Michael Dougherty previously directed the great Trick r' Treat. Krampus is his latest outing and he does not disappoint.
In Krampus, Max (Emjay Anthony) is struggling with the fact that each proceeding Christmas has been getting rougher and rougher. His mom, Sarah (Toni Collette), and dad, Tom (Adam Scott) seem to be falling out of love, his older sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen) doesn't spend as much time with him as she used to, and his grandmother, Omi (Krista Stadler) seems to always get weirder around this time of year. Making things much worse are his cousins' family, which are a bunch of intolerable jackholes led by patriarch Howard (David Koechner), his wife Linda (Alison Tolman), the awful Aunt Dorothy (Conchata Ferrell), and their kids. After the family dinner ends in tragedy, Max denounces his belief in Santa and throws his list to Santa out the window. Unfortunately, this simple act has drastic consequences for Max and his family, as Krampus (a Christmas devil who kidnaps naughty people) is summoned to the house and proceeds to wreck his own brand of yuletide terror on the inhabitants within.
The story of Krampus has been around for literally centuries. I've been waiting for a film that does this creature justice. I was sorely disappointed in Rare Exports, but with the new movie Krampus, I am happy to say I've finally been granted my wish. I'm not saying Krampus is perfect, but it does get Krampus right and to me, that's really all that matters.
The stand-outs are Emjay Anthony as Max (A good kid who has a tendency to get in fights about Christmas. Emjay did a fantastic job.) , Toni Collette as Sarah (a frazzled and disheveled mother who is trying her best to stay afloat. Toni Collette was a natural in the role, and I really liked her.) , Adam Scott as Tom (Adam Scott is actually kind of a bad-ass here, and gets to have fun with some guns. I really dug his character as he gets to show that he is not a wimp in any way), Stefania LaVie Owen as Beth (the older sister who cares about her family but is a bit busy with boyfriend issues. I thought she was super cute, and I liked that the filmmakers made her character not the typical older teen sister), and Krista Stadler as Omi (the cool and kind of creepy grandma who only speaks in a foreign language). I found that I genuinely liked and cared for each of their characters, and wanted to see all of them make it out in one piece. The same cannot be said for David Koechner's Howard and family. They are all a bunch of ugly Americans, and I honestly could not wait to see how they would be dispatched during the film.
Weta created the creatures in this film, using both practical effects and CGI. Needless to say, the designs are impressive. We get homicidal gingerbread men (who are more goofy than anything else, think Gremlins), dark elves (They were very cool, I loved their design), snowmen (Super creepy, they don't do anything but I loved how they looked), a demented jack-in-the-box (super disturbing), and of course Krampus himself (Loved him). It warmed my heart to see how cool the practical effects in this film were and while we only get 3 scenes with the titular Krampus, he is still a sight to behold. I must say I kind of wished there were more scenes with Krampus and crew, that said they are still in the film a good deal. All together, Krampus and his holiday horrors make for quite the obstacle for our family to overcome.
Now, Krampus is PG-13, and this worried me a good deal. Well, it really shouldn't have. The lower rating doesn't kill the film, though I can't help but feel that this film should have been rated R. Some of the scenes involving Krampus and crew feel a bit neutered, and there are definitely parts where you could tell characters were begging to drop an F bomb. I'm hoping they release an R rated cut for blu-ray, but as a PG-13, Krampus still works fine. It's clear the PG-13 was slapped on there in attempt to market this film as a horror film for the family, but even with that rating a family film this is not (There's definitely stuff in here that could give your kids nightmares).
At it's dark heart, Krampus is a film about family and what happens when you lose faith/hope in Christmas. It's definitely tons of fun, but it's also a great deal sad too. The atmosphere and sets in the film are top-notch, and succeed at creating a beautiful dark, creepy Christmas vibe. Krampus manages to pull off comedy, sadness, darkness, a rich atmosphere, super-likable leads, and ties it all up with an ending that's way darker than you would expect it to be (It's completely perfect). Krampus makes for a fine holiday treat.
3.5 STARS
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