Instead of this movie going from 0 to 60, it went from 60 to 0. It started out like it was going to be a good movie, but somewhere towards the middle right down to the end it became horrible. The story line was good, but the acting and directing started to suck, it seems like the actors lost their scripts, gave up and started improvising. The acting was bad and the movie turned ridiculous. Save yourself 1:28:45!
27 Reviews
Not worth the time unless you are just in it for the gore
Steal_masters29 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The movie starts out confusing and just snowballs. As clues to what is happening are revealed, and the identity of Frau Perchta/Molly (Why the heck call her Mother Krampus?) is revealed it just gets more baffling. When the movie wrapped up I had more questions than answers as to what they were trying to say. The surface plot was really tossed together too fast to leave anyone who wants to think about their movies satisfied.
Overall, I would skip this movie unless you are just watching it to see some people die, and don't really care what is going on.
Also the original title makes much more sense, Krampus has NOTHING to do with this. Should have left it 'The 12 deaths of Christmas'. Neither title really works but the latter at least isn't a huge lie.
Overall, I would skip this movie unless you are just watching it to see some people die, and don't really care what is going on.
Also the original title makes much more sense, Krampus has NOTHING to do with this. Should have left it 'The 12 deaths of Christmas'. Neither title really works but the latter at least isn't a huge lie.
Merry Christm... oh, who cares anyway?...
paul_haakonsen17 December 2018
For some reason I have been putting off watching "Mother Krampus" for about a year. So I decided to watch it in 2018, now that the Christmas season is slowly starting to enclose upon us.
Right, well I should have waited longer or just put it off all together. I managed to endure 27 minutes of the ordeal that is "Mother Krampus" before I gave up out of sheer and utter boredom. This movie had nothing interesting to offer any where, any how or any place. It felt very amateurish, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I had hoped for something more, mind you.
The acting in the movie was definitely not the most brilliant of thespian performances, and this too felt like it was not fully there. Some of the performances were quite questionable and felt like the actors and actresses themselves didn't really believe in the script.
As for the script and storyline, well I am sure that every bit of good intention was put into it. But it just had zero appeal to me. And I can honestly say that this is not a movie that I will return to watch any more of at any time ever.
In the 27 minutes of pure boredom that I managed to endure, nothing, and I mean that literally, had happened to entice me to want to keep watching the movie.
This is definitely not a Christmas classic...
Right, well I should have waited longer or just put it off all together. I managed to endure 27 minutes of the ordeal that is "Mother Krampus" before I gave up out of sheer and utter boredom. This movie had nothing interesting to offer any where, any how or any place. It felt very amateurish, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I had hoped for something more, mind you.
The acting in the movie was definitely not the most brilliant of thespian performances, and this too felt like it was not fully there. Some of the performances were quite questionable and felt like the actors and actresses themselves didn't really believe in the script.
As for the script and storyline, well I am sure that every bit of good intention was put into it. But it just had zero appeal to me. And I can honestly say that this is not a movie that I will return to watch any more of at any time ever.
In the 27 minutes of pure boredom that I managed to endure, nothing, and I mean that literally, had happened to entice me to want to keep watching the movie.
This is definitely not a Christmas classic...
Just made it into my "Worse 10 movies ever"
mynewera-298065 October 2020
Most of the acting: BAD
Directing: BAD
Screenplay: ALMOST AS BAD
Music: NOT SO BAD ACTUALLY
Title: COMPLETELY OUT OF PLACE
Theme: GOOD ONE
Final twist in the story: BRILLIANT
Team JAMES KLASS & SCOTT JEFFREY, guys, please do not make any more movies 🍀
Why was this ever made?
qthoward24 August 2018
I have seen some bad movies but this is the worst in my opinion. I usually can tell a bad movie within 5 min of watch time; sometimes even less. I gave this movie a chance because I liked krampus. I actually liked two krampus movies and the third one was just ok. But this, was shyt on a stick ,pretending to be a corndog. Disappointment all around. The story, the actors, the acting, the blood and gore, the special effects, the climax, the ending. I don't know how this movie is on hulu for ppl to watch. I feel like i should be refunded a year of hulu subscription fees because I was able to watched this. Hulu should have standards. Only watch this movie if you want to see the worst movie made thus far. I feel like actual middle school kids could make a better movie.
