December Film Club

Hey everybody!

Thanks to everyone who made it out for Dunkirk, we had a small group, but some really great discussion following the film.

As always, I apologize for the this late update, but it's been so busy that time just got away from me.  For the month of December, and following my theme of the past few years of unconventional Christmas movies, I've decided to show Michael Dougherty's wonderful horror/comedy/Christmas film, Krampus.

Krampus is a 2015 American dark fantasy comedy horror film based on the eponymous character from Austro-Bavarian folklore, written and directed by Michael Dougherty and co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields.  The film stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, and Krista Stadler.  Three days before Christmas, the prosperous but dysfunctional Engel family gathers for Christmas.  Max Engel remains a firm believer in Santa Claus and intends to send him a letter.  Max wants to continue family traditions, but tension among his relatives saps their Christmas spirit.  When his cousins read out his letter to Santa and mock him for still believing, he fights with them and yells out that he hates his family and even Christmas.  In a fit of anger, Max tears up the letter and throws it to the wind outside and it's swept up into the sky.  A severe blizzard engulfs the town and Max's actions and his family's lack of Christmas cheer, seemingly summon an evil Christmas entity.
The film currently holds a 67% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Peter Sobczynski, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave the film 3/4 stars saying this in his review, "Krampus was co-written and directed by Michael Dougherty, whose previous effort, Trick 'r Treat, paid homage to such classics as Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow, this film constantly bows to the altar of Gremlins, the Joe Dante classic that managed to find the perfect blend of creepiness, subversive humor and genuinely earned sentiment, to make it a seasonal favorite for viewers who prefer their Christmas entertainment to have a little more bite to it.  Despite the occasional rough patches...Krampus
feels as if it is maybe one or two rewrites away from being the alternative classic that it clearly wants to be.  It still has its charms, and just enough things going for it to warrant a mild recommendation.  Besides, do you think I want to get on the bad side of Krampus by panning his movie?  I may be naughty but I am not stupid."

We will be meeting Thursday, Dec. 19th at 6:15pm.  I hope you can make it out to this spooky, funny Christmas flick!

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6cVyoMH4QE