Krampus Unleashed

This is director Robert Conway's second Krampus horror movie. His first was Krampus The Reckoning, which I thought was better than most people gave it credit for, despite a really bad CGI monster and very little in the way of gore. This time around, Conway has gone for practical effects for his creature and ramped up the splatter, but the rest of the film is total trash, with a laughable plot, unlikeable characters, and terrible acting. In a way, I admire Conway's no-nonsense approach this time around - this was never intended to be high art... it's just there to entertain fans of schlock (which explains the messy FX, courtesy of Marcus Koch, and the gratuitous nudity from Amelia Brantley).

Brantley plays Bonnie Tyler (no, not THE Bonnie Tyler), one of a group of people targeted by a rampant Krampus on Christmas Eve, the monster awakened after a 'summoning stone' (it's all explained in the prologue) is discovered in a creek by youngster Tommy (Bryson Holl). Unconcerned with who has been naughty and who has been nice, Krampus dismembers, decapitates, and eviscerates numerous victims, leaving a handful of survivors to try and defeat the monster by burying it alive. From the godawful opening version of 'Let It Snow', to the extremely rushed ending topped off by the ridiculous appearance of a baby Krampus (who chows down on irritating teen Troy, better late than never), Krampus Unleashed is z-grade nonsense all the way, which, for many, will mean it's virtually unwatchable. Once again, I think it's more enjoyable than the mostly 1/10 reviews suggest - not vastly so, I grant you, but still worth a go if you enjoy low-brow horror with plenty of blood and guts.

4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

I just came across this on Hulu. Enjoyed the Krampus film that was in theaters. This film has nothing to do with that film. Not only that, but this film is absolutely terrible. The script was absolutely terrible. The direction was absolutely terrible, Many of the performances were absolutely terrible. The editing and sound design is absolutely terrible. If you must, watch the first 10 minutes. The rest of the movie is just as bad as the first 10. It is literally the worst thing I have seen in a long time. I am an unpublished writer and watching this gives me hope. Because if something as bad as this can be made who knows. Sorry for those who worked on this movie. Sorry for my harsh words but if you don't realize that you are a terrible filmmaker then I guess ignore this and keep on doing what you love. Although I kind of wish you would find a less grotesque way of unleashing your creativity.

'Krampus Unleashed' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not particularly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive as well as the low rating and poor reviews.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Krampus Unleashed' is terrible, with a plethora of enormous problems. Low budget Krampus films have not fared well and 'Krampus Unleashed' is one of the worst examples. There is next to nothing to recommend.

Lets start with the sole positive. The setting is sometimes atmospheric and spooky.

Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited and the drab colour palette, so much so it was hard to appreciate it, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm. In particular, the camera work was a nauseous assault on the eyes with its excessive amateurish-ness.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into The sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions and dreadfully recorded) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting that shows a huge indifference to the situation and what is going on.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés, lots of unintentional humour that makes some of the film play like a really bad spoof and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about and useless padding, never recovering. The minimal action wouldn't have mattered so much if the character development was present or engaging, instead not enough is learnt about the characters, the exposition is too heavily relied upon and is neither interesting or illuminating, actually dragging things down. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both very poorly done.

A lot of 'Krampus Unleashed' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending didn't satisfy and felt anaemic and the whole thing felt like an over-stretched-to-beyond-breaking-point short film.

There is not enough threat, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, is just as poorly designed and so laughably done it doesn't frighten at all. The film is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Everything here is neither creative, suspenseful or nail-biting. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden and like their heart was not in it or ill at ease, with the chemistry between the characters and actors coming over as constantly random and aggressive with the subtlety of an axe. It's all very gratuitous and mean spirited and everything is neither creative or scary with a complete lack of suspense or sense of horror.

Overall, awful with no redeeming value apart from an element that is difficult to appreciate with it being complemented so badly. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Truly unbeliever that every single actor in this 'film' is beyond bad . I really believe you could grab a group of people off the street , give them two hours training and they would do a better job. Oh and the movie is lazy in it's writing , editing, pacing , effects , direction and even sound work .

Please don't waste your time on this one. Acting is sub par, filming angles are bad. This is just a low budget movie that should have never been made. But hey, you have to start somewhere right? I only hope the makers of this film learned some lessons and will not make another waste of time. The plot is not well written, so the story is hard to follow. The dialog seems forced and not well written. Some of the actors need to be given another chance while others should just go back to their day jobs. And why make another "Krampus" movie when one with a bigger budget was made the year before? This is just a bad move business wise. The special effects are special needs. I cannot stress to you that this movie is bad. I wasted $2.50 at a Red Box site and I wish I could get a refund.