The horror elements are very weak and most of the kills are disappointing
kevin_robbins7 December 2022
Mother Krampus (2017) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows the story of German Urban Legend of Frau Perchta, the Christmas Witch. In a small town there's a legend of a witch in the woods who steals a kid from town every day for 12 days leading up to Christmas. The town thought they rid themselves of the witch in the 20s but when children start disappearing again they may not be as rid of the witch as they believe.
This movie is directed by James Klass (House on Elm Lake) and stars Tony Manders (The Young Cannibals), Tara MacGowran (Secret Places), Oliver Ebsworth (Nightmare on 34th Street), Sian Crisp (Rocketman) and Becca Hirani (The Gardener).
The best part of the movie is the horror background music. The horror elements are very weak and most of the kills are disappointing. There is a good back stabbing in the woods scene. The acting and dialogue are weak and the makeup used to create the witch was mediocre. The villain doesn't look anything like the cover art at all.
Overall, this is a below average addition to the horror genre that I would score a 3/10 and recommend skipping.
This movie is directed by James Klass (House on Elm Lake) and stars Tony Manders (The Young Cannibals), Tara MacGowran (Secret Places), Oliver Ebsworth (Nightmare on 34th Street), Sian Crisp (Rocketman) and Becca Hirani (The Gardener).
The best part of the movie is the horror background music. The horror elements are very weak and most of the kills are disappointing. There is a good back stabbing in the woods scene. The acting and dialogue are weak and the makeup used to create the witch was mediocre. The villain doesn't look anything like the cover art at all.
Overall, this is a below average addition to the horror genre that I would score a 3/10 and recommend skipping.
Krampus?
ericdhall7718 July 2020
This has nothing to do with Krampus. Not even remotely. The acting is atrocious. The little girl being the worst. They makeup, bad. Bad script. Honestly with the exception of a few lights and a tree, it has no reason to even be related to Christmas. The is a story about a vengeful spirit. I wouldn't even call her a witch. This is on the independent film that should not have been made list, I'm sure. Do the best you can to try not to turn it off. It took all I could not to.
Christmas disaster
TheLittleSongbird11 July 2018
'12 Deaths of Christmas' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not particularly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive as well as the low rating and poor reviews.
It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. '12 Deaths of Christmas' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is next to nothing to recommend.
Lets start with the sole positive. The setting is atmospheric and spooky.
Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited and the drab colour palette, so much so it was hard to appreciate it, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm. In particular, the camera work was a nauseous assault on the eyes with its excessive amateurish-ness.
Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.
Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting that shows a huge indifference to the situation and what is going on and extremely awkward prolonged pauses.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés, lots of unintentional humour that makes some of the film play like a really bad spoof and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about and useless padding, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both very poorly done.
A lot of '12 Deaths of Christmas' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper.
There is not enough threat, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Everything here is neither creative, suspenseful or nail-biting. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden and like their heart was not in it or ill at ease, with the chemistry between the characters and actors coming over as constantly random and aggressive with the subtlety of an axe. The Christmas spirit is completely lost underneath all the gratuity, dreariness and mean-spiritedness and the deaths are neither creative or scary with a complete lack of suspense or sense of horror.
Overall, awful with no redeeming value apart from an element that is difficult to appreciate with it being complemented so badly. 1/10 Bethany Cox
It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. '12 Deaths of Christmas' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is next to nothing to recommend.
Lets start with the sole positive. The setting is atmospheric and spooky.
Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited and the drab colour palette, so much so it was hard to appreciate it, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm. In particular, the camera work was a nauseous assault on the eyes with its excessive amateurish-ness.
Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.
Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting that shows a huge indifference to the situation and what is going on and extremely awkward prolonged pauses.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés, lots of unintentional humour that makes some of the film play like a really bad spoof and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about and useless padding, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both very poorly done.
A lot of '12 Deaths of Christmas' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper.
There is not enough threat, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Everything here is neither creative, suspenseful or nail-biting. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden and like their heart was not in it or ill at ease, with the chemistry between the characters and actors coming over as constantly random and aggressive with the subtlety of an axe. The Christmas spirit is completely lost underneath all the gratuity, dreariness and mean-spiritedness and the deaths are neither creative or scary with a complete lack of suspense or sense of horror.
Overall, awful with no redeeming value apart from an element that is difficult to appreciate with it being complemented so badly. 1/10 Bethany Cox
Had to force ourselves to finish
kthl-709363 October 2018
This is not a Krampus movie!
Mountainshadows24 December 2019
I guess some marketing wiz thought that having the word "Krampus" to the title might make a few folks watch it. Deceitful and shameful. This movie had nothing to do with Krampus. It was just another "scary" movie capitalizing on the horror Christmas theme.
