MovieChat Forums > Krampus (2015) Discussion > Why this movie is getting hate.

Why this movie is getting hate.

posted 9 years ago by ButcherOfLuverne
51 replies | jump to latest

Simply put, I feel as if a modern audience, like ourselves, that mindlessly digests stale Christmas cookies of film franchises like "Paranormal Activity", "Saw", and a plethora of crappy remakes like 2014's Poltergeist, cannot grasp the idea of a horror-comedy. I had a few buddies of mine go to see Krampus. They then came back, and complained that it was dumb that it tried to be funny. The classic lines that they used were 'it should've been more gory', 'why was it funny?' and 'horror films shouldn't be funny'.

I feel like most mainstream people don't get the blend of horror-comedy - they want cheap jump scares and James Wan's screechy violins (to be fair, I enjoyed The Conjuring and Insidious) to a practical, well-made horror comedy. Plus, most people have called the ending cheap and a cop-out, and they didn't even know that it actually ended differently; why don't they know? Because they left the theater early like jackasses.

Anyways, this movie will probably become a cult classic; I already have begun quoting around my friends and family, and it's message is timeless. I just hope it doesn't get too mixed an audience response because it's very rare a practical, funny movie like this will be made in a while. (Trick R Treat 2, where are you?)

"I'll have a chocolate glaze." - Dodd Gerhardt

[–] ratliffdonnie 9 years ago

A lot of it is coming from the ending and because of the lack of gore. I haven't seen the movie yet myself but I spoiled it for myself and tbh, I didn't expect anyone to die in the film, which I know they did and come back, but I figured there would just be a lot of jump scares and no one would die, but I'm surprised at how it happens in the movie even with the lack of gore

[–] hollankreil 9 years ago

Gore doesn't really suit this film in my opinion.

Fluoride does not prevent tooth decay. It does render teeth detectable by spy satellite -JL

[–] iainhammer 9 years ago

@ ratliffdonnie:

"... haven't seen the movie yet myself..."

SO why do you then proceed to post spoilers without understanding the narrative context or the reason for the plot twist you describe, and if you "haven't seen the movie yet myself" why would you be "surprised at how it happens in the movie" ??

I suggest you reserve your comments until *after* you have seen the movie and know what you're talking about.

[–] jedi-jones 9 years ago

They did die. Krampus trapped their souls.

Colonel Miles Quaritch is like some sort of...non...giving-up...army guy!

[–] JudgeNotLestYeBeJudgeReinhold 9 years ago

Hey dumb *beep* maybe you should put spoiler warnings when you POST SPOILERS!!!! Idiot.

[–] Ina_no_name 8 years ago

I like horror best without all the gore. I rather want a horror with full of atmosphere, and a good creepy story that goes under the skin rather than all the gore. Seems like people just care about special effects these days, which is kind of sad ...

[–] cgrill8 8 years ago

YES! Like older Hitchcock shorts and movies. And The Changeling (1980)... atmosphere.. it's all about atmosphere. They could be running around wearing parkas running from screaming flying pandas... and as long as the atmosphere is right, I'd love it. I understand not everyone 'likes' Krampus, but I 'get it'. Being ALONE in the theater when I saw REALLY helped too...

3rd generation American from a long line of Gottscheers... it was Drandul, dude!

[–] cruemeister1972 8 years ago

I thought it was a fun movie, I hope there's a sequel.

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

Well it would be strange if a movie on IMDb didn't get any hate. It happens all the time, people just like to nitpick a lot, that's all.

[–] fleshrequiem 9 years ago

Oh sure, you get a few people who don't get it, but on the whole? A lot of positive reviews online and feedback from people, and I certainly see this joining Trick R Treat as the holiday alternative cult classic. I certainly fell in love with it and haven't seen a movie with such a Gremlins/Demonic Toys/Army of Darkness vibe to it since...well....the 80's! ;)

[–] DeusExKatrina 9 years ago

I don't understand why people don't like it. But it'd be far too easy just to blame it on modern tastes. Some reviewers I trust, who definitely know their way around classic horror, have also expressed their distaste for the film. Jon Schnepp even said they should have rereleased Rare Exports instead... which is utterly absurd, Rare Exports doesn't even come close to Krampus in quality.

