Krampus

The movie left much to be desired. Within the first few minutes, a sense of irritation crept over me, only to be replaced by sheer boredom once the mindless herd was gone. It became clear that there was no one to root for, as each family member seemed either unlikable or left me indifferent. Any attempt at comedy felt like a feeble imitation of Griswold's Christmas, stripped of all its humor by the three(!!!) screenwriters. Horror was notably absent. In the end, it amounted to little more than a background for mundane household chores. / Lesson learned: Ben Affleck's knack for facial expressions could make him an excellent Krampus. (12/23/2023)

The story of the movie "Krampus: Get Lost" is perhaps a bit simple, but it is packed with quite an action-packed spectacle that can entertain you. It's something that won't scare you much, but it can captivate you as great fun. If you want to go to the movies for something that won't bore you, I think this is exactly the film you could watch. Plus, it also has that Christmas family spirit. (04/07/2016)

Krampus isn’t what I was dreaming of when the project was announced, but even the way it is, it’s not able to reach to the TOP. Which doesn’t mean that it is a bad movie. This time, Dougherty has done with Christmas the same he did a couple of years ago with Halloween, a nice and atmospheric horror comedy, where the humour, as well as the fear and the tension are effective in each of the sequences. But it’s just not completely outstanding in any way. If it’d stayed only with Krampus and his elves, it would have been better, IMHO. The living gifts are more or less cool, but the bloody living gingerbread men are already too much. And I was also surprised with how fast everything ends. In a only couple of minutes about half the characters are reduced in uninteresting ways, to the point that I felt as if the creators already wanted to get rid of them, but didn’t feel like writing another twenty minutes of script. 70% and I would love to see a gritty German Alpine prequel. (12/24/2015)

Christmas home invasion creature feature black comedy with an excellent snowy backdrop. Dougherty fuses German folklore and American genre traditions into a sufficiently entertaining mix in which children are devoured and the titular devil doesn't grow tiresome thanks to a late entry. Formal finesse, good actors and unobtrusive film references are sometimes enough to satisfy, especially at Christmas. 70 % (12/16/2022)

Right after watching the trailer, Krampus raised great expectations in me, but we all know that trailers are very much for effect, so you have to go to the cinema to see the film's qualities for yourself. I have to say that I got a very good Christmas movie with a memorable atmosphere, which in the end didn't really live up to the expectations raised by the trailer, but that didn't hurt at all. Krampus is definitely not your typical horror movie with lots of scares, ghosts and blood. It's more of a black comedy of sorts, leaving you feeling that Christmas can be anything but a "holiday of peace and quiet", as all the characters in the film find out the hard way. I was intrigued by the make-up effects and the portrayal of the monsters, including the terrifying creature from hell, and I liked the imaginative insertion of an animated insert that illuminated Krampus' story. As a Germanist, I also cheered with joy at the German (or Austrian, who knows) doll, who, next to the spirited auntie, was my favourite of all the characters. All in all, a solidly made Christmas horror comedy that will stay in my mind for a long time thanks to its strengths and not least thanks to the totally unexpected ending, which left me with a rather unpleasant feeling – what losing faith and hope (here on a fantastical and cruel scale) can actually do. (12/11/2015)