Good for a laugh
lustigerlumpi11 February 2022
Just stumbled into this mess by accident. This movie should have been a comedy and not a horror movie, I guess they tried to rip off "the nun" but fell flat on their faces. If you wanna make cheesy horror flick that's fine with me, many classics prolly had lower budgets than this one, but why make it so bad?
The whole premise of the movie could have been good, but got ruined by horrible acting, gore effects out of a mickey mouse magazine and suspense of a snail race. Like seriously are all these actors drugged up, they watch the menace approach with stoic faces or while somebody next to them gets attacked. The kids are especially stupid and hilarious in this one. Their attempts to fight are so half assed it was laugh inducing, bad witch approaching? Splash a bowl of water into her face! She is attacking your kid? Throw an empty cardboard box at her back! The worst thing was the supposed Christmas lights that would protect them from her, next thing you know she strangles on of the dudes with a Christmas light, like Wut???
If you got time to waste, it's good for that, but don't expect to be scared at all.
The whole premise of the movie could have been good, but got ruined by horrible acting, gore effects out of a mickey mouse magazine and suspense of a snail race. Like seriously are all these actors drugged up, they watch the menace approach with stoic faces or while somebody next to them gets attacked. The kids are especially stupid and hilarious in this one. Their attempts to fight are so half assed it was laugh inducing, bad witch approaching? Splash a bowl of water into her face! She is attacking your kid? Throw an empty cardboard box at her back! The worst thing was the supposed Christmas lights that would protect them from her, next thing you know she strangles on of the dudes with a Christmas light, like Wut???
If you got time to waste, it's good for that, but don't expect to be scared at all.
Mother Krampus Is cool movie
ctiborovahana22 January 2022
Mother Krampus 1 is a great Christmas horror movie full of blood and suffering and it has a lot in common with Krampus, such as kidnapping children and the fact that it takes place on Christmas 9/10 just because I miss the snow there otherwise it's a great movie 9/10 definitely take a look at it.
Watchable if flawed effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder10 December 2019
Heading off to her father's cabin, a woman and her daughter intending to get through the Christmas holiday together find themselves the subject of a town-wide curse as the spirit of a witch that was killed years earlier comes back for revenge, targeting the daughter and forcing them to try to stop it.
This one wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. A lot of the film's positives center on the fear of children being targeted by the vicious creature. The real-life inspiration here for the figure coming back to haunt the citizens of the community based on the curse of the woman that the town burned alive has a great setup here with the witch coming back to target the kids. Based on the historical setup given through the church-meetings that go into the connections between everyone in the village to the hanging of the woman years ago, the overall setup from the film is quite enjoyable that turns over to the kids being the target of the creatures' rampage as it centers on the parents forcing themselves into action to save them. There's also the really enjoyable work here with the witch's confrontations and encounters with the kids. The opening abduction of the kid from the church is a chilling opening encounter, while the sightings of the witch lurking around the family tempting the daughter all come together to give this a creepy atmosphere. Other scenes, including the stalking of the babysitter and the young daughter in their darkened home or the witch's ambush in the woods, get far more brutal than chilling and it makes for a nice setup leading into the finale where the creature attacks the house. The action here is rather fun and frantic, leading to several nice confrontations with the creatures' powers providing some bloody scenes, giving this one a lot to really like. There are some problems to be had with this one. One of the biggest issues is the film's rather puzzling setup that includes some unnecessary elements here that drag the pacing out longer than it should be. The human-interest storyline involving everyone dealing with cheating spouses and long-buried secret identities doesn't provide the film with much, carrying on merely in the interest of bringing the husband and his girlfriend into the picture for more bodies to carve up sine their inclusion isn't warranted at all. These scenes are boring and not in the slightest interesting, much like the seemingly endless house ambush that goes on forever and seems to exist solely to show the witch engaging in brutal exaggerated torments on the group rather than going for its target that it could've easily done so at various chances throughout the sequence. The other real issue with this one concerns the film's cheap look and overall tone. The one-location setting and lack of any real grandiose sequences won't be any real reason to knock this but they do help the film come off with no budget. As well, there's the penchant for on-location lighting that renders a lot of the night scenes hard to make out due to the darkness present and relying on the localized candles and Christmas lights to constitute the only enhancements present in the scene. The witch make-up is simply atrocious, looking like running eyeliner after a heavy night of drinking that makes her look hung-over rather than a vengeful witch. These here are what hold this one down overall.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and children-in-jeopardy.
