Krampus (film)

This article is about the film. For the folklore figure, see Krampus. For the stage musical, see Krampus (musical).
Krampus

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Dougherty
Produced by
Written by
  • Todd Casey
  • Michael Dougherty
  • Zach Shields
Based on Krampus (Germanic folklore)
Starring
Music by Douglas Pipes
Cinematography Jules O'Loughlin
Edited by John Axelrad
Production
companies
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[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million[2]
Box office $61.5 million[2]

Krampus is a 2015 American Christmas comedy horror 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.[3][4]

Plot

Three days before Christmas, 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 German-speaking mother, Omi (Krista Stadler).

Max wants to continue the family's Christmas traditions, but tensions between 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 after his cousins read it out at the dinner table. 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. On her way, a strange horned creature chases her on rooftops. She hides under a stalled delivery truck, which the creature proceeds to walk around before leaving behind a jack-in-the-box. An unseen monster comes out of the box and attacks Beth.

After a period of apparently being alone with no power, Tom and Howard go out searching 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. When they return outside,Howard is attacked by a creature hiding beneath the snow, but is saved by Tom, who shoots it. 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 lowered down the chimney with a gingerbread man, chains up and drags Howie Jr. up the chimney. The family wakes up, but is unable to save Howie.

Omi reveals to the family what is happening; they are being tormented by Krampus, an ancient demonic spirit that punishes those who lose their Christmas spirit, 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 earlier been delivered suddenly begins shaking. The family runs to the attic and witnesses der Klown, a demonic jack-in-the-box monster, swallowing Jordan whole. The others are attacked by a group of monstrous toys and three evil gingerbread men, Lumpy, Dumpy, and Clumpy, but fend them off and regroup downstairs. As they are about to shoot der Klown, they are attacked by Krampus's elves, who abduct Dorothy, Howard, and the baby before suddenly leaving again. 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 runs for the plow, Tom, Sarah and Linda are seemingly eaten by the snow creature and the elves take Stevie, leaving only Max. 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 finds Krampus and his elves loading his sleigh, and 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, into which he has thrown Stevie. Max apologizes to the demon for losing his Christmas spirit, explaining that all he wanted was for Christmas to be like it used to be. Krampus accepts his apology, but throws the screaming Max into the pit anyway.

Max 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 pulls back to reveal that their house is being watched by Krampus through a snow globe on a shelf in Krampus' lair, along with many others, while his helpers jumpscare the audience and end the film.

Cast

Voices

Production

The film is written and directed by Michael Dougherty, known for the 2007 cult hit Trick 'r Treat.[3] It is co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields, and produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, and Alex Garcia of Legendary Pictures.[4] 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] Principal photography began on March 12, 2015.[10] Creature effects were made by Weta Workshop.[11]

Release

The film was originally scheduled a release date for November 25, 2015,[12] but was moved from November 25, 2015, to December 4, 2015.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 26, 2016, and will internationally release on the same format in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2016, the near-anniversary of the film's original release (December 4, 2016 is a Sunday).

Merchandise

An original graphic novel titled Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas was released on November 25, 2015 by Legendary Entertainment.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15]

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.[2]

In the United States and Canada, Krampus earned $637,000 from its Thursday night showings, which began at 7 p.m.,[16] and topped the box office on its opening day with $6 million.[17] It rose 9.9% on Saturday over Friday, a rare occurrence for a horror movie.[18] 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.[18][19] 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[20]). 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.[21]

Critical response

Krampus received mixed to positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 65%, based on 97 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."[22] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed to average reviews".[23] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "KRAMPUS (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Krampus (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Barton, Steve (October 30, 2014). "Legendary's Krampus Coming December 2015". DreadCentral.com. Dread Central Media, LLC.
  4. 1 2 Ford, Rebecca (October 30, 2014). "Legendary and Universal's 'Krampus' Avoids Showdown with Seth Rogen Christmas Movie". Hollywood Reporter.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Adam Scott, Toni Collette Join Christmas Horror Movie 'Krampus' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  6. 1 2 B.G. Henne (2014-11-21). "Allison Tolman joins Yuletide horror-comedy Krampus · Newswire · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  7. ↑ Jeff Sneider (2015-03-03). "Adam Scott, David Koechner Join Legendary's Horror Comedy 'Krampus' (Exclusive)". Thewrap.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  8. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3850590/
  9. 1 2 3 "Krampus (2015) Financial Information". Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  10. ↑ Evry, Max (March 12, 2015). "Legendary Begins Principal Photography on Horror Comedy Krampus". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Weta Workshop Projects - Krampus". Weta Workshop. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  12. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (August 19, 2014). "Legendary and Universal's 'Krampus,' 'Spectral' Nab Release Dates". Hollywood Reporter.
  13. ↑ "Trick 'r Treat, Krampus – Graphic Novel Announcement". Legendary Entertainment. March 19, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Weta Workshop Krampus items". Weta Workshop. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Krampus – Halloween Masks". Trick or Treat Studios. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  16. ↑ Rebecca Ford (December 4, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Creeps to $637K Thursday Night". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  17. ↑ Pamela McClintock (December 5, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Narrowly Wins Friday With $6M; Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' Opens at No. 13". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  18. 1 2 Anthony D'Alessandro (December 7, 2015). "'Krampus' Rises During Ho-Ho-Hum Holiday Frame – Monday Final Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  19. ↑ Pamela McClintock (December 5, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Beats 'Good Dinosaur' With $16M; 'Hunger Games' Stays No. 1". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  20. ↑ Scott Mendelson (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.
  21. ↑ Scott Mendelson (December 6, 2015). "Box Office: 'Krampus' Scares Up A Christmas Miracle With $16M Weekend". Forbes. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Krampus reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Krampus reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Katniss, 'Krampus', 'Creed' & 'Good Dinosaur' Keep Post Holiday Frame From Singing The Blues At The B.O.". deadline.com.

External links

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