Monster of the Day #1475

Updated on December 14, 2016 By Ken Begg 10 Comments

So much Krampus.

Pin It



Related Posts

  • Now here’s a better Krampus. The face has a great deal of personality, and there’s a little something about the makeup work i like that I can’t actually place into words. All that’s missing is the lolling tongue, but that’s understandable, as that’s something that’s not easy to keep from looking ridiculous

  • Eric Hinkle

    I wonder if any of these movies actually showed Krampus going after naughty children as in the legends, or if they all just turned it into a generic bloodthirsty monster?

  • Gamera977

    BTW which is the ‘good’ Krampus movie? I think Ken said it was simply called ‘Krampus’?

  • I think he’s referring to the Michael Dougherty one that came out last year. Damn fine flick.

  • Flangepart

    Those horns have got to be a pain in low ceiling restaurants.
    “Ow! Stupid lamps, I’ll eat the manager’s soul for that…well, I was gonna eat it anyway, but still…

  • The Rev.

    Is this the Krampus from that movie? Because whichever Krampus movie this is from, this is easily the best one I’ve seen this week, which means it will already have a point in its favor.

  • Marsden

    A Gene Simmons Christmas.

  • Yes! Exactly! I knew he reminded me of someone.

  • The Rev.

    Finally got back to my “Kramped Kristmas.”

    First, since they weren’t featured here (and for good damn reason), I’ll do quick notes on the other two things I watched before this.

    “A Krampus Christmas” is a 7-minute “animated” short. I put that in quotes because it looked like Colorforms being moved around via computer, except less realistic. Actually, everything about this was absolutely terrible. Do not even be curious because it’s seven minutes in hell. It was included with Amazon Prime and I still think I need some money back for watching it.

    Santa Krampus is a 26-minute short film (more like 20 after credits) that I had a feeling I might regret watching. Which I did. It is micro-budget level filmmaking, but also micro-talent. No one can act, the cinematography is bad, it keeps reusing shots and audio, there is no plot to speak of, and they didn’t even have the decency to identify the buxom lass in the bikini in the end credits. The only thing remotely amusing is the “transformation” scene, which is less realistic than that “Curse of the Werewolf” skit from “Saturday Night Live,” and features a guy in normal clothes (!) and a werewolf (!!) mask that is worse than one I had as a lad decades ago. The faces the guy pulls pre-“transformation” are much creepier than the mask, frankly. I was then shocked at what had to be the worst attack scene I have ever witnessed, as Krampus “strangles” his victims. Yes. Krampus. Strangles people. With so little enthusiasm that a toddler could’ve broken the hold. That’s all he does. If you really must see that part (and honestly it’s probably not worth it), it’s also free with Prime; fast forward to about 7 minutes in. You’ll also get to see the giant “joint” that is blatantly not lit. Oh yeah, it was great fun watching those two guys pretend to smoke it for the first six minutes. Horror host “Uncle Edward” and the guys from “Oliver’s Twisted Bargain Basement Midnight Movie Stoner Friendly Freak Show” ought to be ashamed to have had any part in this.

  • The Rev.

    All right, Krampus Unleashed. Turns out the writer and director is the same guy that did the Krampus movie with the crappy CGI Krampus. This, too, felt like a movie that they shoehorned the “Krampus” thing into a movie about a demon of some sort, although they did take a little more care in connecting it to the myth, however tenuously. It’s also a bit better overall, and of course Krampus is much more Krampus-y looking. The costume in-movie is slightly different from how it looks on the cover, and he doesn’t wear any clothes, but close enough. I actually like it better in the movie because instead of white eyes, they gave Krampus goat eyes, which is rather more disquieting. Props to Travis Amery, who portrays Krampus and is the most fun part of the movie. The acting is a bit stiff overall, but not terrible. The kids are no worse than the adults; heck, one’s a bit better than most of them. Amelia Brantley is probably the best overall. She’s also incredibly lovely, which is a bonus. The movie bears a distinct resemblance to Night of the Demon, in that we have people out in a remote area being torn apart by a big, hairy, humanoid monster. The gore’s not bad (save one ridiculous decapitation that appeared to have been “enhanced” with CGI), although Krampus does like his disembowelments. Pretty much no one is safe in this one, as we find out fairly quickly (the death that signaled this did catch me quite off guard, so fair play there). Oh, I had to rewind the ending to figure out what the hell was going on, only to find out it was kind of retarded, so be warned there. While it’s certainly nothing special, and I’m damning it with faint praise when I say it’s the second-best of the lot thus far, but I didn’t regret the couple of bucks it cost to rent it, so there you go.