Krampus: A Gift to the ‘Christmas Movie’ Genre
Christmas films have, I think, something in common with horror films: they are historically genre-ified to the point of no return. With the exception of a few “Does this really qualify as a ‘Christmas’ movie?” titles like Eyes Wide Shut (1999) or Die Hard (1988), Holiday films are routinely canonized with the same measure of extreme commercialization as any zombie or slasher flick. Christmas Vacation (1989) is as much a product of Christmas feel-good tradition as The Shining (1980) is of the very opposite. When it comes to our Holiday memories, just like our scares, we seem least tolerant of anything that might be considered genre-defying.
When Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) director Henry Selick was quoted a few months ago officially ‘clarifying’ that his film was, in fact, a “Halloween movie,” articles went viral and mass discussion was re-sparked. For as much as we may love the Tim Burton classic, we seem to need it to fit into a certain genre, even today. (For the record, I strongly resolve that Nightmare is a Christmas film. For very good reasons. Disagree? Put yer dukes up, phony.)
This need to genre-ify our cinematic stories might have much to do with having an annual time of year during which it may feel most ‘appropriate’ to watch them; when cultural traditions and seasonal phenomena affect our moods and expectations. Christmas, as a [highly commercialized] holiday celebration, has always been closely associated with the dark seasonal period of Winter solstice. And as such, it’s only natural that a character such as Krampus should be long associated with the season, and likewise, that in 2015 we should suddenly find ourselves so hungry for such ‘genre-mixing’ films that should feature him.
Krampus (2015) is so snappy, so darkly funny and so culturally on point that it doesn’t matter much (to me, anyways) that the formula has been tried before with 1984’s Gremlins. That film was a surprisingly original and quirky cult classic that finds belonging in the hallways of Fight Club (1999) and Donnie Darko (2001). Krampus, on the other hand, is a true power-play in a genre that still has a long way to go before we’ve realized its possibilities.
Krampus ideologically pre-dates the air-headed fluff of Santa Clause and welcomes us into a seasonal tradition that feels much more ancient and brimming with narrative opportunity. Whoever told Hollywood that our Christmas film genre had to be comprised entirely of awkward family dinners in 21st century America and cheap comedy exploits? Each year, I watch It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and wonder why there are so few other truly great films that belong to the Christmas genre. And while I don’t know if I would call Krampus ‘truly great,’ I definitely see it as a beam of radiant hope for what we consider to be the mainstream genre of Christmas movies. For all is has in common with the horror film genre, I think it’s about time it starts learning from it.
Originally published at letterboxd.com.
