Krampus – Movie Review

Christmas themed horror movies are pretty rare, so it’s always exciting when one comes out that’s actually good. Black Christmas is probably this subgenre’s most famous example, but I would even place something as playful as Gremlins into this category. Bringing a dark twist to such an overly joyful time of year can really yield some memorable results if done well. With Krampus, director Michael Dougherty has put his own darkly comedic spin on the holiday. Dougherty’s previous film, 2007’s Trick ‘r Treat, was an incredible Halloween showcase that was pretty much disregarded by studios before finally being dumped on DVD. Krampus is getting a wide release in theaters across the country, which does seem strange because the film might be a little too weird for mainstream audiences to truly embrace. But whether or not the film is a hit at the box office, it definitely deserves the opportunity to be seen by as many people as possible because it’s an absolute blast. Don’t let this awesome little horror film slip under your radar.

Max (Emjay Anthony) is a young boy who has always kept the Christmas spirit alive by writing to Santa every year. For him, Christmas is one of the best times of year and one of the only times that he, his mom (Toni Collette), his dad (Adam Scott) and his sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen) feel like a family. But this year, he’s being visited by his Aunt Linda (Allison Tolman), his Uncle Howard (David Koechner) and their four annoying kids. After Max gets in a fight with two of his cousins, he tears up his letter to Santa and throws it out the window. But this single act spells doom for the entire family because an ancient Christmas demon is now on its way to their home. His name is Krampus.

Seasoned horror veterans probably won’t be too frightened by anything in Krampus, but that hardly matters because the main point here is to have fun. The film has an almost equal measure of horror and comedy, sometimes trying to scare you and make you laugh in the same scene. It usually works because some of the scenarios in the film’s second half are so utterly ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh. But the film can be scary when it needs to be and a lot of the horror sequences in the film are creative and visually interesting. Whether it’s Krampus chasing Beth down a deserted snowy street or an unknown force pulling our characters underneath the snow, there are a lot of exciting moments that keep the momentum high.

The design of the Krampus creature looks great when it’s finally revealed and Dougherty’s decision to use practical effects as often as possible really elevates the film. But for me, as great as Krampus is, he doesn’t even hold a candle to his little helpers. They include a snake-like jack-in-the-box creature, a trio of angry gingerbread men, a demented Christmas angel and dozens of sinister elves. I loved the design of all these creatures and the most exciting parts of the film were when the family was stuck inside of the house with them. Some of them are completely goofy, but it fits with the comedic tone of the film. It’s really refreshing to watch a modern horror film that doesn’t try to ground things in reality and instead cranks the ridiculousness up to eleven.

The only place where the film really fumbles is in its ending, which feels like a cop out based on everything that came before it. The sentimentality that’s tacked on also feels a little forced and the film probably would have benefited if its ending had taken a darker path. But this is hardly a problem when everything that preceded it was so much fun. I’m the kind of guy who usually favors the journey of a film over the destination and 95 percent of Krampus is nothing short of spooky holiday-themed fun. It’s sure to become a yearly tradition with horror fans.

Krampus receives 3.5/4

Cheap Thrills – Movie Review

How far would you be willing to go for money? This is a question that frequently arises in films (perhaps too often) and it’s at the center of Cheap Thrills. Would you get punched in the face for $500? Or would you cut off one of your pinky fingers for $25,000? What would you be willing to do for a $250,000 jackpot? Like its title suggests, this is a film has some thrills up its sleeve, but you’ll have to muddle through quite a bit of mediocrity to get there. This isn’t a good film and it’s certainly not a well-made one, but it manages to coast through most of its flaws because it’s always amusing to discover how low these characters will sink for a reward. It’s uneven and messy, but, if you’ve got the stomach for it, fiendishly entertaining.

Craig (Pat Healy) and his wife Audrey (Amanda Fuller) are struggling to stay afloat. They’re having a hard time raising enough money to support their young baby and they’ve just received an eviction notice on their front door. If they are unable to raise $4500, they’ll be living on the street in a week. Craig also gets fired from his job as a mechanic, which sends him into a state of depression. He decides to spend some time at a bar to drown his sorrows, where he runs into his old high school buddy Vince (Ethan Embry). Eventually, these two guys begin having a drink with Colin (David Koechner) and Violet (Sara Paxton), a married couple with too much money on their hands. It’s Violet’s birthday and Colin wants tonight to be special, so he begins offering dares to Craig and Vince and paying them handsomely for whatever dares they’re willing to complete. The dares start off easy enough, but as the amount of money that is up for grabs increases, Craig and Vince will be pushed into doing things that they wouldn’t have believed they were capable of.

