Krampus: The Reckoning

Dir: Robert Conway

2015

*

Christmas films are awful but it used to be that at least Christmas horror films were generally a jolly alternative. The Christmas film industry has blown up recently and so has the Christmas horror film - really not surprising as many of the people who make one also make the other. Robert Conway however seems to be horror all the way and although I hated nearly every minute of Krampus: The Reckoning, it did have a pretty strong story with an impressive conclusion. Unfortunately the acting and low budget have let it down, and when I mean let it down I mean the film really shouldn't have been made at all. Krampus is the new thing in horror, there are plenty of cinephiles, horror fans and suckers like me who will see a great film poster, usually with a demon with a Santa hat on it, and will think 'yes, I will watch this instead of Die Hard this year' but will regret it very soon after. The truth is that there still hasn't been a truly great Krampus film, he's come close to greatness (A Christmas Horror Story and Krampus) but ultimately he is a bit of a one trick pony, while Evil Santas have far more mileage to them. The conclusion to Krampus: The Reckoning is awesome but it is certainly made even more impressive given that you have to sit through what seems like hours of awfulness. Krampus himself, when he eventually turns up, is a very different looking version to what I have seen before in that he looks a poorly constructed CGI Skeleton with horns and not in the least bit frightening. I'm not sure it is even Christmas in the film, I can only imagine Krampus, unlike Santa, works overtime. I hope he got time and a half. I'm not entirely sure whether a bigger budget would have improved the film in all honesty, it has a nice little twist to it (and there are worse Krampus films out there) but it isn't enough to make this film any less awful than it is. You'll yearn for a killer Easter Bunny horror within the first two minutes.