Gruss Vom Krampus 

Photo by Emilie Black/EmyBPhto

Tonight is Krampusnacht, so why not celebrate with a film or two about the classic tale of what happens to bad little boys and girls. On Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night, a being known as Krampus goes to visit bad kids, taking them in his basket and giving them beatings with reeds. The tale has a few variations on the theme depending where you are in the world and who is telling. As such, it was ripe for the taking by horror filmmakers with, well, uneven results. That being said a couple of these come up head and shoulders above the rest. To be fair, an unholy number of Krampus films were watched recently, including everything from Krampus (by Michael Dougherty, Trick R Treat) to Mother Krampus and all the Krampus films that could be sequels to one another or independent that could be found on streaming.

Well, most of them, there is limit to the number of blah films one can watch. So which one should you look for and why? 

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Santa (2014)

santa

It’s Santa! Or is it Krampus? In either case, directors Dionysis and Manos Atzarakis have a real winner on their hands with the very short but utterly creepy “Santa.” Though it’s barely two minutes in length, “Santa” garners enough of a story element and set up to become utterly horrifying; Especially considering the tropes of Santa being a welcoming and loving presence on Christmas night.

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