The best part of Cheap Thrills is that it places the viewer into every situation. With each task that Craig and Vince are presented with, I found myself asking, “Would I be willing to go that far?” Most of the time the answer is no, but it’s still intriguing to consider how far you would be willing to push yourself for money. Director E.L. Katz keeps the film moving along at a healthy pace, so too much time is never spent on one single dare. It also helps that the film has a short runtime; too much time spent watching these men degrade themselves could have been more disgusting than it needed to be. This is the directorial debut of Katz and it shows in his visuals. The lighting in practically every scene feels cheap and ineffective, while the cinematography by Andrew Wheeler and Sebastian Winterø feels diluted and dull.

While this may have been intended as a dark comedy, the humor never comes across as well as it should have. This is more a fault of Katz than screenwriters David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga, whose script left plenty of opportunities for laughs. And while the script does rely on some stupid plot reveals, such as the sudden revelation that a major character is a black belt in karate, it’s always amusing even when it shouldn’t be. Perhaps some increased characterization and an explanation as to why Violet and Colin have so much money would have helped flesh the story out a bit, but the increasingly gruesome events kept me interested all the way to the off putting final shot. Despite my enjoyment, I may never want to revisit Cheap Thrills; like most things that are horrible and disgusting, one experience was enough.

Cheap Thrills receives 2.5/4

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Movie Review

By the beard of Zeus, Ron Burgundy is back on the big screen in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. The original Anchorman was a modest success when it was released nine years ago, but it has gained a substantial following thanks to DVD sales and cable syndication. The film’s endless quotability has also helped make it one of the most popular comedies of the last decade. In their follow-up to one of the most successful films of their careers, writer/director Adam McKay and cowriter/star Will Ferrell are able to retain the sense of humor set by the original, without making the sequel feel like a derivative retread. It does feel too long and there are some plot points that feel uninspired, but fans of the original will not be disappointed.

Anchorman 2 takes place several years after the events of the first film. Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) are now married and they live in New York with their young son. They continue to co-anchor the news together, until they are called into the office of Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford), one of the most famous anchors in all of news. He informs them that he is retiring, prompting him to promote Corningstone and fire Burgundy. Ron gets upset at Veronica for taking the job and moves back to his hometown of San Diego.

Jump ahead six months and Ron has reached his lowest point; he has been fired from his job at Sea World and has even attempted suicide. All hope seems lost for our hero, until he is approached by Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker) a representative for GNN, the first 24 hour news network. He tells Ron that they are hiring talented broadcasters from all over the country to move to New York and participate in this experimental channel and they want Burgundy. Ron agrees, moving to New York and bringing his trusted news team of Champ Kind (David Koechner), Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell).

This brief synopsis only scratches the surface of an intentionally erratic plot that also includes awkward sex scenes, a major character recovering from a tragic ice skating accident and the nursing of a beached shark named Doby. But underneath all of this craziness, there is actually a fairly clever message about the state of modern news. The film (which takes place in 1980) highlights the transition of news from serious investigative journalism to tabloid/puff pieces that are only reported to gather ratings. The film pokes fun at these kinds of news reports and our consumption of them as viewers. It’s not a particularly subtle message, but the fact that it is present in such a goofy comedy is welcome nonetheless.

But what really matters is whether the film delivers the laughs and, for the most part, the laughs come so quickly that you will have to control your laughter because you do not want to miss the next joke. But with such a zany plot, certain segments are bound to be better than others and there are a few portions of this film that do not work at all. A romance that develops between Brick and Chani (Kristen Wiig) should have been one of the film’s highlights, but most of these scenes fall flat. Watching these two incredibly dim characters fall for each other is somewhat sweet, but the humor feels like it’s trying too hard to get laughs. There is also a fifteen minute segment at the start of the film’s third act that relocates Ron to an abandoned lighthouse and it feels very out of place.

Just as the film begins feeling too long, an incredible segment occurs in the film’s climax that saves it. I wouldn’t dare spoil what happens, but it’s a throwback to the news anchor battle that occurred in the first film and it’s full of increasingly impressive cameos. Its silliness reaches such high levels that it begins to border on surrealism. This scene alone is funnier than most modern comedies and it makes Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues worth seeing. It’s a joy to spend the holidays laughing with such a hysterically funny news team.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues receives 3/4