Director: Michael Dougherty
Year: 2015
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Gathering their extended family members together, the intended Christmas celebrations for a family take a darker turn when the group begins disappearing one by one at the hands of the Krampus and must try to weather the holiday storm of terror he brings in order to survive the night.
Review:
This here turned out to be quite an enjoyable effort. One of the better elements featured here is the fact that this one really overwhelms the seasonal work with the holiday set-up featured throughout here. Basing the film deep in the folklore and using the familiar trappings of the holiday, it gives this the excuse to readily utilize the basic elements found in the day with the house all decorated with the usual ornaments, wreaths, presents, and lighted statues placed throughout here which really gives this the appropriately festive appeal that runs for the whole film and is only enhanced with the onset of the storm that continues blowing throughout here.
It's a fine frosty coating overlaid through the whole film and really helps to place the whole film in the proper tone and atmosphere while giving this one the balance required to make the later scenes with the different killer toys and Christmas-based ornaments under his command feel all the more closely tied together. The scenes of the walking gingerbread men and the different dolls that come to life and attack the family are quite appropriately a part of this set-up that really makes this one quite exciting and enjoyable due to the rather close tie-in which is what makes this one so much fun.
Likewise, the fact that there's quite the fun build-up to the action scenes here is rather enjoyable as there's some fun making the family struggles come to light quite early on as the slight indications of the creature approaching make this one quite chilling, and once it becomes obvious all their antics have led to their assault that gives the film a solid set-up which lets the early action scenes all the more exciting. The big action scenes, from the creature appearing at the snowplow hunting the lone member outside the house, the search party arriving at the ransacked house and finding the creature already having taken them, and the first instances of the main house seeing the different attacks occurring in the living room all give this one quite a solid foundation with the different chases throughout the upper floors in the house seeing the different creatures attacking the household.
Even the final battle with the creature in the house is quite fun and chilling with the family taking the big stand against the creature results in plenty of great action, and the fantasy-based resolution does fit in quite nicely here giving this one a rather nice twist ending. Along with the fantastic creature backstory and the overall design, these give this one plenty to love that hold it up over the film's small flaws. The first issue here is the needless jerky camera movements during the action scenes, which makes it really difficult to see what you really want to see and lets the obvious CGI shine through quite easily. The other flaw here is the fact that there's a pointless backstory done in a really lousy animation style that pads out this one needlessly when the straightforward story could've been told in a better, less distracting manner. These here are what hold it back.
Overview: ****.5/5
Highly enjoyable and creepy holiday-themed creature feature effort, this is one of the few unchecked classics in the style and manages to remain immensely likable and worthwhile in regard to only a few minor drawbacks. Those who enjoy this kind of genre fare, are big fans of mainstream cinema or the creative crew will have a lot to like here, while only a few who don't appreciate any of these factors should heed mild caution here.
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