Some holiday movies are cross over genres like Die Hard or the aforementioned Gremlins. Krampus also falls under that and has in short order cemented itself among the greats genre horror. The film is not only terrifying it is also one of the funniest scary films in recent memory. All of the scares are mixed well with laughs keeping you not only jumping but also laughing through and through.
The story concerns a typical modern American family during the holiday season just trying to survive all the problems that come with it. However a unforeseen problem arises when the son Max (Emjay Anthony) rips up his letter and denounces Christmas. Things begin to take a turn for the supernatural when it seems that the weather outside has turned frightful and forces beyond human understanding begin to come out of the woodwork. It becomes clear very soon that a creature is coming to punish the family for being overly greedy and not recognizing the true spirit of the season. We eventually find out the creature is the ancient spirit Krampus. Krampus is the evil helper of Santa who punishes bad children by putting them in his sack. However the family is not going down without a fight and everyone arms up to take on the beast and his hoard of minions. Max along with dad Tom (Adam Scott) and mom Sarah (Toni Collette) and the rest of the family do everything to stop this horror holiday from being unwrapped.
The film does something not seen in modern horror films and that is using practical effects. Not to say that there isn't some CGI but when it comes to Krampus it is a throwback costume which increases the fear because it makes it feel that much more real. Something computer generated isn't scary but something physical that you can touch now that is horrifying.
It is a great little cast including David Koechner, Allison Tolman and Conchata Ferrell. Sure not names that jump to mind immediately but this film did the write thing and hired people who could play the parts they were given. The genius of the film is it never pretends to be anything more then it is and that is why it works
Well that takes us out of the holiday season so for tomorrow we will be delving into the mystical world of serial killers. So for tomorrow we will see what is the magic number. For High Weirdness I'm Benjamin Kolton reminding you "It's Only a Movie." "It's Only a Movie."
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