You Better Watch Out
 Krampus is directed by Michael Dougherty (Trick 'r Treat) and stars Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Miss You Already), David Koechner (Anchorman, Get Smart) and Allison Tolman (The Gift, Fargo). "A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a Christmas demon to his family home". So Christmas has finally got its own horror film and the trailer was watched by many around the World - the question is, will Krampus be on the nice or naughty list?

Krampus has got to be the most refreshing film I have seen in a while - of course it follows the generic horror movie traits but the fact that it is a horror movie about Christmas made it so much more unique. As a fan of Christmas, I love watching all of the classics during the season - Elf, Nativity!, The Grinch, Arthur Christmas etc....I actually think Krampus might join that list just because it is so different and is definitely not forgettable. Don't get me wrong, Krampus isn't a perfect movie but I think it is an effective horror-comedy that will satisfy fans of both genres. 

So I first want to talk about the horror element of the film - it actually has quite a lot of tension building which was surprising. If you read my review of the trailer for this film (which surprisingly became one of my most read posts), you would have seen that I thought the trailer was pretty tame - however, even though there was no true horror in Krampus, some of the creatures were terrifying - For example, the human eating long clown and the elves - I have a fear of masked creepy things and this movie has a whole group of them. Even though the tension building is very good, what is being built up to is often no where near as scary as you were preparing yourself for - for example, when Krampus makes his first appearance, it is actually laughable as he seems to be like a bouncing goat. However, when you get a close up of Krampus, he did not look like a create you would want to be confronted by.  The film did have a few jump scares which were effective. 

So this is the second horror/comedy I have seen this year after The Visit which I actually thoroughly enjoyed. Krampus isn't as good as The Visit but it is definitely in my top 3 horrors of the year behind that and Insidious 3. The film was actually funny - I like to be able to laugh at a horror when it is a horror/comedy as you know it is intentionally trying to be funny rather than awkwardly laughing when something is trying to be serious. The funniest bits from Krampus came from the weird creates - the build up to them was quite tense but as soon as you 'met' them they were hilarious. Some favourites include the angel like doll and the gingerbread men. 

The story for the film is actually quite dark - the film begins by showing a montage which is literally a true reflection of what Christmas has become - the minority are stress free and truly happy. The whole film is about people not having hope at Christmas - the Krampus myth is actually quite like 'be genuinely happy at Christmas or else you will regret it' - I quite like this as who shouldn't be happy at Christmas? It is the most wonderful time of the year after all. The story for Krampus is kind of like a home invasion movie meets the typical Christmas snow storm concept. I really liked the story for Krampus and even though (like in every horror film) you question some of the characters moves, it was still a fun watch. The twist was almost very disappointing....SPOILERS AHEAD....when the character woke up from a dream, I was like 'oh no not the typical it was only just a dream twist' but then there was a twist within that twist which I thought was really clever. Oh Krampus, you are cruel!

The acting in the film was the typical quality you would get in a horror film - every character had their good moments and also their bad moments. I thought Adam Scott and Toni Collette had mostly good moments - both were believable parents. However, child actors are always going to be a problem when they are present. At the end of the film, when the main male character is falling (similarly to Alice in Wonderland), his whole scream was so cringey and not great- his big speech before that wasn't the best either. 

Krampus is much better than what the trailer makes out - yes it is scary but it is also very funny and sometimes a little silly. Krampus just misses out from being 'dumb fun' this holiday season and I would actually say it is of better status than that. Krampus may have uneven acting but it meets all of the requirements for a horror/comedy, has a good twist and is a refreshing entry into the Christmas movie genre. You better watch out, Krampus is in town and could be here to stay!