Christmas-themed horror movies are
a rarity, perhaps because they seem so out-of-place during what’s generally regarded
to be “the most wonderful time of the year.”
It is also the holiest of religious holidays, notwithstanding the fact that
Jesus wasn’t actually born on December 25.
Nonetheless, once in a while we get the likes of ‘Silent Night, Deadly
Night,’ ‘Black Christmas’ and ‘Krampus’ during this most joyous of occasions.
At least ‘Krampus’ is based on
traditional European (Austro-Bavarian to be precise) folklore and
mythology. If you’re unfamiliar (or
haven’t seen the 'Venture Bros.' episode below) with the character, think
Krampus as a deformed “evil Santa” of sorts who punishes bad children, just
as Saint Nicholas rewards good children with gifts. Portrayed as a hairy daemonic creature with
horns and cloven hooves, Krampus is known to carry chains and bundled birch
branches (ruten), the better to lash misbehaving children with. Krampus finally gets his own feature length
movie, and all things considered it
isn’t bad.
With a comedic cast including
Adam Scott, Toni Collette and David Koechner, ‘Krampus’ is a light-hearted,
oft-funny horror comedy in the tradition of ‘Gremlins,’ ‘House’ and ‘The
Frighteners.’ It is particularly sharp
in its satire of family dysfunction, and the film's opening credits sequence depicting rampaging holiday shoppers in slow-mo set to Bing Crosby's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" was simply classic. For
what it lacked in truly scary moments, the movie made up in sheer PG-13 rated
family fun. Come to think of it, that’s
what Christmas is all about isn’t it?
Grade: B+
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