This one wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. A lot of the film's positives center on the fear of children being targeted by the vicious creature. The real-life inspiration here for the figure coming back to haunt the citizens of the community based on the curse of the woman that the town burned alive has a great setup here with the witch coming back to target the kids. Based on the historical setup given through the church-meetings that go into the connections between everyone in the village to the hanging of the woman years ago, the overall setup from the film is quite enjoyable that turns over to the kids being the target of the creatures' rampage as it centers on the parents forcing themselves into action to save them. There's also the really enjoyable work here with the witch's confrontations and encounters with the kids. The opening abduction of the kid from the church is a chilling opening encounter, while the sightings of the witch lurking around the family tempting the daughter all come together to give this a creepy atmosphere. Other scenes, including the stalking of the babysitter and the young daughter in their darkened home or the witch's ambush in the woods, get far more brutal than chilling and it makes for a nice setup leading into the finale where the creature attacks the house. The action here is rather fun and frantic, leading to several nice confrontations with the creatures' powers providing some bloody scenes, giving this one a lot to really like. There are some problems to be had with this one. One of the biggest issues is the film's rather puzzling setup that includes some unnecessary elements here that drag the pacing out longer than it should be. The human-interest storyline involving everyone dealing with cheating spouses and long-buried secret identities doesn't provide the film with much, carrying on merely in the interest of bringing the husband and his girlfriend into the picture for more bodies to carve up sine their inclusion isn't warranted at all. These scenes are boring and not in the slightest interesting, much like the seemingly endless house ambush that goes on forever and seems to exist solely to show the witch engaging in brutal exaggerated torments on the group rather than going for its target that it could've easily done so at various chances throughout the sequence. The other real issue with this one concerns the film's cheap look and overall tone. The one-location setting and lack of any real grandiose sequences won't be any real reason to knock this but they do help the film come off with no budget. As well, there's the penchant for on-location lighting that renders a lot of the night scenes hard to make out due to the darkness present and relying on the localized candles and Christmas lights to constitute the only enhancements present in the scene. The witch make-up is simply atrocious, looking like running eyeliner after a heavy night of drinking that makes her look hung-over rather than a vengeful witch. These here are what hold this one down overall.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and children-in-jeopardy.
Almost completely tedious and vapid, and pointedly imitative
I_Ailurophile16 December 2021
Few movies come to mind that have been this extraordinarily heavy-handed. There is no subtlety to be had in 'Mother Krampus.' From the opening narration, to the acting; from the writing and direction, to sound and music; from camerawork to editing. From start to finish and in every way, the feature is executed with such a blunt, forthright, indelicate hand that it becomes difficult to extract any meaningful entertainment. The narrative emphatically borrows from a large number of other well-known horror movies, dialogue is hackneyed and dull, and characters are bland. For whatever passing cleverness there may occasionally be in the scene writing, much more so than not each moment that presents to us not only fails to excite - if it's not outright boring, there are many instances that strain credulity beyond the breaking point.
I don't want to make any assumptions about the skills of anyone involved. Maybe it was just an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances that restricted director James Klass, screenwriter Scott Jeffrey, or the cast from demonstrating particular capability. Yet even the makeup and costume design is dubious, and and if at first blush any appearance of blood and gore seems passable, in the next instant it becomes over the top and boorish. All the while, 'Mother Krampus' is wholly unable to truly make an impression. Any moment that should bear emotional heft, or that is shown to us with an air of profundity, floats by with no impact at all. These are 94 agonizingly long minutes; by the time one hour has passed, the feature has been such a slog that we're left to feel that surely the finale is just around the corner to end this terrible trial of endurance. Once the last sequence is finally upon us, however, it is a very mixed bag that at its best (again, plainly mimicking another title) still cannot redeem all that preceded it.
The only way I can imagine viewing 'Mother Krampus' in a positive light would be to consider this as a bone-dry, deadpan satire, an unblinking parody of not just horror movies generally, but of holiday horror movies specifically. I'll allow that maybe - just maybe - this was the actual intent of the picture, and I and everyone else who has sat to watch it has entered with false assumptions. But I really don't think that's the case; I have no reason to. Instead, the result is a film that is simply a chore to experience, without exception. I'd like to think that those involved would illustrate their abilities, given the chance, but from this one data point one can hardly draw a favorable conclusion. Even if you're desperate for a Christmas-themed genre flick, I cannot in good conscience recommend this; there are countless far better examples, and any subjective value one may find in this pablum is exhibited in much greater abundance elsewhere.