Suffice to say, different people have different taste. Some people didn't like the film, that's fine. Many did like it, and it's made far more money than expected, so that's great.

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Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame.

[–] fleshrequiem 9 years ago

Well, my respect for Jon Schnepp utterly withered. And what is with all the praise for Rare Exports? I didn't think it was that good to be honest.

These types of films usually take a while to get established in cult status. Once time passes I think we'll see more and more catch on to the joy of this film. I've seen mainly positive reviews (Empire, Red Letter Media, IGN) and a majority of people really liked it.

I read a review from a so called horror expert. This was a person who trashed Krampus yet praised Victor Frankenstein. That alone should say something I think.

[–] DeusExKatrina 9 years ago

I agree 100% with your opinion on Krampus and Rare Exports but I don't think you should lose respect for a critic just based on what they do or don't like. I think why they like or don't like something is more important, and Schnepp would have to write an actual review for us to learn that. Plus, Schnepp was in a bad mood and he was crapping on everything today so he'd probably be more level headed about Krampus on a later date.

I definitely think the "hate" for Krampus is overrated. Everything gets hate on the internet, we can't interpret that as the general consensus because that's not reality, that's the vocal minority. Most people seem to be loving Krampus so I don't even think we'll have to wait for it to become a cult classic, I think it'll already be a classic.

I mean, do I think Krampus is the #1 best movie of all-time? No, of course not. But how many good Christmas horror films are there out there? Not many. Most of the "good" ones are barely decent, the only real classics are Black Christmas and Gremlins. Will Krampus stand proud in that crowd? Definitely, it easily earns a spot above all the second and third tier Christmas horror movies.

As for Rare Exports... very, very, very cool concept. Awesome atmosphere. And then it kind of *beep* the bed at the end. Becomes totally goofy and the monster never even gets out of the ice. What a weak ending! I love Rare Exports and it's a yearly watch for me around Christmas time but that just goes to show you how few good Christmas horror films there are. Krampus is much, much better written in terms of follow through, so I think we'll definitely see it become a classic at least on the level of Rare Exports.

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Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame.

[–] fleshrequiem 9 years ago

Oh it's more of a case of me questioning a critic and his taste in film, especially is he professes to be a horror fan. Maybe I'm getting old and cranky (sad reality) but one someone calls Boris Karloff a "bore and a snooze" and Vincent Price an "overcooked ham" in his reviews, I know that the person and I have nothing to talk about. As for Schnepp, I love the guy but man does he seem more and more irritated about everything as of late. Not that I blame him.

Put it this way, there was a father and son who walked out of Krampus (I work in a movie theater) with huge grins on their faces. When I asked them did they like it, I think the father gave a more enthusiastic response than his kid! I popped my head in earlier in the day for the theater. Krampus was the only movie selling well, and the auditorium was reasonably packed. I heard laughs at the jokes, screams at a few parts and more grinning faces than irritated ones. I think it just seems like a lot of people "hate" the film because they all might swarm in one place (ie imdb, facebook)

Black Christmas, Gremlins, Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys (okay, that last one is bad, but still :P )

I guess I loved Krampus so much because it was a nice throwback without getting caught up in it's own nostalgia. As a youngster I always loved practical effects, stopmotion, puppets. Ray Harryhausen, David Allen, Tsubaraya were all heroes of mine. Be it old Godzilla films, the PuppetMaster series or Joe Dante's romps, I've always held such films close to my heart. Krampus reminded me of such films, and managed to still carve out its own niche and identity.

