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.
