3 out of 5

Directed by: Michael Dougherty

Is it derivative of Gremlins?  Absolutely.  But we can ALWAYS use more Gremlins in our lives; always use more ‘spirit’ of Joe Dante that made for seemingly disposable films like Small Soldiers that I wish were still the “what else is playing this week?” option.  Dougherty’s followup to Trick R’ Treat is similarly holiday themed, similar darkly fun-spirited, and similarly visually inventive… though in its attempt to ape a more traditional film format, it pads its runtime a bit.  We can also assume that the praise for Trick’s practical approach informed much of the same here, but the larger scale visual treats – a full swarm of fantastic creatures – requires a more careful hand to make it work, and the film isn’t always up to the task.

Krampus is an Xmas story about – yup – Krampy – the dark matter Santa Claus – or what causes Krampy to come after our featured family of husband Adam Scott, wife Toni Collette, their children and visiting extended family via sister Allison Tolman and her hubby David Koechner.  And just as your typical Christmas flick moralizes good will and holiday cheer, a horror flick of the same lessons young Max (Emjay Anthony) to not be discouraged by everyone’s poo-pooing on the time of year, as the bad news begins when he curses Christmas and rips up his letter to Santa.

…Or it slowly begins.  While on the one hand I appreciate Dougherty’s attempts at building suspense by keeping the creeps on the fringes for our first hour, slowly removing characters and blanketing our troupe in an immobilizing and blackout-inducing snowstorm, the way it’s effected in direction and writing instead puts a halt on things.  Following the Gremlins format of allowing in weirdness sooner rather than later – while still withholding the shocks for the final third – might’ve helped things; Krampus sticks us with a group of entertaining character actors but chops off character development due to the isolation aspect of the plot.  In other words: we’re just waiting for shit to hit the fan.  And when it does, it’s a hoot.  But: as things get bigger and weirder, there’s a sense that Dougherty’s holding back.  Whether that was the rating (PG-13) or a lack of confidence with larger scale, who can say.  It just means that Mr. Krampus never quite gets as freaky as you feel like he could.

Rough around the edges though it may be – and thus not as instantly jaw-droppingly appealing as Trick R’ Treat – there’s definitely the sense that Krampus falls into the eminently rewatchable category, those special flicks that, once warmed to their quirks, become amazinger and amazinger.  This makes it less of a go-to recommendation than some other flicks, perhaps, but if you allow people to be initiated on their own terms, entertaining midnight movie viewings certainly await.