There are sooooooo many films with 'Krampus' in the title, that it's easy to read a review for one somewhere, thinking it's for this.

This is by far, the best 'Krampus' movie out there...and it stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Better budget, better actors/acting, better cinematography, better sound, better CGI etc.

All the others have this movie's poster on their bedroom walls!

Every Christmas, a bunch of treacly movies get released, ostensibly to get people in the spirit but actually to make money. That's why Michael Dougherty's "Krampus" is so fun. In addition to trashing the overly sugary Christmas movies, it also pokes fun at consumerism. The opening scene shows a bunch of people pouring into a supermarket to grab the latest whatever. Black Friday has to be one of the more ironic days of the year: on Thanksgiving people give thanks for what they have, and the very next day they scramble all over each other for the newest products.

But then the main part of the story begins. It's a typical family gathering where people end up angry at each other (another look at the Christmas season's fake niceness). And then, the boy denounces Christmas, releasing the title character. Krampus is the horrific character, but his elves are more like pranksters (and the animated toys bring to mind "Gremlins"). I suspect that this is one movie that they had fun filming.

I had heard of Krampus before watching this. I recall that an episode of "Grimm" featured him as the main antagonist (or Wesen, as the show calls them). Austria and the surrounding areas have a Krampuslauf (Krampus run) around Christmas. No doubt they want to remind tykes to be good or else.

Basically, this is a movie that you're bound to enjoy. I think that every Christmas party should show this movie, along with "Gremlins" and "The Ref" (about a cat burglar who kidnaps an obnoxious suburban couple; like this movie, it features a family get-together that goes sour). Have a merry, scary Christmas!

KRAMPUS is a high-spirited Christmas horror tale that's a lot more fun than most Christmas-themed horrors which seem to go down the predictable 'killer Santa Claus' route. This one has some of the style and verve of the fine Halloween anthology TRICK 'R TREAT, and, although not as good as that movie, it tends to be better than average overall. The small-scale story is a little like POLTERGEIST and GREMLINS and involves a festive family gathering which is invaded by a series of crazy monsters brought to life by the spirit of German folklore. The family members end up getting munched and attacked by sentient toys and Christmas decorations, and if it's all a little safe and PG-13, there's enough high-spirited mayhem and decent FX work to let you forget the simplicity and occasional silliness of the story.