Krampus

KRAMPUS

Director : Michael Dougherty

Year : 2015

Genre : Horror comedy

Krampus : ***1/2

Pitched somewhere between 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' and 'Gremlins', 'Krampus' is a delightfully dark and daft horror comedy that serves as the perfect antidote to the sickeningly sweet festive fare that has begun to stink out cinemas this December. Featuring an all star cast including Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner and Allison Tolman, 'Krampus' tells the story of a young boy's wish for a perfect Christmas which inadvertently summons the arrival of the titular goat-legged demon. What ensues is a hair-raising and sometimes hilarious shocker which pits the incredibly dysfunctional and dislikable family against the seemingly unstoppable forces of the horned one and his many evil minions which include killer gingerbread men, psychotic teddy bears and a horrifying clown puppet with the mouth of Predator. 

Directed with penache and verve by 'Trick 'r Treat' creator Michael Dougherty, 'Krampus' crams in a sackful of laughs throughout it's brisk running time and all the cast, young and old, give their individual characters a healthy dose of hateable bite. However, it is also a solidly nasty little romp with more than its fair share of hard-earned scares and nail-biting tension. All in all, 'Krampus' is a fiercely fun frightener that may lack a particularly strong narrative or three-dimensional characters but bears all of the trademarks of the next Christmas cult classic.