[–] ButcherOfLuverne 9 years ago

Thanks for the feedback - and I agree 100%. People have different tastes; I just find it amazing that people wanted more gore from this movie. Krampus was never a gore-based legend, and It's odd that some people expected A Jigsaw Christmas.

Also, Rare Exports was like a 6. Krampus' cast and moral outdo it in sheer quality; though Rare Exports had the best Santa ever.

"I'll have a chocolate glaze." - Dodd Gerhardt

[–] JudgeNotLestYeBeJudgeReinhold 9 years ago

I didn't really care for the ending. Other than that, I thought it was pretty awesome. And even though I didn't like the end, it didn't ruin the movie for me. It'll definitely be on around the holidays in my house 👍

[–] fistoffury 9 years ago

Why is this movie getting hate? Because Halloween and Christmas shouldn't be put together.

[–] AntoNEO 9 years ago

Krampus has nothing to do with Halloween though. And even if it did, why can't they be put together? The Nightmare Before Christmas pulled it off artfully enough, and that movie seems generally well-liked.

[–] DeusExKatrina 9 years ago

Nightmare Before Christmas is more than generally well-liked, it's a downright classic! This guy just has a grudge against christmas & halloween for some reason.

But you're perfectly right, Krampus has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween, other than a couple of mild visual allusions to Trick 'r Treat. Not sure why the poster considers Krampus to be Halloween-related unless they consider ALL horror movies to be inherently related to Halloween.

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Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame.

[–] AntoNEO 9 years ago

Nightmare Before Christmas is more than generally well-liked, it's a downright classic!

You're right, and I completely agree. I was just using understatement for the sake of argument. :) Definitely a holiday favorite of mine!

[–] Wolfbrother1983 9 years ago

"Silent Night Deadly Night" came out in the 80s. "Black Christmas" was 1974. Tales From The Crypt's "And All Through The House" was in the 70s flick...so the horror at Christmas ship sailed a long time ago.

America isnt ready for a gay mexican chicken sandwich - Poultrygeist

[–] AntoNEO 9 years ago

So far all of my friends have liked it, so that's been encouraging. But then, we're all 80s kids who grew up on Amblin and Evil Dead movies, so I guess that's not too surprising. Nostalgia aside though, those types of horror movies are still my favorite because they were allowed to be creative, humorous, and above all, FUN. There was a level of showmanship that seems to be missing from most of today's by-the-numbers horror movies that are mostly about cheap jump scares.

Krampus is a perfectly legitimate way to make a horror movie; I think it mostly seems strange to some viewers because it has a unique voice - something that's sorely lacking in Hollywood genre movies today. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those movies too, but it's hard to break out of an established mold these days, so we get kinda used to always seeing the same thing. But that's what I love about Krampus, it's actually different from every other horror movie out there right now (plus it taps into everything I love about the genre). I'm glad to see it's making money so that being different can be seen as a good thing rather than box office death.

[–] Patrilot 9 years ago

I'm a huge horror fan and I thoroughly enjoyed it myself.. I totally get what you mean. People don't understand this isn't meant to be a horrifying, scary horror movie.. A lot of horror movies are not to be honest. Hell, if the criteria for a horror movie is "how scary it is" then the genre would fall out of existence long ago. It's annoying that the general populous just doesn't understand that. I personally think horror is the most diverse genre and can mix well with just about any other.. In this case, comedy.

[–] ImInTheater 9 years ago

I actually didn't think the movie was overtly comedic and balanced it pretty well. Even if the gingerbread men were campy and actually pretty cute...They were still scary! If we were really in that situation, it wouldn't be funny at all. The characters acted pretty realistically I thought, though I did think they handled the missing children a little more with campy revenge than real familial grief, I figured that was to keep it light. I actually didn't think the movie was much a comedy towards the middle to the end and was more of a heartless mockery by Krampus that you laugh along with or feel the hopelessness of no sympathy.