DVD Movie Review #195 A Christmas Horror Story

Hello all to the Third Installment of our Krampus run of holiday cheer. Out of the films on this list this is the one I most wanted to see as it appeared to be good and CoolDuder gave his thumbs up to it. I didn't have super high expectations but had hopes for a lovely expression of kamp that would make me laugh through the holiday season. After a well placed order I have this Krampus film in hand and am ready once again to review my heart out :p

We start out yet again before Christmas to the dulcet tones of William Shatner on the radio. We cover four interesting storylines during this holiday season. First we have our nice loving family visiting a rich relative for love during this Chistmas. Second we see two parents trying to reconnect and both noticing something strange is going on with their child. Third a group of college students is investigating a murder that had occurred one year ago that was never fully solved. Finally we are with Santa in his workshop and we find that the elves are infected with some kind of evil Zombie virus. To tie them all together we have Krampus working his Christmas magic. 

So one of the things I like about this is that it is far more than what it seemed at first. This does not try to be Kampy like my previous entry it actually works well as a horror tale much in the vein of Trick r' Treat. I love how the story intersect with one another and it builds suspense throughout the feature. For being what it is the effects are very viable and are nothing to laugh at. The acting is done fairly well, though not perfect by any measure. Of course my favorite moment is the fight between Krampus and Santa Clause which since seeing the cover I had been eager for. Plot wise the ending is also something worth writing home about. Of course the Carol of the Bells adaptation is a fun take on the musical end which like "Krampus" makes a point to punctuate the various movie scenes and scares (though not as good as "Krampus"). Finally the twist ending left me feeling good about this in the end even if it was a tad confusing. I would say this is a good movie overall. 

This movie has a few detractors for me. Though I like the scary feel there are parts of this movie that drag from time to time. It is odd that the story about the teens investigating a possibly haunted building could be a tad boring. The ending, while a good point is also a tad confusing as it does make since with the hints dropped throughout I don't feel it connects as well to the other tales. This is really the biggest shortcoming overall from this that makes Trick r' Treat a better film and that is that the stories don't connect as well. 

Lastly to close I will say that this film was a pleasant surprise in what I expected to be "Krampus Light". I hope that this Krampus viewing only continues to improve upon my expectations, though I am doubting it :) 

Rating: 7/10