- “You Better Watch Out”
- ―Tagline
Krampus is a 2015 Christmas comedy horror film based on the eponymous character from Austro-Bavarian folklore, directed by Michael Dougherty, who co-wrote with Todd Casey and Zach Shields. The film stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, with Krista Stadler, and introducing Lolo Owen, Queenie Samuel, Maverick Flack, and Sage Hunefeld. In the film, a dysfunctional family squabbling causes a young boy to lose his festive spirit. Doing so unleashes the wrath of Krampus, a fearsome, horned demonic beast in ancient European folklore who punishes naughty children at Christmas time. As Krampus lays siege to the neighborhood, the family must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate.
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 theatrically released in the Philippines on December 2, 2015, by Columbia Pictures, and 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.
Pilot[]
Three days before Christmas, the Engel family (parents Tom and Sarah, daughter Beth, son Max, and Tom’s German-speaking mother, whom the family call Omi) prepare for the holidays. Max, despite his family’s dysfunctionality, remains a firm believer in Santa Claus and writes him a letter. Sarah's side of the family come 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 Christmas. His father attempts to comfort him by telling him that even though the holidays are chaotic, he should always love his family and gives him back his letter to Santa. In a fit of anger, Max tears up the letter and tosses it out the window, whereupon it is swept up into the sky.
Omi explains that the creature hunting them is Krampus, an ancient demon who punishes those who have lost the Christmas spirit. Omi recounts that when she was a child, her parents and community lost their spirit due to the hardship of the wars in europe. Omi also lost hope and wished for her parents to be taken away, summoning Krampus. He and his helpers dragged everyone except her to hell, leaving behind a bell-shaped Christmas Ornament, with his name on it. The family remains skeptical until menacing toys, hidden in presents delivered earlier, overrun the house. Jordan is devoured by the jack-in-the-box Der Klown. The family fends off the toys and gingerbread men, until Krampus's dark elves leap in through the window, taking Howard, Dorothy, and Chrissie.