Roar! Yes, that’s how I’m choosing to start my review of Krampus Unleashed; mostly due to the fact that I don’t know where to begin. I get it: we like horror films for every holiday and occasion and Christmas is no better. While I’m more in favor of Santa slashers like Silent Night, Deadly Night and All Through the House, Universal’s Krampus was a big hit in 2015. It opened as the #2 movie during its opening week in theaters and grossed 2x its original budget by the time it vacated cinemas. People love Krampus – I know this, you know this. This love, propelled by financial gain, means that filmmakers are going to try to cash in on the craze. Let me introduce you to Robert Conway’s Krampus Unleashed.
Let me be clear that Krampus Unleashed is more than just “another Krampus movie.” During my viewing I distinctly remember thinking that this film is a mix of 80’s monster movies and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It was bizarre and funny and independent and I loved it. It all starts a century ago when treasure hunters discover a cursed loot currently housing the mythical beast. After massacring the hunters, Krampus returns to his eternal slumber until he’s accidentally awakened during the present day. Up in the mountains with not a lot of opportunity to quench his thirst for blood, Krampus attacks the first couple he finds, though the woman is able to escape. With the monster hot on her trail, she stumbles upon a family in the middle of their holiday celebration and begs them for help, ultimately bringing them into her fight for life. This Christmas is going to be bloody.
From start to finish, including the “Final Fantasy” style opening sequence, I thoroughly enjoyed Krampus Unleashed, though I do think it will struggle to find the right audience. I think you’re really going to need to be a fan of Krampus and truly understand independent cinema and the hard work that goes into it. If you can grasp that, then Krampus Unleashed becomes a throwback monster movie of sorts. Characters are basically established only as canon fodder to make sure the viewer gets extra gifts of gore wrapped in entrails and broken bones. While the film isn’t going to break any new ground, I have to applaud the effort put into making this a worthwhile stream or purchase. I mean, it has a ton of location changes, a ton of special effects, there’s a bunch of gun fights, and there’s even a car wreck scene and an explosion! I can tell a lot of love and dedication was put into this by the cast and crew, which makes me happy that it was picked up for distribution by Uncork’d Entertainment. This deserves to be seen for its high production content in an independent world. Just great filmmaking and risks that paid off.
Everything is better than I expected, actually. The camera work and quality was much higher than I anticipated. The gore effects were simple and sometimes partially cut aways, but I’d much rather practical effects that work well over shiny CGI gore. And the costume… The Krampus costume here was so great. I’m so happy that it was a full body, movable, walkable costume instead of strategically placed pieces of prosthetic and CGI. Whoever made that costume is bomb and deserves a lot of credit for making it a piece that so closely resembles the promo poster pictured above. My only critique is to be aware of the atmosphere and mood, which was never really established here. With good acting, humor and sarcasm (if you’re dark like me), and a surprise ending, Krampus Unleashed is the bloody Christmas gift you want under your tree this year. It stacks up nicely against some of the other films who use the monster and that is worth the price of purchase. Final Score: 7 out of 10.
Based on the screenplay by Robert Conway, Krampus Unleashed stars Amelia Brantley, Bryson Holl, Caroline Lassetter, Taylor Bucks, and Tim Sauer with Emily Lynne Aiken, Daniel Link, Tori Osborn and Michael Harrelson.
