THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
During the holidays, it can either bring families together or tear them apart. The only good thing that can come from the latter is the regretful realization that it shouldn't have gotten there.
PLOT
Krampus follows the dysfunctional Engel family who are preparing to celebrate Christmas. 10 year old Max is trying to maintain the Christmas spirit as the marriage between his parents Tom & Sarah appears to be deteriorating and his relationship with his teenage sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen) becomes distant as well. The only one he is closest to at the moment is her Grandmother Omi. Tension immediately rises when Sarah’s relatives arrive to spend the holidays with them: Her sister Linda, husband Howard, Aunt Dorothy and their children, Jordyn, Stevie, Baby Chrissie (Sage Hunefeld) and Howie Jr. (Maverick Flack), as well as their pet bulldog Rosie. The twins Jordyn & Stevie make things worse when they bully Max by reading his Christmas letter aloud in the dinner table. The letter reads that he wished for everyone to get along, but also implied how Howard wished for his daughters to be boys. This leads to Max fighting two of his cousins and when separated by the adults, he officially gives up his Christmas spirit. When he destroys his Christmas letter, a blizzard causes a power outage in the town. On the 23rd of December, two sets of gifts arrive for the family: one from DHL and an unknown red sack sent unanimously. Beth goes out to check on her boyfriend Derek (Leith Towers), only to be captured by a shadowy horned figure. When she doesn’t return within the hour given by her parents, Tom and Howard go out to look for her. When they search Derek’s house, they find it to be broken into as something with hooves left behind tracks. Tom tries to pursue his daughter as he hears his daughter scream, but ultimately chooses to return home when Howard gets attacked by something underneath the snow. Armed with only a small amount of ammunition for Howard’s shotgun & Linda’s pistol, the adults agree to board up the house until deciding when to go back outside. As Tom & Howard agree to take shifts in watching over the family overnight, the latter would sadly fall asleep during the first watch. This would lead to a hook coming from the chimney to capture Howie Jr. As the adults try to save him, a fire log is kicked into the Christmas tree and starts a fire that Max puts out with a fire extinguisher. Just when Howie Jr. is taken away, Omi explains that she knows what is attacking the family and has already captured Beth. The creature is ‘Krampus’, who punishes people who lose the Christmas spirit. She knows this off of personal experience; As a child in growing up in Europe, she lost the spirit when everyone around her including her parents lost it to personal harships. She took her loss so personal that she wished for her parents to be taken away. That wish summoned Krampus who dragged everyone except Omi. The entity of Krampus would leave behind a bell bauble for her, as a reminder as a reminder of what happens when people lose hope on Christmas. Despite hearing this backstory, Howard would try one more to go outside and rescue the abducted kids. He would end up staying inside when the front of the house gets surrounded by snowmen. On Christmas Eve, more vile creatures related to Krampus would attack the family. Toys from the secondary sack would emerge and cause havoc in the attic. Sarah would destroy a killer robot toy, whereas Linda wounds a teddy bear. A giant jack in the box would also consume Jordan and retreat. In the kitchen, Howard would kill a trio of live gingerbread men. When Rosie enters the vent to attack the jack in the box, it would only die trying. Just when that happens, the toy crashes through the ceiling. Dorothy would wield the shotgun and use up the ammo on the teddy bear and an angel dressed doll. The jack in the box would get back up when a pack of elves would capture Dorothy and Chrissie. Howard would only pursue the creatures in hopes to rescue his family. When Krampus enters the house through the chimney, Omi allows herself to be captured to give the remaining family time to escape. As they head to the snow plow that belonged to the DHL that died in the hands of Krampus, the remaining adults of Tom, Sarah and Linda get pulled from the snow. When Max tries to figure out how to drive, Stevie would be captured by the elves. Krampus would leave him a signature bell bauble, that is covered in the Christmas letter he destroyed. Wanting to redeem himself, he confronts the demon and demands his family to be spared in exchange for his life. Instead, Krampus takes him and Stevie. Although Max would wake up Christmas morning reunited with his family, the film would end with them realizing that they are still captured by Krampus, trapped in a snow globe that is monitored by the spirit himself.
