VOD film review: Krampus (2015)
Review Overview
Cast
8Critters
8Christmas heart
8David Farnor | On 19, Dec 2020
Director: Michael Dougherty
Cast: Ben Schwartz, Toni Collette, David Koechner
Certificate: 15
“It’s Christmas. Nothing bad is going to happen on Christmas.” Those are the famous last words heard in Krampus, just before lots of really bad things happen in the nastiest, darkest way possible.
The spooky 2015 comedy begins with Max (Emjay Anthony) tearing up his letter to Santa – an act that accidentally summons a demon, not to mention a host of other gruesome critters. The mood has already been set to amusingly cynical thanks to a bravura Dawn of the Dead-esque opening sequence, and that cheerful balance between dark and light is kept up throughout the entertaining 90 minutes.
It helps that the cast are certainly game, from a frazzled Ben Schwartz and an intense Toni Collette as Max’s put-upon, upright parents to David Koechner and Allison Tolman as his immature, gun-toting uncle and aunt. In between them all is a scene-stealing Krista Stadler as the grandmother who knows more than she lets on about what’s going down.
But it’s the line-up of inventive and absurdly horrific Christmas creatures that really makes Krampus a fun watch, and director Michael Dougherty is clearly having a whale of a time conjuring up new festive frights – including hostile gingerbread men, violent elves and, held back for a late reveal, Krampus itself. From an animated sequence to some oddly supernatural lessons buried beneath the genre thrills, this is a grisly Christmas treat that’s as a dark as it is irreverent. Unwrap once the kids have gone to bed.