"Krampus is Coming to Town"
- Krista Wagner
- Dec 19, 2015
- 2 min read
"A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a Christmas demon to his family home" (IMBD).
Michael Dougherty (X-Men 2) writes and directs this brilliant holiday fun and fright. The writing is well done and the actors are plucked from a cache of matchless caliber.
There's a lot of dark humor dialogue among the Engel clan, but much of it is fueled by family tensions. Grandma Omi seems to be the only one who is centered in the midst of the family chaos. Unfortunately, Santa Claus is nowhere in sight this Christmas as the Engel family try their best to celebrate with difficult family members, namely the two pre-teen girl cousins who love picking on the main protagonist ten-year-old Max, simply because they can. There's also Aunt Dorothy's smug cynicism that Max's mom, Sarah, has to contend with. Thus, the beginning to an unhappy season for the Engels.
Winter Woe soon comes upon the relatives when Max loses all hope for peace and tears up his "Dear Santa" letter. Unknowingly, his despair unleashes the evil spirit of Krampus, an ancient antithesis to Santa who wields darkness. Yet to everyone's surprise, Omi knows Krampus from her childhood, for she too once lost hope as Max has. But how much will her knowledge help protect them from this evil spirit?
Instead of Christmas cheer, the Engel family receive Christmas fear as the demon plagues the neighborhood. But Krampus doesn't work alone. He has an entire army of evil toys and elves to help him do his work. The minions are incredibly scary. The special effects team craft optical allure beyond anything we have ever seen before. The wicked toys prove incredibly terrifying as most of the family members come into close contact with them at one suspenseful point or another. You will find yourself clinging to your armrests or a neighbor as Krampus's hideous entities frighten us as they back us into unpleasant corners, swep us up into chimneys, and swallow us. And then there is the ending--original and surprising.
From the lurking shadow of Krampus to the dastardly elves to the very creepy and very realistic three dimensional jack-in-the-box, Krampus feeds our desire for thrill. But it also reminds us of the importance of family togetherness and hope in Christmas, which makes it a memorable holiday horror.
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