Krampus

Another positive comes from the main character Max. “Krampus” is very much a family movie. Well, I mean it’s a movie about family. At the start of the film, we see a rather humorous depiction of the greed that takes over people around Christmas. Shoppers fight each other to get to certain toys and items, the family argues, and just generally don’t get along. Max is the only member of the family, aside from his grandmother Omri, who desperately tries to keep the peace and stay cheerful. This makes it all the more heartbreaking when he declares that he hates Christmas and hates his family. But when Krampus and his group of nightmarish creatures attack, the family looks out for each other and repeatedly put themselves at risk for others. Max is even willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his family. He pleads with Krampus to take him instead and let the family live. It’s quite a touching scene.

One more thing I admire about this film is the use of practical effects. The film contains some great acting performances, but what really stuck out for me was how amazing the puppet work and costumes were. Far too many movies now a-day rely on CGI and just aren’t as visually impressive as the good old practical effects. So I always appreciate when filmmakers go the extra mile and create animatronic creatures. Very little in this film was computer generated, aside from some of the gingerbread men. I absolutely loved the designs for Krampus, the evil Teddy bear, the angel, and especially, Der-Klown the evil Jack in the box. Der-Klown was an amazingly frightening creation and looked so real.

Now for the negatives. The main problem I had with this movie was the language, which is almost constant. There were one or two F-words, nine s-words, probably six uses of a**, two uses of da*n, two misuses of Jesus’s name, a use of d**k, one or two uses each of bi*** and bast**d, and multiple uses of he*l and misuses of God’s name.

There actually isn’t much alcohol, smoking, or drug content aside from one character teaching kids how to make a Christmas-themed alcoholic drink and another character going to do drugs with her boyfriend, though the character, and presumably her boyfriend as well, does meet a nasty end. So yeah, don’t do drugs kids or you might get eaten by a monster.

Now for the violence which is heavy but, again, not really bloody. Krampus chases a character in a rather suspenseful scene and the character is eaten by Der-Klown (offscreen). A man is seen frozen in a vehicle. Another vehicle is discovered torn and broken, the driver being presumably killed. A character is bound in chains and dragged up a chimney, screaming. Gingerbread men attack a character by shooting a nail gun, with some of the nails making their mark as we watch them hit the character’s pant leg. Characters are also attacked by a creature burrowing through the snow. This creature grabs someone’s leg and nearly pulls him under. We hear growling and ripping as the character’s leg is being mauled. Later, that same character is dragged into the house and we see blood seeping through his pant leg as his leg is being doctored.

A robot toy slashes at characters with razor-sharp talons and blades. A demon angel of sorts tackles someone and tries to hang her with Christmas lights, before the lights are cut and she is saved. A Teddy bear with sharp fangs also tackles a woman and she stabs it in the eye, with green goo spurting out of it’s impaled eye. Later, that same Teddy bear is shot.

Der-klown once again eats a child and we see the boots sticking out of his mouth as he swallowed them. When I first watched this scene, I felt sick, but the second time through, I was fine. A baby is kidnapped by evil elves and these same elves attack a car with characters trapped inside. Krampus pushes two children into a fiery pit, apparently the underworld. The family fights against Krampus and his evil creatures with a shotgun, an age, and knives. Oh, and this film is also pretty scary. There are about seven jump scares, plenty of peril, suspense, and creepy imagery.

In conclusion, I enjoy “Krampus” and find it to be a well-made horror movie. It has thrills, scares, suspense, and creepy animatronics. Basically, everything I want from a horror movie. It’s also got some laughs to keep things lights. As a whole, I like this movie. It’s just a shame that the unnecessary language had to ruin it. Parents, please be warned, this is not a holiday movie to expose children to. As a Christian, I cannot recommend “Krampus” to children or even young teens. Maybe older teens and adults who like to be scared and can ignore the profanity