He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when your awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, except he isn’t Santa Claus at all; he’s Krampus, an avatar of holiday vengeance who drags naughty children to the underworld and commands an army of malevolent Christmas creatures to wreak holiday havoc on unrepentant youths. And he just so happens to be the eponymous star of writer-director Michael Dougherty’s new horror-comedy Krampus, which opens in theaters on Friday, December 4.
The Alpine folk myth takes on terrifying new life in the new movie, which finds Krampus terrorizing a dysfunctional family who has lost sight of the reason for the season. Starring Adam Scott, Toni Collette, Allison Tolman, and David Koechner, Krampus is a equal parts homage to holiday classics like Gremlins and Home Alone, and spiritual successor to Dougherty’s beloved cult horror film Trick ‘r Treat. That being said, Krampus stands on its own two cloven hooves, delivering some serious scares, mildly traumatizing creature design, and–at the end of the day–a genuinely delightful Christmas story, the likes of which we have not seen in quite some time.
In advance of the film’s release, I sat down with stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, and Allison Tolman, as well as director Michael Dougherty, to pick their brains about what makes Christmas the ideal setting for a horror movie, what they would pair Krampus with in a double feature, and about further evidence regarding one of the film’s biggest (and silliest) mysteries.
Krampus opens nationwide on December 4.
Will you be seeing Krampus? Sound off in the comments below.
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Dan Casey is the senior editor of The Nerdist, and the author of books about Avengers and Star Wars. You can follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).
The mythology of Krampus, explained:
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