Last year a few friends and I outlined a story and were working on a horror movie script about a small town besieged by Krampus. At the time of its inception it was a surprisingly untapped horror resource. Shortly after, I heard Fangoria reporting from the American Film Market that Krampus will surely be the next trend as several production companies were shopping Krampus scripts. They mentioned that both Kevin Smith and Michael Dougherty were each aiming to make their own Krampus movies. The Dougherty one grabbed my attention because I loved Trick 'r Treat. It's one of the best movies of the past fifteen years and just perfectly nails the tone and feel of what I wanted from a movie about my favorite holiday.
I enjoyed Krampus, but I didn't love it. It might not be fair to compare it to Trick 'r Treat, but I feel justified since it's the same director doing a holiday themed horror movie. Admittedly, Trick 'r Treat is going to be a hard act to follow for anybody and I really hope that they don't stumble with its sequel. I found it surprising that in Trick 'r Treat's shorter segments Dougherty was better able to convey complete mythologies than in a feature length movie dedicated to one story.
The best way I can describe Krampus is that it feels like a very slick, well-made Full Moon production along with a touch of the mischievousness of Gremlins. It has a certain Charles Band feel to parts of it. And I certainly mean that as a compliment. It would have made a very nice late 90s VHS rental.
There are some excellent visuals and the opening credits were especially fun as we see slo-mo Black Friday shoppers doing what they do while juxtaposed with a soundtrack of Christmas carols. It's good, fun, snowy Christmas horror. Check it out!
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