1193. Krampus (2015)

Starring: Adam Scott, Toni Colette, Brian Koechner

Director: Michael Dougherty

Running Time: 105 mins

Krampus is an American film about a family whose poor relations not only cause friction at Christmas, but also end up summoning a demon who comes to terrorise and punish them and their entire town.

Now, the verdict that I’ve given on this film is entirely dependent on what the filmmakers were actually going for. If this is meant to be a proper, scary horror movie, then it’s an atrocious failure, but if it’s meant to be a full-blown parody, then it’s pretty entertaining, and full of laughs at just how idiotic it all is.

What I saw it as is a film that was trying to be tense and have scary elements to it, but was largely parodic and less serious than the majority of modern horror movies. So, because of that, I had a really good time with Krampus – I was laughing throughout and was pretty entertained by how ridiculous it all was, although I’m quite sure that the makers weren’t going for that level of comedic value.

So, basically, this falls slightly into the category of so-bad-it’s-good, because the horror element is just awful. It’s not scary in the slightest, and there’s no tension whatsoever, but I still can’t really put it in that infamous category because the acting, directing and parody elements were definitely entertaining.

If you’re a fan of modern horror, you’ll likely be unimpressed with this, but as far as the genre goes, the mix-up with Christmas makes it a very easy-going and unexpectedly light-hearted watch, and for that reason, it’s really enjoyable.

Of course, it’s not brilliant the whole way through, and there are times when this film does drop its comedic tone and tries to be tense and scary, which it never is. What’s more, the establishing phases do go on a bit too long, and although they do have a slight impact on who you care about surviving the ordeal at first, it’s ultimately far too long-winded and a waste of time.

Overall, Krampus is a really entertaining film, but perhaps not deliberately so. I think it’s got the hallmarks of a future cult classic, owing to the weird mash between Halloween and Christmas, and seeing as it is so ridiculous, but I enjoyed it so much that I’m going to give it a 7.0.