Krampus - movie review

Krampus

Plot: A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a Christmas demon to his family home.
Cast: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner
Director: Michael Dougherty
Rating: 15
Runtime: 1hr 38 mins
Release Date: Friday 5th December 2015

It's the most wonderful time of the year for some. Not for the Engel family. After a tumultuous dinner, one of the children seems to have lost all hope in Christmas. This inadvertently causes Christmas demon Krampus, to pay a visit to wreck the festivities. This homage to classic 80's fun horror/monster comedies such as Gremlins and Poltergeist attempts to recapture the spirit that made those previous films successful. Unfortunately, Krampus ultimately doesn't connect and pay off in the way it intended.

Acting is a talent like no other. The ability to become a character and convince the audience of this is a tremendous skill. What a shame that very little of the cast in Krampus follow that belief. None of them are terrible but I never felt that any of them gave it their all. Adam Scott is one of our main focuses in this festive tale, and whilst his performance is perfectly adequate, he doesn't quite suit the overall lead of the film. Not to say that some day he won't achieve this title but as of now, there wasn't a moment where he really grabbed me. Toni Collette was actually the performance that impressed me the most. I'm not familiar with most of her work but she was quite pleasing in this film. Watching her try to keep calm and control of the family chaos was slightly amusing amidst all the family arguments and the demonic attacks. Now David Koechner was a significant reason as to why this film may be fun. He may not always pick the best projects to star in but I have liked some of his work in films such as Anchorman and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. But in Krampus I'm not entirely sure what he was attempting. He is a comedic actor for a reason so when Koechner tries to switch it into more of a nuanced action hero role, the result is a bizarre and complicated sequence of events. It's like hiring LeBron James to play golf. You just wonder why. Utilise him for what he is worth. Child acting is often hit or miss. You can get good surprises with a recent example being Jacob Tremblay in Room, but most of the time, they are passable or just plain bad. Here, it's a mixture. Emjay Anthony as the elder brother and Stefania LaVie Owen weren't too bad but the rest are just awful. No emotion. No likeability. No passion behind what they are saying. I simply never cared for those characters.

Krampus had such an amazing concept. You have the potential to make a Christmas film aimed at the adults to distract them from the constant stories of Santa being kind to kids. Even the character of Krampus could have made for a visually interesting movie. But I have to say that this film was clunky. It never quite found the line between the comedy and the horror so much so that it was blatantly obvious when the comedy ended and the horror began. A good movie would have been able to blend them both. The comedy is all present in the opening twenty minutes where it seems to follow along the same lines as Christmas Vacation. A good natured family are hosting Christmas and the disruptive in-laws arrive. However the writing of these characters is incredibly conflicted. The roles of Adam Scott, Toni Collette and their children were the only characters that I seemed to care for. As far as the others are concerned, they were all gigantic douchebags. They were so unlikeable. And as soon as they appeared on-screen, I immediately knew that later on in the film, I would be required to feel concerned about the safety of them all as Krampus and his minions attack. But I didn't. I wanted Krampus to catch them. Basically, this movie forced my hand in wanting these children to die. That's how much this film altered my life morals.

To be scared in a horror film is a necessity. And whenever I leave a horror film not feeling anxious about the journey home or as I got to sleep, I don't think it succeeded. As for Krampus, the director seemed to play it safe. He was given a 15 age rating and never once did it seem to push the boundaries. There was hardly any violence or horror type aspects and one use of the f-word. In all other instances where a character is about to swear, they either cut away just before they utter it or, stupidly, they swap it for another word. One example of this is a character exclaiming 'Mother Fudger'. Moronic isn't it? But enough with all the negativity because Krampus wasn't horrible by any means. I adored the use of practical effects. Continuing from huge Hollywood blockbusters such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, practical effects seem to be rearing their beautiful head once again. The look of the monsters felt real and authentic adding some tension and pressure as characters faced deadly circumstances. That was one of the only aspects that reminded me of classic horror films.

Some will say that this is just a B-movie with the only intention being to entertain the audience for a couple of hours. If that is the case, then Krampus didn't fulfill that criteria either. What could have been a change of pace from the usual cookie-cutter Christmas films ultimately became a forgettable monster movie. Practical effects are more than welcome in films but let's not forget about story first and foremost.

My Verdict: 4.5/10

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