Krampus (film)

Krampus
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Dougherty
Produced by	Alex Garcia Jon Jashni Michael Dougherty Thomas Tull
Written by	Todd Casey Michael Dougherty Zach Shields
Starring	Adam Scott Toni Collette David Koechner Allison Tolman Conchata Ferrell Emjay Anthony Stefania LaVie Owen Krista Stadler
Music by	Douglas Pipes
Cinematography	Jules O'Loughlin
Edited by	John Axelrad
Production companies	Legendary Pictures Zam Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) (Los Angeles premiere) December 4, 2015 (2015-12-04) (United States)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$61.5 million

Krampus is a 2015 American Christmas horror comedy film based upon the eponymous character from Germanic folklore, directed by Michael Dougherty and 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 released in the United States on December 4, 2015, by Universal Pictures.

Plot

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 seeking 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 early been delivered suddenly begin shaking. The family runs to the attic and witnesses a large, snake-like jack-in-the-box monster devouring Jordan. The others are attacked by a group of monstrous toys, 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 run for the plow, Tom, Sarah and Linda are seemingly eaten by the snow creature and the elves take Stevie, leaving only Max left. 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, in which he has Stevie thrown into. Max apologizes to the demon for losing his Christmas spirit but Krampus drops the screaming Max into the pit.

Max suddenly 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 zooms out 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

Voices

• Gideon Emery as Krampus
• Seth Green as Lumpy
• Breehn Burns as Dumpy
• Justin Roiland as Clumpy

Production

The film is written and directed by Michael Dougherty, known for the 2007 cult hit Trick 'r Treat. It is co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields, and produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, and Alex Garcia of Legendary Pictures. On November 21, 2014, Allison Tolman and Emjay Anthony joined the cast. On March 3, 2015, Adam Scott, David Koechner, and Toni Collette joined the cast. Principal photography began on March 12, 2015. Creature effects were made by Weta Workshop.

Release

The film was originally scheduled a release date for November 25, 2015, but the release date was changed to December 4, 2015.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 26, 2016.

Merchandise

An original graphic novel titled Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas was released on November 25, 2015 by Legendary Entertainment. The comic is written by Brandon Seifert and features stories by writer/director Michael Dougherty and movie co-writers Zach Shields and Todd Casey. Art is provided by Fiona Staples, Michael Montenat, Stuart Sayger, Maan House and Christian DiBari.
Weta Workshop released a number of collectables through their online store, including statues (Krampus, The Cherub, The Dark Elf), a life-sized prop reproduction of the Krampus Bell and a collectable pin.
Trick or Treat Studios released three Halloween Masks directly out of the screen used masters. The masks include Krampus and two elves, Window Pepper and Sheep Cote Clod.

Reception

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, against a budget of $15 million.

In the United States and Canada, Krampus 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 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 response

Krampus received mixed to positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 66%, based on 93 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.

See also

• Krampus in North American popular culture
• List of comedy-horror films
• Holiday horror

External links

• Krampus at IMDb
• Krampus at Box Office Mojo
• Krampus at Rotten Tomatoes
• Krampus at Metacritic

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3850590/