Krampus deserves its place in the holiday horror pantheon among Gremlins and Silent Night, Deadly Night

Even though Krampus is a fairly recent film, I feel like it's all but vanished out of horror movie conversation since it made headlines back in 2015 for being a sleeper hit during its initial theatrical release.

Gremlins is undoubtedly the superior film here (and by my own admission, one of my favorite films ever made, so I'm biased as shit on this); but in terms of laugh-to-scare ratio, and impressively retro physical FX, I find myself wanting to give Krampus the edge for holiday horror visual supremacy. Don't get me wrong, the Gremlins' look and Gizmo's look are both timeless classics, but I can't help but feel it achieved this status on our nostalgia alone. In the modern day, when CGI is the norm and the art of practical FX is all but forgotten, Krampus bucks the norm and proves the traditional style of puppeteering, creature design, and make-up can still succeed in today's cinematic climate. Plus, Weta Workshop nailed all the different creature looks in the movie (the toys, the elves, Krampus himself) -- something the Gremlins FX team faltered on a bit when they attempted to branch out from the "normal" Gremlins look, in favor of all the wacky, "specialty" Gremlins in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (which are cool, but nowhere near as impressive as the first movie's creature FX; yes, I know, Key and Peele sketch, etc).

Since it hit Blu-Ray, I've made it a point to rewatch Krampus during the holidays -- the same way I do Michael Dougherty's other holiday horror masterpiece, Trick 'r Treat, during every Halloween. The movie is quickly becoming one of my favorite horror/comedies ever made.

If you haven't watched it since its initial run, give it a shot. 'Tis the season.

Submitted November 30, 2017 at 03:21AM by The_Goddamn_Grimace http://ift.tt/2AmqWll