31 Days of Spooky Movies: Krampus

Day #14.b

Krampus

(2015)

A dysfunctional family gets together for Christmas and subsequently creates a atmosphere so devoid of cheer that it summons an demonic entity named Krampus to wreck havoc upon their holiday.

Fright Factor:

1.5 / 5  Likable Characters

Gore Factor:

1 / 5 Holly Jolly Bite Marks

Should you watch it?

Ummm...I would say it’s one of those movies that are great to watch while you’re multitasking/not giving it your full attention (like while you’re wrapping presents or something), but if you’re just in the market for something good to watch I’d probably look elsewhere.

The whole thing suffers from a severe lack of any worthwhile or—failing that—relatable characters. Out of the 10 main characters there were really only 2 that I cared what happened to. We’re supposed to believe this is a family, but I found them wholly unrecognizable. The big sister lets her little brother be cruelly and openly mocked by her cousins. The dad interacts with his mom as if she was an old lady he took in off the street. And the list goes on. The audience has already accepted that this is a movie about an evil anti-Claus, but just how much more disbelief are we expected to suspend here?

Not to mention the whole premise doesn’t really make sense. A family loses its Christmas spirit and that allows an evil demon to just go and start killing every single person in town? Is Santa cool with all this? And if believing in Santa or the spirit of Christmas or whatever keeps him at bay, then why aren’t A LOT more families suffering the same fate? I spent most of the movie hoping Santa would show up and lay down some jolly justice, but unfortunately I wasn’t that lucky.

There are lots of great actors (Toni Collette, Allison Tolman, Adam Scott, Conchata Ferrell, Krista Stadler), lots of great practical effects, some really funny jokes, but the heaps of plot holes and poorly constructed characters prevented me from being able to really get into it.

P.S. The ending is really stupid. So watch out for that.

“I’m old enough to know when life is coming at me with its pants down.”