Hard pass on 'Mother Krampus' - you don't need to see this.
I don't want to make any assumptions about the skills of anyone involved. Maybe it was just an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances that restricted director James Klass, screenwriter Scott Jeffrey, or the cast from demonstrating particular capability. Yet even the makeup and costume design is dubious, and and if at first blush any appearance of blood and gore seems passable, in the next instant it becomes over the top and boorish. All the while, 'Mother Krampus' is wholly unable to truly make an impression. Any moment that should bear emotional heft, or that is shown to us with an air of profundity, floats by with no impact at all. These are 94 agonizingly long minutes; by the time one hour has passed, the feature has been such a slog that we're left to feel that surely the finale is just around the corner to end this terrible trial of endurance. Once the last sequence is finally upon us, however, it is a very mixed bag that at its best (again, plainly mimicking another title) still cannot redeem all that preceded it.
The only way I can imagine viewing 'Mother Krampus' in a positive light would be to consider this as a bone-dry, deadpan satire, an unblinking parody of not just horror movies generally, but of holiday horror movies specifically. I'll allow that maybe - just maybe - this was the actual intent of the picture, and I and everyone else who has sat to watch it has entered with false assumptions. But I really don't think that's the case; I have no reason to. Instead, the result is a film that is simply a chore to experience, without exception. I'd like to think that those involved would illustrate their abilities, given the chance, but from this one data point one can hardly draw a favorable conclusion. Even if you're desperate for a Christmas-themed genre flick, I cannot in good conscience recommend this; there are countless far better examples, and any subjective value one may find in this pablum is exhibited in much greater abundance elsewhere.
Hard pass on 'Mother Krampus' - you don't need to see this.
An Undercooked But Over-Baked Christmas Turkey, Which Is Better Off Dead'N'Buried'N'Forgotten... Do NOT Watch This Film.
P3n-E-W1s330 December 2020
Before I get into the review, here are my ratings for the movie.
The story gets 0.25 out of 2: The Direction a 0.5: The Pacing receives a 0: While the Acting gets 0.75: And my Enjoyment level earns a 0.25 out of 2: Mother Krampus, therefore, rates a 1.25 out of 10.
I love Christmas and Horror films, so you'd think I'd be in heaven when the two genres mix, wouldn't you(?) Unfortunately, there are only a few agreeable Christmas Horror flicks out there. Mother Krampus is definitely not one of them.
Everything in this film is atrocious.
The strange issue with this film is that all the elements have a glimmer of expectancy. With the story, it's the premise. Twenty-five years previous, in the town of Belgravia, there were twelve child murders. Back to the present day and the murders have begun again. However, the murderess is deceased. So what's happing to the kids?
Numerous writers and directors have used this concept before. Having watched quite a few of these, I was happy to note the writer, Scott Jeffrey, opted to go for the vengeful spirit approach. Unfortunately, Jeffrey's writing style is clumsy, and he does like staying within stereotype guidelines with his character creation. When he does stray out of the lines, he serves up some splendid stupidity. I particularly loved the husband and father, Wildon. After an invite to Christmas Dinner, he turns up with his new girlfriend. This is the same women for whom he's just abandoned his family.
Of course, you know what's going to happen. And after the relationship fireworks, comes Mother Krampus. Within this sequence, you'll enjoy the delightfully idiotic scene where Wildon professes his love to his wife, while the flesh falls from his face. Would you believe it, he never loved nor cared for the new woman(?). By this point, the production team must have decided to go down the pub as the sound is atrocious. You cannot clearly hear what the couple is expressing unless you pump up the volume. I'll forewarn you, it's not worth annoying your neighbours for.
Vexingly, these elements ruin the scene, while the director, James Klass, tries to include some atmosphere by using lighting techniques. Sadly, the lights are too garish for the ambience he's trying to create. But, at least, he's trying. And, the special effects team have also finally pulled their fingers out. Wildon's scared and ripped face is more than reasonable, for a budget horror. But nothing can rescue the scene.
Mother Krampus is full of these sorts of errors and problems. Another favourite cringe-worthy scene is when daddy Alfie advises his daughter, Vanessa, there's only one way to fight the vengeful wraith. So while he wields an axe, very badly, Vanessa is armed with the ultimate weapon... a twig wrapped in fairy lights. The idea is so ludicrous it surpasses laughability. Next, we take a further step into the absurd as Klass hits the viewer with an iconic composition. Vanessa and her daughter Amy stand side-by-side, tooled-up with Chrimbo-lighted sticks, while daddy Alfie takes up the rear with the axe in a reverse V formation. It's not a terrible shot, but it's totally ridiculous.
