An alternate Christmas movie that teaches us what we should really be grateful for at Christmas… the fact that we are not being brutally murdered by scary elves. 

Opening with scenes of Black Friday chaos in a shopping mall set set to the music of Bing Crosby’s “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” gives us a sense of what is to follow in this film. Comedy and violence go hand in hand here. 

A classic tale of two dysfunctional families coming together at Christmas and trying to grin and bear their dislike for each other is something we have seen many times before. Here Tom (Adam Scott) and Sarah (Toni Collette) are struggling with their marriage whilst trying to raise their children including Ben (Emjay Anthony) who will unknowingly begin the chaos about to befall them. When Sarah’s sister Linda (Alison Tolman), her husband Howard (David Koechner) and their rabble of offspring arrive for the holidays. One family is refined and liberal whilst the other is uncouth and conservative. 

When Ben loses his faith in Santa following an argument with his cousins he prompts the Krampus to come after them. The story of the Krampus and his history is told in a gorgeous animated sequence at the half way point by Ben’s German grandmother Omi (Krista Stadler). 

A blizzard cuts the family off from the rest of the world and a delightful menagerie of creepy Christmas staples pick off our heroes one by one. The creature effects and designs are quite frankly awesome and the deaths hugely inventive. The film also began Toni Collette’s regime as a true scream Queen and features a genius horror movie ending. 

It truly is a perfect alternative Christmas movie. What better way to make you appreciate your family than to watch them brutally die one by one? Heart warming and scary.