Courtesy | Universal studios
BY MADI TORTORA
Staff Writer
Krampus, directed by Michael Dougherty, is a more modern take on an old, alpine folklore that focuses on a creature known as Krampus, who punishes children who have misbehaved. This is in obvious contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards children for being well behaved.
Dougherty is best known for his work on Superman Returns and X-Men 2, but shows his sense of humor in this “horror” comedy. The film stars many seasoned and well-known actors, like Toni Collette, Adam Scott, and David Koechner.
When Tom (Adam Scott) and Sarah (Toni Collette) begrudgingly decide to celebrate the holidays with their family, all seems to go wrong relatively quickly. Their lack of Christmas spirit comes back to bite them when the only gift they get for Christmas is a visit from none other than Krampus, the demon version of Santa Claus.
Courtesy | Universal studios
Watching this, the feeling of being thrown into a fairytale was a very evident theme throughout the whole movie. It did feel as though some of the acting was a bit forced, but it was almost like the writers created it with that in mind; it was supposed to be comical, and almost like a parody of this old, German-spoken folklore. The Krampus creature himself was silly looking, with his giant black tongue and bag of creepy, giggling gingerbread henchmen.
The writers used an interesting, animated twist when explaining the grandmother’s, also known as Omi, history with Krampus. Using the animation was ambitious, and was actually one of the most interesting and fun parts of the movie. Although it was short, it was also one of the most disturbing parts of the movie, and using an animation to put that across was really different and unexpected.
Part of the reason this movie was a little disappointing was the slightly repetitive and highly predictable plot-line. One by one, the children began being taken by Krampus and his henchmen, and it just became extremely obvious what was going to happen next.
Although this movie was a “horror comedy,” the comedy came through better and more obviously than the horror did, and became almost parody-like. It was a different twist on a Christmas movie, which was interesting and fresh, but could have been portrayed in a better and more horror-focused fashion.
Grade: C
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Runtime: 98 minutes
Rating: PG-13