Luckily, Alfie has the perfect kill shot set up for him. However, instead of cleaving Mother K's skull in two, he decided to throttle her with the axe handle. Man, is this guy is useless(?)
Though Klass does try, in places, to make the film more interesting for the audience, he chiefly fails. There's a lot of excessive camera shake and bad camera angles. Even the above iconic V shot could have been better. The framing needed to be more central. The upper half of the shot has little content, which leaves the cast members occupying the bottom half. Add to that, a great deal of camera wobble. As for the tempo, this is nearly impossible to comprehend. It's haphazard and varies from steady to tedious. Klass appears to pay no attention to it and lets the scene set the tempo. He needed to decide on the atmosphere he wanted in the scene; then set the pace to help create that mood.
The most talented actors and actresses in this film are, at best, average. And, I believe that's down to Klass' direction. Regrettably, their skills and talents are hindered further by the rest of the cast, who can rapidly bring a scene low. The worst of the bunch is Tara MacGowran who portrays Mother Krampus, A.K.A. Frau Perchta, A.K.A. Molly. This woman is unscary. Her outfit looks like a bad, couldn't-be-bothered, Halloween costume. And what the production team has done to her voice is appalling. It's so deep you cannot understand most of what she says. If you've got a soundbar, you may want to readjust the subwoofer. As you can guess, I recommend you stay away from this unscary Christmas blood-bath.
Come, jump in my sleigh and fly on over to my Absolute Horror and HO! HO! HO! Christmas Belles lists to see where the risible wraith landed in my rankings. You'll also find a considerably worthier film to watch this festive season.
Take Care & Stay Well & Merry Christmas
The story gets 0.25 out of 2: The Direction a 0.5: The Pacing receives a 0: While the Acting gets 0.75: And my Enjoyment level earns a 0.25 out of 2: Mother Krampus, therefore, rates a 1.25 out of 10.
I love Christmas and Horror films, so you'd think I'd be in heaven when the two genres mix, wouldn't you(?) Unfortunately, there are only a few agreeable Christmas Horror flicks out there. Mother Krampus is definitely not one of them.
Everything in this film is atrocious.
The strange issue with this film is that all the elements have a glimmer of expectancy. With the story, it's the premise. Twenty-five years previous, in the town of Belgravia, there were twelve child murders. Back to the present day and the murders have begun again. However, the murderess is deceased. So what's happing to the kids?
Numerous writers and directors have used this concept before. Having watched quite a few of these, I was happy to note the writer, Scott Jeffrey, opted to go for the vengeful spirit approach. Unfortunately, Jeffrey's writing style is clumsy, and he does like staying within stereotype guidelines with his character creation. When he does stray out of the lines, he serves up some splendid stupidity. I particularly loved the husband and father, Wildon. After an invite to Christmas Dinner, he turns up with his new girlfriend. This is the same women for whom he's just abandoned his family.
Of course, you know what's going to happen. And after the relationship fireworks, comes Mother Krampus. Within this sequence, you'll enjoy the delightfully idiotic scene where Wildon professes his love to his wife, while the flesh falls from his face. Would you believe it, he never loved nor cared for the new woman(?). By this point, the production team must have decided to go down the pub as the sound is atrocious. You cannot clearly hear what the couple is expressing unless you pump up the volume. I'll forewarn you, it's not worth annoying your neighbours for.
Vexingly, these elements ruin the scene, while the director, James Klass, tries to include some atmosphere by using lighting techniques. Sadly, the lights are too garish for the ambience he's trying to create. But, at least, he's trying. And, the special effects team have also finally pulled their fingers out. Wildon's scared and ripped face is more than reasonable, for a budget horror. But nothing can rescue the scene.
Mother Krampus is full of these sorts of errors and problems. Another favourite cringe-worthy scene is when daddy Alfie advises his daughter, Vanessa, there's only one way to fight the vengeful wraith. So while he wields an axe, very badly, Vanessa is armed with the ultimate weapon... a twig wrapped in fairy lights. The idea is so ludicrous it surpasses laughability. Next, we take a further step into the absurd as Klass hits the viewer with an iconic composition. Vanessa and her daughter Amy stand side-by-side, tooled-up with Chrimbo-lighted sticks, while daddy Alfie takes up the rear with the axe in a reverse V formation. It's not a terrible shot, but it's totally ridiculous.
