in my opinion. Most of the principal cast are predominately known for their comedy – and he action/horror element was not something I’d seen some of them in. That being said, they were not playing the ‘hero’ trope – but the everyman trope.

Score/Soundtrack

There were the usual Christmas type songs that played at times as part of the soundtrack, but the gothic score was done well. I felt that they were trying to pair them together at times, and this was done well.

Screenplay/Setting

There is also some coarse language throughout, and it is a traditional “Christmas Movie” with white snow. The weather itself is almost an antagonist of the movie as a blizzard is stopping the family from going outside and escaping.

Overall

Definitely not for kids, this was fairly violent – with plenty of jump scares. Krampus himself when on screen could be a little frightnening for littler kids, and there is some inappropriate language. I neither liked nor hated this. It was just okay. Saved from a lower score by the amazing mid film animation sequence. I also found at just over 90m a little bit of a slog to get through, and I was wondering how exactly the film would finish things off. I was not sold on the ending.

2.5/5