Krampus (film)

Krampus is a 2015 American horror comedy drama film based on the eponymous character from Austro-Bavarian folklore, written and directed by Michael Dougherty, and co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields. The film stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, Lolo Owen, Queenie Samuel, Maverick Flack, Sage Hunefeld, and Krista Stadler.

Krampus
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Dougherty
Produced by
Written by
  • Todd Casey
  • Michael Dougherty
  • Zach Shields
Based onKrampus from
Austro-Bavarian folklore
Starring
Music byDouglas Pipes
CinematographyJules O'Loughlin
Edited byJohn Axelrad
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) (Los Angeles premiere)
  • December 4, 2015 (2015-12-04) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[2]
Box office$61.5 million[2]

The concept for Krampus began in 2011, when Dougherty was planning to make a Christmas-themed horror film, with him and Shields writing the screenplay. Production on the film began in 2014, with Dougherty directing and writing a new screenplay with Shields and Casey. Casting call began from November 2014 to March 2015. Principal photography on the film began on March 12, 2015 and wrapped in May 2015. Creature effects were made by Weta Workshop.

Krampus was released in the United States on December 4, 2015 by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews, with many critics praising Scott and Collette's performances, the horror elements, and humor, with criticism for its tone and pacing. The film had grossed over $61 million, against a $15 million budget.[3][4]

Plot

Three days before Christmas, the prosperous but dysfunctional Engel family gathers for Christmas. Max Engel remains a firm believer in Santa Claus and intends to send him a letter. His family includes his teenage sister Beth and their parents Tom and Sarah; his Aunt Linda and Uncle Howard; their children, Howie Jr., Stevie, Jordan, and baby Chrissie; Sarah and Linda's cantankerous Aunt Dorothy; and Tom's mother Omi, who speaks mostly German.

Max wants to continue family traditions, but tension among his relatives saps their Christmas spirit. When his cousins read out his letter to Santa and mock him for still believing, he fights with them and yells out that he hates his family and even Christmas. His father comforts him by telling him that even though there is chaos during the holidays, he should always love his family and he gives him his letter to Santa. In a fit of anger, Max tears up the letter and throws it to the wind outside and it's swept up into the sky. That night, a severe blizzard engulfs the town, causing a power outage. When Beth ventures out to check on her boyfriend, a large, horned creature chases her. She hides beneath a delivery truck, but the creature leaves a jack-in-the-box which attacks and captures her.

Tom and Howard leave to search for Beth. They find her boyfriend's house in ruins with the chimney split open and large goat-like hoof prints in the house. Outside, the two are attacked by an unseen monster under the snow. They return home and board up the windows. Later, a large hook with a living gingerbread man attached lures Howie Jr. to the chimney and he is dragged up the chimney despite the family's efforts to save him.

Omi explains that the creature hunting them is Krampus, an ancient demonic spirit who punishes those who have lost the Christmas spirit. Omi recounts that when she was a child, her parents and community lost their spirit due to the hardships of the war in Europe, as did she, which summoned Krampus. He dragged everyone except her to Hell, leaving behind a bell bauble with his name on it. The family remains skeptical until monstrous toys, hidden in presents delivered earlier, invade the house. Stevie and Jordan are lured to the attic by Beth's voice; Jordan is swallowed by Der Klown, the jack-in-the-box from before. The family fends off the toys, but Krampus' elves leap in through a window, taking Dorothy, Howard, and Chrissie.

Tom decides that the family should flee to an abandoned snowplow on the streets outside. Omi sacrifices herself to distract Krampus, who emerges from the fireplace and attacks her with his bag of toys. Outside, Tom, Sarah, and Linda are dragged under the snow while Stevie is captured by the elves. Krampus confronts Max and gives him a bell bauble wrapped in a piece of his discarded letter. Max honestly apologizes for losing his spirit, and although Krampus seems to accept his apology, he still tosses Max into Hell.

Max awakens in his house on Christmas morning. Discovering his family alive and well downstairs, he thinks that what happened was just a nightmare. However, when he unwraps a present to reveal Krampus' bauble, the family realizes the horrors of Christmas Eve indeed occurred. The camera pans out to show the family and their house is in a snow globe in Krampus' workshop, surrounded by other similar snow globes.[lower-alpha 1]

Cast

Voices

Production

Development

Dougherty had "always wanted to do a scary Christmas movie", but the idea did not take form until his friends sent him an e-card featuring the Krampus creature which was, according to him "just love at first sight." Although this, according to Dougherty, happened in "the ancient times of the internet" the project would not be fleshed out until 2011, at which point he would team up with Zach Shields and Todd Casey to figure out the story.[10]

Casting

On November 21, 2014, Allison Tolman and Emjay Anthony joined the cast.[6] On March 3, 2015, Adam Scott, David Koechner, and Toni Collette joined the cast.[5]

Filming

Principal photography began on March 12, 2015 and officially wrapped in May 2015.[11]

Visual effects

Creature effects were made by Weta Workshop.[12]

Music

The score was composed by Douglas Pipes and released on a double LP by Waxwork Records in 2018.[13]

Release
(L-R) Moderator Chris Hardwick, director Michael Dougherty, and cast members Toni Collette and Adam Scott at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film.

