Creature
Krampus

Alternate Titles
N/A

Country
USA

Director
Michael Dougherty

Writers
Michael Dougherty
Todd Casey
Zach Shields

Story

“When he accidentally summons the ancient demon Krampus, a young boy must bring his family together to stand any chance of surviving the holiday!”

Cast

• Adam Scott – Tom
• Toni Collette – Sarah
• David Koechner – Howard
• Allison Tolman – Linda
• Conchata Ferrell – Aunt Dorothy
• Emjay Anthony – Max
• Stefania LaVie Owen – Beth
• Krista Stadler – Omi
• Luke Hawker / Gideon Emery – Krampus

Creature Connections

• Black Sheep – Luke Hawker
• Primeval – Gideon Emery
• Piranha 3D – Adam Scott
• Piranha 3DD – David Koechner
• Snakes on a Plane – David Koechner

Trailer

Review

Oft described as the love child of Gremlins and Rare Exports, Krampus was definitely one of the biggest and most welcome surprises of the year. Many viewers were left disappointed after the trailers promised a much darker and more serious horror film but I appreciated the creativity and humour that the comedy focus brought. Michael Dougherty does a great job as writer/ director and successfully manages to craft a horror comedy that is both scary and funny.

Although Krampus fails to balance such a large cast, with the young Emjay Anthony who is clearly the main character being pushed to the background for the majority of act 2, the acting is great, most notably the hilarious Adam Scott, Toni Collette and Krista Stadler as the father, mother and grandmother of the Engel family whilst David Koechner is reliably good. The ‘rooftop chase’ sequence with Krampus is phenomenal and despite a minor loss of momentum in the middle, the film is highly energetic and very fun to watch.

I was a little disappointed by the design of Krampus, with the film leaning more in a ‘Dark Santa’ style rather than the more traditional black goat monster, but I loved every second that he was on-screen. The deliciously dark ending also leaves the film on the perfect note and considering the tiny budget (by feature film standards, not creature feature standards) the movie looks stunning. I highly recommend Krampus to everyone who wants to see some subversive Christmas fun and the film has been added to my Christmas playlist.