Krampus (2015)

A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a festive demon to his family home.

Director:

Michael Dougherty

Writers:

Todd Casey, Michael Dougherty

Stars:

Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner

4 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emjay Anthony	...	Max
Adam Scott	...	Tom
Toni Collette	...	Sarah
Stefania LaVie Owen	...	Beth
Krista Stadler	...	Omi
Conchata Ferrell	...	Aunt Dorothy
Allison Tolman	...	Linda
David Koechner	...	Howard
Maverick Flack	...	Howie, Jr
Queenie Samuel	...	Jordan
Lolo Owen	...	Stevie
Sage Hunefeld	...	Baby Chrissy
Leith Towers	...	Derek
Curtis Vowell	...	DHL Man
Luke Hawker	...	Krampus

Storyline

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family's home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

krampus | christmas | christmas horror | holiday | child in peril | 

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Taglines:

He sees you when you're sleeping.He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good. So be good for goodness's sake.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence/terror, language and some drug material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

4 December 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Krampus: El terror de la Navidad

Filming Locations:

Stone Street Studios, Stone Street, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,293,325, 6 December 2015, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$42,592,530, 10 January 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$61,788,393, 31 December 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Legendary Entertainment, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 Datasat Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Understandably, with the controversy that surrounded other Christmas horror movies like Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and Black Christmas (1974), Krampus (2015) was a hard story to sell. It wasn't until Legendary Pictures agreed to a PG-13 rating that Universal green lit the movie.

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Goofs

While out searching for Beth, Tom helps out Howard by shooting the thing that attacks Howard 3 times with his sixshooter. Back in the house, Tom asks Howard about ammo. All Howard has left are shotgun shells. Later on, Tom uses the sixshooter again and fires 6 times. As there was no additional ammo left for this gun, he could have only fired 3 more times.

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Quotes

Howard: You're not thinking of going after that snowplow alone, are you?
Tom: Shepherd's gotta protect his flock.

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Crazy Credits

A vast number of photos and Christmas cards can be seen together with the end credits.

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Connections

Featured in Dead Meat: Krampus (2015) (2017)

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Soundtracks

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie
Performed by Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
Courtesy of Geffen Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

The next horror cult classic

Honestly Universal should be paying me for the amount of hype i've created for this film among my friends and their friends. I was without a doubt super excited for Krampus for two reasons. Firstly it's a horror film that isn't from Blumhouse, honestly with every horror film these days being "from the producers of Paranormal activity, Insidious and The Purge" I was starting to think Jason Blum made a pact with the devil to produce all mainstream horror films. Secondly this was the kind of film I hadn't seen in ages, something along the lines of Gremlins but more horror focused was what I've been wanting for a long time. So after seeing Krampus I was not disappointed at all. Was it a horror masterpiece on par with The Exorcist? No it wasn't but thats not at all what I wanted. I wanted a fun imaginative horror film and one that finally does justice to the long overlooked legend of Krampus. The idea of a Christmas horror film is nothing new but all the well known ones (Black Christmas, Silent Night Deadly Night) are always slasher films with human villains when Christmas had it's own traditional villain with Krampus why has it taken so long to bring him to the big screen?

But anyway Krampus is unlike any film i've really seen before it's both lighthearted and funny but also surprisingly horrifying. I mean it when I say there's some nightmare fuel in this film even if i didn't find it that scary It is still in my opinion a legitimate horror. The Visit proved to me that horror and comedy can mix well. When a horror film is 100% serious thats OK as long as it's warranted. When a horror film takes itself too seriously though it can make it a boring watch. A great comparison is A Nightmare On Elm Street from 1984 and it's remake in 2010 the remake was largely panned because it was too serious while dealing with some ridiculous subject matter whereas the original made it into some morbid humour which worked much better. Krampus does the same although it is obviously more of a comedy than Elm Street.

Krampus himself looks fantastic being made entirely of practical effects and carries a great presence in may opinion he is a classic horror villain in the making. Of course he isn't alone and is accompanied by demonic toys and wicked elves who's sadistic and playful nature makes for some truly horrifying visuals. Oddly enough though this is still a Christmas movie and does manage to bring me those warm holiday feelings. I think this film in it's own right will hold a special place in my heart as a holiday movie with a wickedly twisted side that I just loved so much.

In conclusion Krampus won't win Oscars but I think if you go in wanting to have fun and experience some scares along the way you'll be more than satisfied. Krampus is one hell of a Christmas gift.