The film was originally scheduled a release date for November 25, 2015,[14] but was moved to December 4, 2015.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 26, 2016, and was internationally released on the same format in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2016.

Merchandise

An original graphic novel titled Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas was released on November 25, 2015 by Legendary Entertainment.[15] 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.[16]

Trick or Treat Studios released three Halloween Masks directly out of the screen used masters. The masks include Krampus and two elves, Window Peeper and Sheep Cote Clod.[17]

The popular Halloween store Spirit Halloween will release a Halloween animatronic based on the main character Krampus.[18]

Reception

Box office

Krampus grossed $42.7 million in the United States and Canada and $18.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $61.5 million, against a budget of $15 million.[2]

In North America, Krampus earned $637,000 from its Thursday night showings, which began at 7 p.m.,[19] and topped the box office on its opening day with $6 million.[20] It rose 9.9% on Saturday over Friday, a rare occurrence for a horror film.[21] 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.[21][22] 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-themed horror film opened was in 2006 with Black Christmas[23]). 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.[24]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 6.07/10. The website'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."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed to average reviews".[26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[27]

The horror blog, A Boos/Booze Situation heavily praised the film for its twist on Christmas themes, acting, and practical effects, stating: "I will defend this movie with my Sword of Stubborness until I die, surrounded by haters trying to dismantle my praise."

See also

Notes
  1. The prequel graphic novel Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas revealed that anyone spared by Krampus will be kept on surveillance by him through their respectful snow globe in his workshop.

References
  1. "KRAMPUS (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. "Krampus (2015)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  3. Barton, Steve (October 30, 2014). "Legendary's Krampus Coming December 2015". Dread Central. Dread Central Media. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  4. Ford, Rebecca (October 30, 2014). "Legendary and Universal's 'Krampus' Avoids Showdown with Seth Rogen Christmas Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  5. Kit, Borys (March 3, 2015). "Adam Scott, Toni Collette Join Christmas Horror Movie 'Krampus' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  6. Henne, B.G. (November 21, 2014). "Allison Tolman joins Yuletide horror-comedy Krampus". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  7. Sneider, Jeff (March 3, 2015). "Adam Scott, David Koechner Join Legendary's Horror Comedy 'Krampus' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  8. "Krampus (2015)". IMDb. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  9. "Krampus (2015)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  10. Kaye, Don (December 8, 2015). "Krampus Director Talks His Scary Christmas Movie". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  11. Evry, Max (March 12, 2015). "Legendary Begins Principal Photography on Horror Comedy Krampus". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  12. "Krampus". Weta Workshop. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  13. Weiss, Josh (23 November 2018). "WAXWORK RECORDS GETS FESTIVE WITH VINYL RELEASES OF KRAMPUS AND WARRIORS SOUNDTRACKS". SyFy Wire. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  14. McClintock, Pamela (August 19, 2014). "Legendary and Universal's 'Krampus,' 'Spectral' Nab Release Dates". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  15. "Trick 'r Treat, Krampus – Graphic Novel Announcement". Legendary Entertainment. March 19, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  16. "Krampus Items". Weta Workshop. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  17. "Krampus / Licensed Designs".
  18. "7.5 Ft Krampus Animatronic - Decorations".
  19. Ford, Rebecca (December 4, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Creeps to $637K Thursday Night". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  20. McClintock, Pamela (December 5, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Narrowly Wins Friday With $6M; Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' Opens at No. 13". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  21. D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 7, 2015). "'Krampus' Rises During Ho-Ho-Hum Holiday Frame – Monday Final Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  22. McClintock, Pamela (December 5, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Beats 'Good Dinosaur' With $16M; 'Hunger Games' Stays No. 1". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  23. Mendelson, Scott (December 5, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Tops Friday With $6M, Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' On Track For $1.1M Debut". Forbes. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  24. Mendelson, Scott (December 6, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Scares Up A Christmas Miracle With $16M Weekend". Forbes. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  25. "Krampus (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  26. "Krampus Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  27. D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 7, 2015). "Katniss, 'Krampus', 'Creed' & 'Good Dinosaur' Keep Post Holiday Frame From Singing The Blues At The B.O." Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
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