My Review Of "Krampus: The Reckoning"

Robert Conway takes on the dark lord of Christmas with his paranormal, voodoo-y, holiday horror "Krampus: The Reckoning". The film stars Monica Engesser, Amelia Haberman, James Ray, and Kevin Tye. The story focuses on a foster child with a very dark spirit, and the ability to summon Krampus.

Zoe is a strange little girl, with a not so imaginary friend the Krampus who is the dark companion of kindly old St. Nicholas. The Krampus has been unleashed upon a small town and the legendary demon will seek out all the naughty people to punish them at Christmas time. No one is safe as the Krampus hunts them down, tortures them and then drags their helpless souls to the depths of hell.

Robert Conway's story is a twisted and haunting tale that focuses on an evil little girl with the ability to summon Krampus. However the concept and the finished product don't really connect. Alone the evil kid with voodoo dolls is a creepy horror, and the holiday is well represented in "Krampus: The Reckoning", but unfortunately Krampus was missing. It is as if the idea to add Santa's dark sidekick was an afterthought.

The cast offer us a mixed bag of disconnected deliveries of action film rhetoric, and attitude, with the occasional moments of really connecting with the character and bringing some authenticity to the scenes. Sometimes the acting is over-the-top, or over-expressed, the detective guy was likable, but  really seemed to be channeling his best Seagal or Statham. Mostly the film is just really dull, slightly pointless, and all though Krampus is in the title, the writer and director seemed to be more focused on an evil little devil child who needs a painful time-out, than the more sinister Christmas demon of retribution. 

The special effects are slightly Syfy-ish. Although to be honest I have seen better quality in Syfy films concerning CGI. Again practical effects seemed greatly overlooked, and opportunity to exploit more blood soaking, carnage becomes small, meaningless episodes of computer-generated crispies. Again I think Krampus was an afterthought and "Krampus: The Reckoning" is more about a hateful girl out for vengeance as she plays with voodoo dolls and throws her tantrums. Overall, and I hate saying it because I love Christmas horror and I love all things Krampus, but "Krampus: The Reckoning" is one film that I found irritatingly disappointing.