Krampus

Dustin: 4.5 of 5 stars Nick: 3 of 5 stars Average: 3.75 of 5 stars (Live canary)

***The following review contains spoilers***

Dustin: Krampus is marketed as a holiday horror/comedy mash-up. It has solid comedic stars such as Adam Scott and David Koechner, while also delivering on creepy horror imagery. It’s a comedy much in the same vein as Gremlins or Christmas Vacation.

Nick: After the first scene of the family having dinner together I had an inkling on how this film would continue and finish. We would see family members killed off in a non-gruesome way, but at the end everyone would be perfectly fine through some mystical thing that can’t be explained ala Click. This is exactly what happened, but I will say the way the film ends makes that all kind of OK. Mostly because it doesn’t end on a happy note, but the moment after the happy note ala The Graduate.

Dustin: I went into this film fresh, not familiar with the German legend that inspired it (although I seem to remember Dwight from The Office dressing up like such a character). For those of you too lazy to search Wikipedia, Krampus is like the evil Santa who punished the children on the naughty list. I only knew from the marketing it was a comedy/horror mashup for the holidays. The ads didn’t look very appealing to me. But I think the execution was wonderful. Yes, it was somewhat predictable because it felt like a morality play where it was clear who were the wicked children and who would be saved. Krampus was kind of a less creepy Willy Wonka.

Nick: At least in a non-pediphilia type of way! The film was enjoyable throughout even with that knowledge, but I don’t think it hit the comic highs nor the gruesomeness of Gremlins, which to me is the bar set for family horror/ comedy.

Nick: If you look at reviews of Gremlins, many critics think the film went too far and ruined its tone because of that, but I think the opposite. This film has no real bite, and therefore lacked the depth of character that Gremlins, for me, achieved. It could be because our main character is a child instead of a teen, like in Gremlins, that the film goes more on the soft side and is intended for children as they will be the only ones who get scared. The best scene is the animated sequence that shows the Grandma’s first encounter with Krampus. It was so good that I wished that was the film I was watching.

Dustin: I think the movie did a lot right. I actually thought it was really funny. Most of the jokes landed, even the more juvenile ones (the squirrels on the roof are “playing with their nuts”). I think the cast was perfect and were able to deliver lines that would fall flat in lesser hands.

I didn’t think it needed to be gruesome. There was enough creepy imagery, like the giant slug thing with the clown mask. Visually, the film was very impressive. CGI was used sparingly, and the monsters were well-designed, giving it all a more realistic look that was strictly necessary.

Nick: When I say gruesome I don’t mean gore just more dark in terms of the character’s “died” or that they actually died. The CGI was great, but I wish the shots were less edited when showing those amazingly designed monsters. The only ones that weren’t impressive were the elves. I was expecting a lot considering they were the last to be shown of his minions, and then they just ended up being creatures in cloaks with brass masks on. The giant slug creature and the Knife-Angel were certainly creepy and unforgettable. I just don’t think I heard a single gasp or shriek from our theater. There were certainly lots of laughs though so the comedy was undeniably spot on.

Dustin: The best thing I can say about this movie is that I want to watch it again. I definitely plan on catching it before Christmas next year, and if it still holds up, watching this as a holiday tradition.

Nick: So your Krampus is my Gremlins!

Dustin: Pretty much. I loved Gremlins growing up. I was terrified as a child, but laugh a lot now.

About the ending. I guess it could come off as a cop out the way the entire family seemed happy and safe, but I don’t think it was meant to be taken literally. The scene had a sheen of unrealism compared to other shots in the movie. It looked like it was filtered. I would describe it more as an emotional ending to the film rather than a logical one. Sort of like Taxi Driver or Edge of Tomorrow.

Nick: I think it was very emotional, but I’m quite torn between whether all those snowglobes were people Krampus has terrorized and trapped or if there a snowglobe for every family in the world and it’s how he keeps tabs on them. Either way it is very creepy considering I collected snowglobes as a kid and probably freaked me out more than anything else in the film. I ended up liking the ending, but it was still a slight cop out of the things that happened before. Just like how I felt about Edge of Tomorrow.

Dustin: Would you make the same criticism of Taxi Driver?

Nick: What do you exactly mean? He dies in the film…?

Dustin: No, after shooting up the brothel, and lying covered in blood, the next scene shows newspaper clippings of him in a coma, but being hailed as a hero for saving the young prostitute. Then you see him with normal hair again, driving his taxi, and Cybill Shepherd who thought he was creepy before now admires him. I didn’t know what to make of it, and my theory was Robert De Niro is in a coma and this is his coma dream, since it seems to be a fantasy where he’s the hero.

Anyway, I think the epilogue in Krampus is sort of the same thing going on. But I won’t be so forgiving of Hunger Games. Fuck that ending.

Nick: So Max is in a coma and his family is nice, but still saying the same awful things to him? “Maxipad!” But agreed on Hunger Games. Fuck that series!

In all honesty I don’t think it’s exactly the same. I think the image is hazy when none of them knew what had happened previously, but as soon as they start to realize what they had been through the screen becomes more clear (wink, wink) and that’s when the camera pans out of their “world” out of the snowglobe into Krampus’ lair (where there are a fuck ton of snowglobes).

I thought the adult actors did a phenomenal job with the comedic one liners and the overall lifting of all the dramatic tension, but the kids were forgettable. It might not be their fault, but their parts were virtually one-note and less interesting. The only one who stood out didn’t say a word (which was hilarious), but he was the second to be offed.

Dustin: So in conclusion, take the whole family to see Krampus this holiday season!