Christmas & Horror – two of my favourite things. So, naturally it came as no question that I had to see one of this years festive films, ‘Krampus.’ Before I had even seen the trailer I was already making plans with my sister to see it and I must say, it didn’t disappoint.
The film is based on the anthropomorphic creature in Alpine folklore, Krampus, who is the opposite of the big guy in the red suit. Instead of giving children presents and spreading Christmas cheer, he in turn punishes children for misbehaving. I had never heard of this mythical creature before and had very little knowledge of him on entering the cinema, and as someone who embraces this time of year as much as I do, this character certainly isn’t my cup of tea.
In the film, a young boy who continues to believe in Santa Claus, wishes for nothing but Christmas to be the way it had been in previous years. His cousins steal his letter to Santa and read it out at dinner resulting in him ripping it up and letting it out into the night sky. It is now that hell begins to break loose and it is later revealed that when a child loses all hope & belief in Christmas, this demonic creature will appear and pretty much start killing everyone around you.
I won’t go into too much detail as to what happens should you wish to see the film for yourself, but you get a fair idea of how the story goes.
I wouldn’t address the film primarily as horror. If you’re easily scared, then yes, it probably will freak you out, but if you’re like me and have yet to find that one horror flick that keeps you awake at night then you’ll see it more comedic. The attacks on the characters are laughable – one guy takes on three gingerbread men – but not in a bad way. It’s entertaining and enjoyable. I found myself a tad disappointed when the fighting stopped. It’s certainly more along the lines of horror comedy than straight-up horror.
It held my attention well throughout which you know is a good thing particularly since I’m not a huge film watcher and can loose interest easily. Despite my love for Christmas, it was nice to see a film that wasn’t filled with festive cheer. If you’re not a lover of the cheesy Christmas classics then I highly recommend you give ‘Krampus’ a watch.
Rating: 4/5
YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Bloglovin’
Elijah Holland 