THOUGHTS
There have been countless Christmas themed movies where you're gonna be smiling to a happy ending. So I feel relieved to see Director Michael Dougherty break the cliche and give us the opposite. While there is a fair share of laughter from scenes like the slo mo opening that satirizes the commercialization of the infamous holiday, or seeing the dysfunctional banter between the Engels, you'll be in terrifying awe of the monsters that come your way. When the jackc in the box Der Klown shocks you with its size, you'll be getting claustrophobic when Teddy Klaue, the Tik Tok robot and Perchta angel doll enter the scene. And that's before the elves show up. Oddly enough, there is definitely something amusing about the gingerbread men because they look cute until they act diabolical. Having the trio voiced by Justin Roiland, Seth Green and Breehn Burns makes their scene even more chaotic yet memorable. While that trio of monsters were cleverly computerized, everyone else including the big bad incredibly came to life in practical style. The whole point of the behemoth Krampus and its disciples is that it is the shadow doppelganger of Santa Claus. They're dispatched to punish people that become non believers of the holiday. The purpose is to teach people the hard way to maintain optimism and keep finding goodness in others when confronted by the opposite at every possible turn. And I think a movie that sends a message like that is bold as fuck and you catch on to it with a family ensemble that goes through such a lesson. The biggest part of celebrating Christmas is doing so with family. No family is ever perfect but the existence of this holiday gives a chance to (re)connect and common ground. Even when you can't find it the first time around, you can't give up trying. The Engels are a great example of going through this because we have two sides that live differently and off of that creates different views of life. Having them be dysfunctional from the get go made the experience because a lot of people can relate to this scenario. At least one of us would have a cousin you don't like or an uncle you hardly see but you gotta put up with for the specific occasion. We're onboard thanks to Emjay Anthony accurately playing Max as the one kid struggling to be hopeful when the tension surrounding him only bothers him more than before. And when trouble came knocking, the regret slowly kicked him for him when it was too late. You respect the kid because like Omi, he does regret instantly and wants to be redeemed, which makes you respect his attempt of selflessness when offering himself to Krampus. But of course, nothing ever went his way. Because he was so young during this point in time, you wish that he had a second chance. You also feel bad for Omi instantly since Krista Stadler expresses all the dreaded regret she's felt for so long. She remains soft spoken with the rest of the family to keep distance, but chooses to be close to Max as she related to what he was feeling. And due to her sacrifice, you still wish there was a chance for the family to make it, but Krampus reminds us that no sin goes unpunished. Adam Scott and Toni Collette made a great pair for portraying Tom & Sarah as a realistic couple going through stressful time that makes them pushed to the limit as well. While Max was onto something when he wrote that they don't have their spark, that doesn't mean they don't love each other as they do their best in staying by each other's side during the hell that came their way. While Sarah tries to cover up the obvious stress, Allison Tomlan shows Linda as the total opposite. She lives different in comparison and she ain't ashamed as long as her kids are fine. You can never go wrong with David Koechner who delivers in making Howard the most conservative bunch. Obviously, he comes around with accepting Tom during the holiday mayhem because they both agree that protecting their family matters more than personal beliefs. And I can't be the only one that enjoyed Conchatta Farrell's presence as Aunt Dorothy. She definitely boosted the comedic tone when acting sardonic towards everyone from the get go. Although she jokes around like it's part of breathing, she cares about her family as much as the others do. If you don't believe me, watch her shoot up the toys in badass fashion. I have to apologize when I say I giggle to her getting captured because of the sound she made. I just couldn't take it serious and I know that's the point. And lastly, Queenie Samuel & Lolo Owen make Jordan & Stevie for the tomboy persona they display. With their dad raising them to be tough, it's arguably for them to pick on someone as innocent as Max. It is partially their fault for what happens because had they not acted such, Max's spirit would've remained intact. And like everyone else, they learn the hard way that family should be treated equally. This movie does exceed expectations, yet still had moments within the story that remain questionable. The slo-mo opening is pretty entertaining since it ties in to the main story, but why is Max's play happening at the store? Whether this is at Home Depot, Target or neither, I don't think any store would have the space to do that. And since Max's fight was shown in the montage, what makes Tom think he dropkicked the other kid into the manger since he was pinned down when we first see him? If they really wanted to go all the way as meaningful, they should've shown that. And if Tom knew he did that, he should've not taken so long to intervene. The Christmas letter was the best way for the conflict to go in motion, but why the hell didn't any of the parents try to stop the girls from reading it when they get uncomfortable? They had the right to go past subtlety like Beth tried. Also, can we talk about the irony here that Tom allowed Beth to visit her boyfriend during the blizzard when he hardly done so in a non blizzard day? I know they need power to get through the holidays, but Tom could've went himself. And is Sarah nuts to think that squirrels are big enough to make a thud on the attic? If Howard heard that, he would've guessed something realistic like a bear. Also, I know Omi has to be suspicious that Krampus was coming, but she did not need to look through an active chimney. That's worse than her trusting the family to keep the fire running. Also, I don't blame Tom taking Howard back to the house when he gets injured, but he should've left him at the door so he could've kept looking for his daughter. He could've had a better chance getting her back. Y'all know I don't like continuity errors, so when did Tom get two extra bullets after firing two outside when Howard got attacked? It should be clarified if Howard gave him more in between their search party. If I'm going to complain about the logic of Krampus, I'd have to ask why does he attack other people that aren't related to the Engels. The DHL guy (Curtis Vowell) and Derek are pointless targets because they don't qualify as Max's family. And lastly, with the ending revealing that multiple families have been captured by Krampus, how has that not been exposited by the Engels or on the news? That would've been dope foreshadowing. Other than that, you'll still be having a ball with this movie once you ignore all said flaws. In short, Krampus is a standout holiday film for knowing how to mix the scares and humor. If you are a horror fanatic that has a soft spot for the holidays, this is the one for you.
Comments