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2015's Krampus is this generation's Gremlins

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Jackpot said:
They remember and the events happened but were reset to just before it, but that still falls well under the "it's all a dream" concept. It's a big fat reset button. A get out of jail free card without having to resolve anything. Disputing it is arguing over semantics, like saying "it was all a simulation" doesn't fall under the it's a dream concept.
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How are demon death threats (that he will make good on if prompted) or being stuck in Christmas Hell forever after you've all been killed getting off easy? At best they're scarred for life.

If I was aware that there was a demon goat man wearing someone's face watching me at all times I'd be paranoid for the rest of my life.
 
Were any of you able to check out the Krampus maze at Halloween Horror Nights in October? I got the chance to check it out a few times and it's pretty accurate to the movie. The rooms of the maze basically follow the film's plot. Overall I liked it.
 
In terms of quality and the type of movie it is, most definitely. In terms of public perception? Never in a million years. Gremlins was a huge hit with merchandising tie-ins and toys and shit. Krampus barely was talked about when it came out.
 
I've heard some debate on whether krampus is wearing a mask or not in the movie. I kind of like the idea that he is and that we never actually see his real face
 
Colors said:
I've heard some debate on whether krampus is wearing a mask or not in the movie. I kind of like the idea that he is and that we never actually see his real face
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Fury451 said:
I think it's a mask personally.
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There's a special features thing on building the costume where they mention that it's a mask/someone's face. Based on the eyes and the horns and hooves I'm assuming he still has a goat face under there but the specifics are left to the imagination.
 
Colors said:
I've heard some debate on whether krampus is wearing a mask or not in the movie. I kind of like the idea that he is and that we never actually see his real face
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Hmm.. Never got that impression honestly, but if you look at it that way that's kinda fucked up. And makes sense considering
his mouth is always open which gave me a kinda "this is fake" feeling. It felt kinda low budget and out of place, but if you think of the face as a mask it actually makes sense
.

Not even sure why I'm spoiler tagging this, haha.
 
Can't watch this with the fam during Christmas break because of the foul language. Kinda wish I can get my hands on an edited version.
 
I watched it last night. Gremlins is something I will likely watch many times for the reminder of my life. While Krampus was enjoyable, I don't think Krampus will be looked back as fondly as Gremlins.
 
Yeah the ending was a little weak for me but I had a blast with this in theatres. Probably due for a rewatch.

I only saw Gremlins for the first time a couple weeks ago. Similar to Krampus in having a pretty long quiet period at the start before going balls-to-the-wall with the violence.
 
Brakke said:
Yeah the ending was a little weak for me but I had a blast with this in theatres. Probably due for a rewatch.

I only saw Gremlins for the first time a couple weeks ago. Similar to Krampus in having a pretty long quiet period at the start before going balls-to-the-wall with the violence.
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I thought the ending was awesome and the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a movie like this.

You think it'll get a happy ending with everyone just accepting each other and all the cliche bullshit, but nope Krampus threw them all in a perpetual Christmas limbo, worst part being that they actually realise that they're in limbo. That was brutal. That kid killed his entire family and threw them in neverending hell.
 
I think the film takes a good minute to find it's groove, the early scenes feature alot of awkward forced dialogue that's not as funny as it thinks it is. However, it's all good after that. Awesome effects, great creatures as well. It is definitely the best film of its type since Gremlins.
 
SJRB said:
I thought the ending was awesome and the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a movie like this.

You think it'll get a happy ending with everyone just accepting each other and all the cliche bullshit, but nope Krampus threw them all in a perpetual Christmas limbo, worst part being that they actually realise that they're in limbo. That was brutal. That kid killed his entire family and threw them in neverending hell.
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It wasn't the kids fault. They were all shitty people except for him. They ruined him by being so awful.
 
I don't know how you can interpret the ending as
it was just a dream and Krampus is watching them. They were clearly in hell in a snow globe. If he was watching them from a crystal ball like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz, maybe you would have a point, but he clearly puts people's souls in snow globes

P.S. The beginning retail store fight scene is one of the greatest scenes in cinema history.
 
Krampus isnt even a german thing like the movie makes it out to be... so, nah

I thoght the movie is OK, not more
 
it's pretty good. I've watched it 3 times this month for some reason.

the opening credits are so, so wrong for the movie. and the democrat vs republican stuff is a bit much. i don't really like the script actually, the way the characters are written feels super unnatural and flat, the Aunt is probably the most obvious example.

but everything about Krampus himself is tremendous and makes the movie a fun watch.

i like it enough, but it's no Gremlins
 
Saw this with a fun crowd last year. Surprisingly brutal and unforgiving. In fact some younger kids had to be taken out the theatre by their mum who for some reason thought this movie was suitable for them.

The ending was great and the more you think of it very sinister.
 
Pilgrimzero said:
It wasn't the kids fault. They were all shitty people except for him. They ruined him by being so awful.
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He shredded his letter to Santa, man. Everyone knows what happens when you shred your letter to Santa. He made a deal with Satan and traded the souls of his entire family for his petty dream of the perfect christmas. The kid is a sociopath.
 
