I was curious about this picture because I like horror films to an extent and this one looked promising. I was a little confused by the cast specifically Adam Scott playing Tom the dad in a horror picture. I always associate Adam Scott with comedy so I assumed that, because he is in this movie, there must be elements of comedy in it. I wasn't completely wrong.
Krampus tells of a somewhat dysfuntional family getting together for Christmas. As I said earlier, Adam Scott plays Tom the dad of the "more normal" half of the family. He and his wife Sarah (played by Toni Collette) along with their two children Beth (played by Stefania LaVie Owen) and Max (played by Emjay Anthony) and Tom's mother called Omi (played by Krista Stadler) are all awaiting and dreading the arrival of their relatives Howard (played by David Koechner), his wife Linda (played by Allison Tolman), their children Howie Jr. (played by Maverick Flack, Jordan (played by Queenie Samuel), Stevie (played by Lolo Owen) and Baby Chrissy (played by Sage Hunefeld). Along for the ride is Aunt Dorothy (played by Conchata Ferrell).
As the family is gathered for Christmas, poor Max is struggling to hold onto his Christmas spirit. After he feels that he is humiliated in front of his family by his obnoxious cousins Jordan and Stevie reading aloud his letter to Santa Claus, Max angrily goes to his room with the letter clutched in his hand. In a fit of anger, he tears up the letter and loses his Christmas spirit. Unbeknownst to him, he has unintentionally released the wrath of the vengeful spirit of Krampus and Max and his family will suffer accordingly.
What starts out as an annoying and inconvenient snow storm quickly turns into a blizzard of horror as the family tries to stick together as they fight for their lives on this dark and cold Christmas. When the truth of what is happening comes out, Omi tells the story of Krampus as she is familiar with it from her childhood. Just as Santa Claus gives, Krampus takes. Krampus utilizes familiar Christmas symbols as well as his own band of elves to punish those who lose their Christmas spirit. So it is up to the family to try to survive the night and hopefully evade Krampus' fury.
Someone who saw this movie compared it to Gremlins as far as how scary it is. I also heard from more than one person that the story unfolds in an unexpected way. I agree on the second statement. While this picture is rated PG-13 it might be too frightening for younger children. It definitely has some comedy to it but I feel that it is much darker than Gremlins.
It is a better movie than I expected. The actors were all very good. The story and concept were frightening. I like that they made this movie because it is different. I also like that this movie tells of the darker side of Christmas. I was only vaguely familiar with the darker side of Christmas and I'm not sure how much of this film is based on traditional folklore and how much is just pure imagination from some talented writers. Either way I enjoyed this film and I recommend it especially if you want a change from the usual Christmas movies although not for younger children.
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