Luckily, Alfie has the perfect kill shot set up for him. However, instead of cleaving Mother K's skull in two, he decided to throttle her with the axe handle. Man, is this guy is useless(?)
Though Klass does try, in places, to make the film more interesting for the audience, he chiefly fails. There's a lot of excessive camera shake and bad camera angles. Even the above iconic V shot could have been better. The framing needed to be more central. The upper half of the shot has little content, which leaves the cast members occupying the bottom half. Add to that, a great deal of camera wobble. As for the tempo, this is nearly impossible to comprehend. It's haphazard and varies from steady to tedious. Klass appears to pay no attention to it and lets the scene set the tempo. He needed to decide on the atmosphere he wanted in the scene; then set the pace to help create that mood.
The most talented actors and actresses in this film are, at best, average. And, I believe that's down to Klass' direction. Regrettably, their skills and talents are hindered further by the rest of the cast, who can rapidly bring a scene low. The worst of the bunch is Tara MacGowran who portrays Mother Krampus, A.K.A. Frau Perchta, A.K.A. Molly. This woman is unscary. Her outfit looks like a bad, couldn't-be-bothered, Halloween costume. And what the production team has done to her voice is appalling. It's so deep you cannot understand most of what she says. If you've got a soundbar, you may want to readjust the subwoofer. As you can guess, I recommend you stay away from this unscary Christmas blood-bath.
Come, jump in my sleigh and fly on over to my Absolute Horror and HO! HO! HO! Christmas Belles lists to see where the risible wraith landed in my rankings. You'll also find a considerably worthier film to watch this festive season.
Take Care & Stay Well & Merry Christmas
Movie
neal-9776127 November 2017
This movie was HORRIBLE, honestly pretty sick not a movie for kids. This sounded like it would be a good movie but it was not. It was pretty strange.lots of blood, to what I expected at all. I would not recommend anyone to watch this movie it was a waste of time and money. I honestly laughed more than I thought it was so scary because it was so ridiculous.
Terrible movie with idiot characters.
lordsesshomaru2-113 January 2019
The movie starts out slow, and plods along for what seems like forever before the killing starts. Most of the characters act like idiots, and not horror movie idiocy, but somehow worse. Towards the end of the movie I was hoping for everyone to die. There were only three points where I went "well, that was interesting", but those points last less than 3 minutes total, and they were methods that the killer used to murder these idiots. But even then, they were nothing special.
The movie tries to shoehorn in this plot point about family drama into the movie, but it's so boring and towards the end becomes completely nonsensical. And there is one character, which the movie for some reason seems to revolve around, is such moron that they should have died a little over halfway into the movie. "Oh, the monster won't kill me, if it was going to it would have done so"
And like other reviewers stated, the ending is so terrible that it somehow makes an already bad movie worse.
Don't watch this movie, you will regret it.
The movie tries to shoehorn in this plot point about family drama into the movie, but it's so boring and towards the end becomes completely nonsensical. And there is one character, which the movie for some reason seems to revolve around, is such moron that they should have died a little over halfway into the movie. "Oh, the monster won't kill me, if it was going to it would have done so"
And like other reviewers stated, the ending is so terrible that it somehow makes an already bad movie worse.
Don't watch this movie, you will regret it.
ain't so bad
eduardocarrochio-6587917 December 2018
movie has actualy nothing to do with krampus
heirman_steven23 April 2018
When you see the word krampus you think of the demon from the krampus movie but this has nothing to do with krampus only thing that is the same is the story happens on christmas another to add at my never watch agains list (wich i realy should start making :p )
Hide yo kids
thewakenarrative13 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Mother Krampus (Beware there may be spoilers)
To get into the holiday spirit, we thought, why not watch a festive movie? Maybe next time we'll just stick to good ole Black Christmas or something with at least some sort of linear plot line. This Christmas treat begins by providing a dark history of a town that has been plagued by the disappearance of children over the years around Christmas time. The vanishings were blamed on, you guessed it, Mother Krampus. Flash forward, she's back and ready to get revenge!
The first victim is stolen in plain sight from a church. The parenting on this one was top notch. Then another child disappears. Now the town huddles up and we learn why this child abductor is so keen to keep terrorizing this town; 25 years ago she was tortured by the children's grandparents and parents and is still quite upset about it. This year kids, no need to worry about being naughty or nice, your parents already sold your fate to Mother Krampus.