SJRB said:
He shredded his letter to Santa, man. Everyone knows what happens when you shred your letter to Santa. He made a deal with Satan and traded the souls of his entire family for his petty dream of the perfect christmas. The kid is a sociopath.
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His family sent him down that dark path. They had it coming!
 
Fantastic film, really took me by surprise from how excellent the opening was, all the way to how dark the ending is.

In some ways I think it's a better film than Gremlins.
 
Arthr2ShdsJcksn said:
In terms of quality and the type of movie it is, most definitely. In terms of public perception? Never in a million years. Gremlins was a huge hit with merchandising tie-ins and toys and shit. Krampus barely was talked about when it came out.
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Dammit, should have put in that Gizmo!

(there is a good bit of discussion on that in the RLM Gremlins commentary, which was great. More so than other commentaries I would say, since like JP and Halloween, they actually adore Gremlins. )

Aside from that: YES, Krampus is great and it's a fine addition to the atrophied Christmas movie stash.
 
Jackpot said:
They remember and the events happened but were reset to just before it, but that still falls well under the "it's all a dream" concept. It's a big fat reset button. A get out of jail free card without having to resolve anything. Disputing it is arguing over semantics, like saying "it was all a simulation" doesn't fall under the it's a dream concept.
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The movie literally shows them
inside the snow globe and Krampus placing it on a shelf with other families he's taken. They get to live their 'perfect' Christmas morning forever.
It's a very dark ending that you have misread.

I agree with the OP, superb film that balances humor and horror well. Some really messed up creature designs, and it's nicely restrained in showing Krampus. Two hopefully classic sequences in the opening shopping brawl, and the animated sequence.
 
I loved that he got Pumpkinrot to design the snowmen. That distinct style carried over perfectly from his scarecrows to the snowmen they created for the film.
 
This movie takes a LOT from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It's a highly enjoyable film which I knew wouldn't be a full on comedy when I went into it. Great ending, too.
 
Dabanton said:
Saw this with a fun crowd last year. Surprisingly brutal and unforgiving. In fact some younger kids had to be taken out the theatre by their mum who for some reason thought this movie was suitable for them.

The ending was great and the more you think of it very sinister.
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Yeah, the movie is great but it's not on the same level as Gremlins, and I would NOT show this movie to children. I say this as a kid who grew up on R-rated horror movies like Alien. Gremlins has some elements of horror, but it's also goofy and lighthearted, with them having a happy ending at the end. With Krampus, you can overlook the creepy monsters and things (even though man that Jack in the Box was fucked up), but the overall tone is dark and sinister and would probably crawl under the skin of a youngster who watched this. Like shit, it's not even the kid's fault that it happened, when he had to deal with so much bullying and lack of support from everyone besides Grandma.

Gremlins is cute and fun, and could be shown to most youngsters without scarring them for life. Krampus is definitely more for the adult crowd.

Also, comedy wise, while the family was kind of groan inducing at the start, I love the dad's 4th-wall dialogue when he said shit like "You've got to be fucking kidding me" in a tone you wouldn't use if that was happening in real life.
 
Violence Jack said:
I watched it last night. Gremlins is something I will likely watch many times for the reminder of my life. While Krampus was enjoyable, I don't think Krampus will be looked back as fondly as Gremlins.
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Yeah it's enjoyable, but Gremlins has much better characterisation, a better story, and is much funnier. It's not really in the same league as Gremlins, but it's still a fun movie. If it is the Gremlins of this generation, that is not because it is comparable in terms of quality, rather the tone.
 
SomedayTheFire said:
8? Would have gone 12 or 13 myself. Close to the actors age, but anyway yeah that was the joke.
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He's supposed to be some starry eyed kid who writes letters to Santa. 8 is a lot more realistic.

The joke is bad and comes after 80 minutes of "Republicans are like THIS and Democrats are like THIS!"
 
This movie didn't have that many great moments. I think the last half should have been longer than the first.
 
oneida said:
He's supposed to be some starry eyed kid who writes letters to Santa. 8 is a lot more realistic.

The joke is bad and comes after 80 minutes of "Republicans are like THIS and Democrats are like THIS!"
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What? It's driven home to the viewer that he's "too old" to believe in Santa. 8 is no more "realistic" than 12 but that's beside the point.
 
SomedayTheFire said:
What? It's driven home to the viewer that he's "too old" to believe in Santa. 8 is no more "realistic" than 12 but that's beside the point.
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pbWED87h.jpg
 
Does the movie ever cover what happens to Jews on Christmas, seeing how they never believed or celebrated the holiday? If you never did Christmas in the first place are you safe from Krampus?
 
I had heard great things about this movie on RLM. Especially about the sound design. I want to see it honestly but can't find it anywhere for rent physically.
 
It tries to be that sort of Christmas movie, but it lackss a lot of the charm and the great protagonists from Gremlins. I admire the effort, and enjoyed it, but I was dissapointred.
 
Nah. Its trying far too hard to be "this generation's Gremlins Reply to Thread" and comes off as insubstantial as a result. Not to mention it looses all direction towards the end and just farts out to a close.

I watched it a week ago and while not bad I wish I would have just spent that time re-watching the far superior inspiration.
 
Saw this a few days ago. It's not in the same league as Gremlins as others have said, but it's still one of my top Christmas films. In the class of 'so-bad-it's-good' movies.
 
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