Krampus - Maldita Navidad

The Czech devil has an exceptional position on a global scale. He is more of a confused companion for gamblers, or an executor of justice where secular justice is a mockery of morality. Krampus is a different sort. At first glance, fear emanates from him and he exudes the threat of brutal violence and mystical cruelty. The movie, which entices with the use of the name "Krampus," announces that it will be a form of entertainment for a specifically horror-oriented audience. But actions speak louder than words and this is also reflected in the quite mixed reviews. Let's be honest, how many horror comedies have you seen that weren't crippled in one way or another, or had both legs amputated? No matter what Dougherty does, he is unable to generate scares, at least not in a way that today's hardened fans of horror would fear. It's a bit better when it comes to the humor. Dougherty has learned a lot from Terry Gilliam and his devilish gingerbread cookies are successful, he has a sense of irony and occasionally comes up with a decent joke. He also relies on a likable cast of actors, led by the talented Toni Collette. Unfortunately, he is not creative enough to develop his ideas into a truly functional and visually appealing form. He relies on frantic, chaotic editing, and annoyingly stereotyped characters within the family, and he is not daring enough to turn family values upside down and mock Christmas. When I remember how Ari Aster utilized Toni Collette in Hereditary, I have the feeling that Dougherty is wasting the acting potential of his ensemble, as well as the atmosphere and ideas. The film is unfinished and rarely truly atmospheric. My review ranges between 2 and 3 stars, and considering the weak reviews he received from horror fans, this time I will support Dougherty and give the film a weak three-star rating. Overall impression: 50%. (20.12.2019)

Krampus isn’t what I was dreaming of when the project was announced, but even the way it is, it’s not able to reach to the TOP. Which doesn’t mean that it is a bad movie. This time, Dougherty has done with Christmas the same he did a couple of years ago with Halloween, a nice and atmospheric horror comedy, where the humour, as well as the fear and the tension are effective in each of the sequences. But it’s just not completely outstanding in any way. If it’d stayed only with Krampus and his elves, it would have been better, IMHO. The living gifts are more or less cool, but the bloody living gingerbread men are already too much. And I was also surprised with how fast everything ends. In a only couple of minutes about half the characters are reduced in uninteresting ways, to the point that I felt as if the creators already wanted to get rid of them, but didn’t feel like writing another twenty minutes of script. 70% and I would love to see a gritty German Alpine prequel. (24.12.2015)

I’d been looking forward to Krampus. The users here turned it into a legendary movie, which in the future will be an inseparable part of Christmas; they kept putting it into the same rank as Home Alone. By the way, the only thing this movie has in common with Home Alone is a couple of melodies in the score. Other than that, it’s worlds apart. You see Krampus alternates between a fairy-tale atmosphere and a regular horror movie in the vein of Nightmare on Elm Street. Nevertheless, I do admit that the film had a couple of really interesting moments. For instance, the opening scene in the mall, which is totally awesome or the cartoon part, which tells the story of the grandma, who had met Krampus when she was little. By the way, it looked almost as if it was made by Tim Burton himself. The rest is a classical slasher movie, where you’re actually not sure whether it’s a comedy (the constantly drunk grandma and her catchphrases, or the three gingerbread guys who are alive) or a horror movie (Krampus, who isn’t actually seen much in this one, and his elven minions). (15.12.2015)

If Krampus was even more comedic, and I don't care if in the black-humorous style of the skirmish in the attic or the Griswold Christmas break style in which it began, I'd like it even more. Even so, from my point of view, it is a very pleasant surprise, which is able to entertain and tantalize, but it could do without those few annoying, more serious minutes promoting family values. I was probably most pleased by the special effects - with the exception of bloodthirsty gingerbread, not too much digital magic is happening here, but rather good old-fashioned puppets and animatronics. And it all looks great! (18.02.2018)

Christmas home invasion creature feature black comedy with an excellent snowy backdrop. Dougherty fuses German folklore and American genre traditions into a sufficiently entertaining mix in which children are devoured and the titular devil doesn't grow tiresome thanks to a late entry. Formal finesse, good actors and unobtrusive film references are sometimes enough to satisfy, especially at Christmas. 70 % (16.12.2022)