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. The casting call began from November 2014 to March 2015. Principal photography on the film began on March 12 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 and grossed over $61 million against a $15 million budget.[4][5]
Plot
Three days before Christmas, the Engel family (parents Tom and Sarah, daughter Beth, son Max, and Tom's mother Omi) prepare for the holidays. Despite his family's dysfunctionality, Max still believes in Santa Claus and writes him a letter. Sarah's side of the family comes for Christmas, including her sister Linda, Linda's husband Howard, their children Howie Jr., Stevie, Jordan, and baby Chrissie, their bulldog Rosie, and Sarah and Linda's cantankerous Aunt Dorothy.
Max wants to maintain family traditions, but tensions among his relatives sap their Christmas spirit. When his cousins mockingly read out his letter to Santa, Max lashes out, yelling that he hates both his family and his belief in Christmas. His father attempts to comfort him by telling him that even though the holidays are chaotic, he should always love his family. Although initially moved by his father's advice, still in a lasting fit of anger, Max tears up the letter and tosses it out the window; whereupon it is swept up into the sky.
Later 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 her.
When Beth does not return home, Tom and Howard search for her. They find her boyfriend's house in ruins with the chimney split open and large goat-like hoof prints. Tom narrowly saves Howard from an unseen monster in the snow. They return home, board up the windows, and Howard stands guard while everyone sleeps. As Howard eventually falls asleep, a large hook with a living gingerbread man attached lures Howie Jr. to the chimney. When he takes a bite, 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 demon-like being who punishes those who have lost the Christmas spirit. When Omi was a child, her family and community lost their spirit due to the hardships of the war in Europe. Omi eventually lost hope after constant abuse and wished for her parents (as well as everyone else around her) to be taken away, summoning Krampus. He and his helpers dragged everyone except her to the Underworld, leaving behind a bell-shaped bauble with his name on it. The family remains skeptical of the story until the house is overrun by menacing toys emerging from the presents. Jordan is devoured by the jack-in-the-box Der Klown. The family fends off the toys and gingerbread men, until Krampus's dark Christmas elves leap in through the window; taking Howard, Dorothy, and Chrissie.
Tom leads the rest of the family to an abandoned snowplow on the streets. Omi stays behind to face Krampus, who emerges from the fireplace and attacks her with his bag of toys. Outside, Tom, Sarah, and Linda are dragged under the snow by the snow monster while Stevie is captured by the dark elves.
Krampus confronts Max and gives him a bauble with his name on it, wrapped in pieces of his discarded letter. Realizing that he was responsible for Krampus's coming, Max chases after the demon-like being and confronts him at the edge of a fiery pit. Max begs for Stevie to be spared and offers himself up as a sacrifice. Krampus refuses and tosses Stevie into the pit. Max sincerely apologizes for losing his spirit; although Krampus seems to accept his apology and recognizes his truth, he still tosses Max in as well.
Max awakens in his bed on Christmas morning and upon discovering his family alive and well, concluding what happened was just a nightmare. However, as they find Krampus's bauble among the presents, the family exchanges troubled looks; recalling memories of the horrific events.
The house is shown through a magical surveillance snow globe, along with hundreds of others in a vast collection in Krampus's underworld lair for him to monitor and spy on for having spared them.[a]
Cast
Emjay Anthony[6] as Max Engel, a boy who loses the Christmas spirit due to his dysfunctional family's squabbling.
Curtis Vowell as a DHL Man who delivers stuff to the Engel family's house.
Luke Hawker as Krampus (in-suit performer), a dark ancient demonic figure from European folklore that dispenses vengeance and wrath on the naughty. He resembles a much darker representation of Santa Claus, appearing as a hunchbacked beast with goat-like horns, goat hooves, claws, and his true face concealed behind a bearded mask.
Mark Atkin as Ketkrókur, a dark Christmas elf in a devilish grin mask with fork and knife-resembling horns.
Amy Brighton as Þvörusleikir, a dark Christmas elf in a dark eagle mask.
Trevor Bau as Hurðaskellir, a dark Christmas elf in a goat-horned ogre mask.
Ravi Narayan as Kertasníkir, a dark Christmas elf in an excited boy mask.
Felicity Hamill as Gáttaþefur, a dark Christmas elf in a plague doctor mask.
Sophie Gannon as Bjúgnakrækir, a dark Christmas elf in a mask that resembles a man posing as an Indian woman.
Kelly Lily Marie as Giljagaur, a dark Christmas elf in a mask that resembles a man posing as an Indian woman that was later killed by the Snow Beast.
Clare Odell as Gluggagægir, a dark Christmas elf in a mask that resembles a smiling old woman.
Gareth Ruck as Stekkjarstaur, a dark Christmas elf in a horned demonic mask.
Pascal Ackerman, Skye Broberg, and Jessie Carson as the Yule Goats, three large skull-faced goats that pull Krampus' sleigh.
Ivy George as Perchta the Cherub, one of Krampus' killer toys.
Brett Beattie as Der Klown, a demonic Jack-in-the-box who is one of Krampus' killer toys.
Collin Dean as Ruprecht the Elf, a female dark Christmas elf wearing an Indian woman mask.
Production
Michael 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.[11] On November 21, 2014, Allison Tolman and Emjay Anthony joined the cast.[7] On March 3, 2015, Adam Scott, David Koechner, and Toni Collette joined the cast.[6]Principal photography began on March 12, 2015, and officially wrapped in May 2015.[12] Creature effects were made by Weta Workshop.[13] The score was composed by Douglas Pipes and released on a double LP by Waxwork Records in 2018.[14]
The film was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2015,[15] but was moved to December 4, 2015, to be closer to December 5, which is Krampusnacht.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on April 26, 2016, and was internationally released on the same formats in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2016. An unrated, extended version of the film referred to as Krampus: The Naughty Cut was released on December 7, 2021, by Shout! Factory in a 4K and Blu-ray combo pack. This release features new bonus content such as interviews, commentaries, and featurettes, and runs approximately four minutes longer than the original theatrical edition.[16]
Merchandise
An original graphic novel titled Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas was released on November 25, 2015, by Legendary Comics.[17] 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.[18]
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.[19]
The popular Halloween store Spirit Halloween released a Halloween animatronic based on the main character Krampus.[20]
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.[3]
In North America, Krampus earned $637,000 from its Thursday night showings, which began at 7 p.m.,[21] and topped the box office on its opening day with $6 million.[22] It rose 9.9% on Saturday over Friday, a rare occurrence for a horror film.[23] 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.[23][24] 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[25]). 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.[26]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 130 reviews with an average rating of 6.1/10. 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."[27] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[29]
↑ The prequel graphic novel Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas revealed that anyone spared by Krampus will be kept on surveillance by him through their respective snow globes in his underworld lair in the mountains of Central Europe to make sure they never lose their Christmas spirit again.
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