Krampus is a 2015 American Christmas comedy horror film based upon the eponymous character from Germanic folklore, directed by Michael Dougherty & written by Dougherty, Todd Casey and Zach Shields.
The film stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen and Krista Stadler.
It was theatrically released in the Philippines on December 2, 2015, by Columbia Pictures, and in the United States on December 4, 2015, by Universal Pictures.
Plot[]
Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
On December 22, a suburban family gets together to celebrate the holidays—Tom (Adam Scott) and Sarah (Toni Collette), their children Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen) and Max (Emjay Anthony); Sarah's sister Linda (Allison Tolman), Linda's husband Howard (David Koechner), their children Stevie (Lolo Owen), Jordan (Queenie Samuel), Howie Jr. (Maverick Flack), and their baby daughter; Sarah and Linda's aunt Dorothy (Conchata Ferrell); and Tom's Austrian mother "Omi" (Krista Stadler).
Max wants to continue the family's Christmas traditions, but tensions between various members of the family keep everyone from having a good time and the family lose their Christmas Spirit, especially Max, who rips up his letter to Santa and throws it to the wind.
Shortly afterwards, a severe blizzard appears and cuts out power in the entire town. Beth, worried about her boyfriend, decides to go visit him in the storm. Upon reaching his house, she spots a strange being which then chases her. She hides under a stalled delivery truck, where she is attacked by an unseen monster.
After a period of apparently being alone with no power, Tom and Howard go out searching for Beth by going to her boyfriend's house and find it in devastation, with the chimney split open as well as large, goat-like hoof prints on the floor. They are also attacked by a creature hiding beneath the snow.
Fearing what they do not yet understand, the family boards up the doors and windows, promising Sarah they will look for Beth when morning comes. Howard promises to stay up to keep watch during the night, but he falls asleep. As the fire in the fireplace dies, a hook is lured down the chimney, which drags Howie Jr. up and away.
Omi reveals to the family what is happening; they are being tormented by Krampus, an ancient demonic spirit that punishes those who are bad at Christmas, referring to him as the "shadow of Saint Nicholas".
Omi admits that when she was young, her family's poverty caused her to lose her love of the holidays, which summoned Krampus and resulted in her parents and town being dragged into hell. She alone was spared by the demon, who left behind a bauble with his name inscribed and her life as a reminder of what happens when one loses their Christmas spirit.
In the attic, a mysterious bunch of presents that had earlier been delivered suddenly begins shaking. The family runs to the attic and witnesses der Klown, a demonic jack-in-the-box monster, devouring Jordan. The others are attacked by a group of monstrous toys and three evil gingerbread men, Lumpy, Dumpy, and Clumpy, but fend them off and regroup downstairs. They are soon again attacked by Krampus's wicked elves, who abduct Dorothy, Howard and the baby before leaving.
The remaining family decide to make a run for a snow plow in the street. Omi stays behind to confront Krampus and buy time for the others. Krampus opens his bag of toys and she is attacked. As the rest of the group runs for the plow, Tom, Sarah and Linda are seemingly eaten by the snow creature and the elves take Stevie, leaving only Max. Krampus then appears before Max and gives him a bauble with his name on it, wrapped in a piece of his shredded Santa letter, before leaving.
Max confronts and pleads with Krampus to give his family back and take him instead. Krampus seems to consider his request before picking Max up and holding him over a pit into the underworld, into which he has thrown Stevie. Max apologizes to the demon for losing his Christmas spirit but Krampus drops the screaming Max into the pit.
Max awakens in his bed on Christmas morning. He looks out his window and sees that the neighborhood has returned to normal, and finds his family downstairs opening presents. Believing that the entire experience had been a dream he opens a present and discovers the Krampus bauble.
The family falls silent as the memory of what had happened suddenly comes back. The camera pulls back to reveal that their house is being watched by Krampus through the snow globe on a shelf in Krampus' lair (along with many others) while his helpers jumpscare the audience and end the film.
Cast[]
- Adam Scott as Tom Engel
- Toni Collette as Sarah Engel
- Emjay Anthony as Max Engel
- David Koechner as Howard
- Allison Tolman as Linda
- Conchata Ferrell as Aunt Dorothy
- Stefania LaVie Owen as Beth Engel
- Krista Stadler as Omi
- Lolo Owen as Stevie
- Queenie Samuel as Jordan
- Maverick Flack as Howie Jr.
- Mark Atkin as Ketkrókur
- Sage Hunefeld as Baby Chrissy
- Leith Towers as Derek
- Curtis Vowell as DHL Man
- Luke Hawker as Krampus (in-suit performer)
- Brett Beattie as Der Klown (Jack-in-the-box)
Voice Cast[]
- Gideon Emery as Krampus
- Seth Green as Gingerbread Man Lumpy
- Breehn Burns as Gingerbread Man Dumpy
- Justin Roiland as Gingerbread Man Clumpy
Production[]
"Krampus" was originally scheduled a release date for November 25, 2015, but it was pushed back one week to December 4, 2015.
Box Office[]
As of January 21, 2016, "Krampus" has grossed $42.7 million in North America and $18.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $61.4 million, gainst a budget of $15 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film earned $637,000 from its Thursday night showings, which began at 7 p.m. and topped the box office on its opening day with $6 million.
It rose 9.9% on Saturday over Friday, a rare occurrence for a horror movie.
It went on to earn $16.3 million through its opening weekend from 2,902 theaters, which was above expectations and finished in second place at the box office, ahead of The Good Dinosaur, but behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 ($18.6 million), which was on its third weekend.
Scott Mendelson of Forbes felt the successful opening was attributed to the horror genre which was something of a new, unique and genuinely different offering at that time (the last time a Christmas horror movie opened was in 2006 with Black Christmas).
However, he also stated that had Universal not embargoed the reviews two days prior to its release, a wave of mostly positive reviews dropping a few days before release would have boosted its opening accordingly.
Critical Reception[]
"Krampus" received mixed to positive reviews.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 65%, based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.
The site's critical consensus reads, "Krampus is gory good fun for fans of non-traditional holiday horror with a fondness for Joe Dante's B-movie classics, even if it doesn't have quite the savage bite its concept calls for."
On Metacritic, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed to average reviews".
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.
Nick Schager from The Playlist wrote: "The film's lack of terror might be more forgivable had it embraced its more humorous inclinations, but the script's pedestrian liberals-vs.-cons."
The New York Times A.O. Scott wrote that it was "Occasionally funny, intermittently scary, but mostly hectic and sloppy, Krampus tries very hard to be a different kind of Christmas movie."
Justin Chang from Variety magazine wrote: "Krampus isn't especially scary, but it generates goodwill nonetheless for treating its home-invasion-for-the-holidays setup with an appreciably straight face."