Unhappy Holidays
With his family fighting, young Max is no longer feeling the Christmas spirit. But when he denounces the holiday, he unleashes the wrath of Krampus, a mythical creature that’s said to be the other, darker half of St. Nick: Instead of rewarding children, he punishes them. Now Krampus is out to get Max’s family, and they all must band together. This film takes on the difficult-to-pull-off horror-comedy genre, and while we’re intrigued by parts of it (for one, who doesn’t love Adam Scott?), we’re not sure if it’ll deliver.
Krampus opens in wide release Dec. 4.
JAIMIE: Oh my god, GUYS. This trailer was amazing and unintentionally hilarious. What even just happened?
First, I felt excited, because Adam Scott. Then confused, because he looked like a sad ‘ole alcoholic, and it looked to be one of those broken family stories that someone inevitably tries to do around this time of year that somehow manages to have a sort-of happy ending. And then … IT’S A HORROR FILM?
PAIGE: Comedic horror is so hard to market because if you don’t pull off the trailer just right, the whole thing is just tonally confusing.
CHRISTINA: I did think it was funny when they were still playing It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year throughout the unhappy family gathering/Adam Scott drinking alone.
PAIGE: I did google Krampus though, so this satyr on steroids or faun gone feral or Mr. Tumnus gone … tumescent is like, an intriguing way to try and mess around with the typical feel-good Christmas stories. I don’t have much confidence that this movie is going to pull that off, though.
NICOLE: I would kind of like to see this film be a total horror story (aka more blood and gore). Because honestly, Krampus sounds freakin terrifying. Like in this fictional horror movie, Krampus wouldn’t just spank naughty children, he’d eat them or feed them to his elf minions or something. Is that what Krampus is going to do in this movie? It looks like he’s just trying to scare them.
CHRISTINA: The tone kind of reminds me of Gremlins, which I used to love as a kid. (But then again, I wonder how well that movie would hold up if I watched it now.) It’s got that horror-comedy thing going on — although, parts of this do look genuinely scary, even if it’s mainly jump scares.
JAIMIE: I wouldn’t pay to see this, but if someone like, wanted to go and would pay for me, I would go with them. I can’t stop laughing.
PAIGE: Well, as I think you said, Nicole, it’s not quite clear what Krampus is doing, exactly. Is he out to get the little boy for being petulant? The family for being obnoxious? Is it a random killing? This violence needs direction!