All I Want For Christmas Is You: Yup, all Mother Krampus wants this Christmas is you, little child. Take her hand and go to your new home.
Do You Hear What I Hear? If you're hearing Mother Krampus cutting off skin to make gingerbread cookies, then you're hearing the same thing. Too bad no one in this movie was an actual ginger.
Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart: Literally, you ripped out my heart.
I saw Frau Perchta Killing Children: Call out her name 3 times in front of the mirror and she'll rock your world.
Overall Grade: D for didn't understand.
Bad story, even worse acting
hulksmashjs2 January 2019
First off, this is the worst movie I have probably seen that I can remember. My girlfriends siblings Christmas play had better acting than this. I'm guessing they got these actors off of craigslist or just people they knew that needed some cash. The ending of the movie made absolutely no sense, I would not recommend watching the movie all the way to the end because you will feel that you have just wasted an hour and a half of your night. If there were an option to read this in the negatives, I would highly recommend doing that. I would also appreciate someone starting a petition to get this movie off of Hulu or any other place you can watch it so nobody has to go through with watching this garbage movie.
If you watch any of the Krampus movies out there, make it this one!
banglainey29 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
After spending an entire weekend watching every single Krampus movie I could find, I would have to say, at 6 stars this is the best you will get! Usually UK films are quite terrible, but this one stood out in several ways!
One, it had pretty decent actors, and a cohesive storyline, with a bonus twist at the end!
Two, it has the most gore. I especially enjoyed the scene where Mother Krampus takes a gingerbread man cookie cutter, stabs it into the skin of one of her victims, peels out a skin cutout of a gingerbread, cooks it over the fire and eats it.
If there were any major drawbacks, I'd say, although the character was supposed to be a Krampus-like demon, the actual storyline has nothing to do with the mythos of Krampus, which is probably why the film was also/alternatively called "The 12 Deaths of Christmas", and that title was even misleading because she doesn't even kill 12 kids only 5, and it doesn't take place 12 days before Christmas, it takes place like, 2 days before Christmas.
In either case if you like terrible horror, this one was worth watching!
One, it had pretty decent actors, and a cohesive storyline, with a bonus twist at the end!
Two, it has the most gore. I especially enjoyed the scene where Mother Krampus takes a gingerbread man cookie cutter, stabs it into the skin of one of her victims, peels out a skin cutout of a gingerbread, cooks it over the fire and eats it.
If there were any major drawbacks, I'd say, although the character was supposed to be a Krampus-like demon, the actual storyline has nothing to do with the mythos of Krampus, which is probably why the film was also/alternatively called "The 12 Deaths of Christmas", and that title was even misleading because she doesn't even kill 12 kids only 5, and it doesn't take place 12 days before Christmas, it takes place like, 2 days before Christmas.
In either case if you like terrible horror, this one was worth watching!
It is time to face our demons.
nogodnomasters9 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Vanessa (Claire-Maria Fox) and her daughter Amy (Faye Goodwin) are going to spend Christmas at grandpa's (Tony Manders) because her husband likes younger women. There is a back story with a curse and missing children concerning an incident that happened a few decades ago. It involves folklore (urban legend in the film) concerning Frau Perchta (Tara MacGowran) aka Mother Krampus. It seems she comes around randomly to get children, but also can be summoned like Bloody Mary/Candyman because this wasn't that great of a script until we get to the twist or explanatory ending. And by then it was too late.
Certainly not the worst Krampus film out there. Clair-Marie Fox and Tara MacGowran should have swapped roles.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Certainly not the worst Krampus film out there. Clair-Marie Fox and Tara MacGowran should have swapped roles.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Scared yet?
kosmasp10 October 2020
There's a good possibility you aren't while watching this. And while I believe they did their best (with the available budget), the evil within here did not even faze, scare me or got me running away ... Having said all that the British actors bring some gravitas to the whole thing ... though it may only be the accent! Actually I'm certain it is the accent - as in if you actually listen to some of the dialog ... better don't! You'll be saner for it.
All these things aside, those yearning for horror movies that include jump scares, might not be as convinced what the movie is concerned or the overall quality of it. Scares do the trick no matter how cheap (same goes for the effects) ... I'd suggest you go on to other better movies, more deserving of your time, but ultimately it is up to you
All these things aside, those yearning for horror movies that include jump scares, might not be as convinced what the movie is concerned or the overall quality of it. Scares do the trick no matter how cheap (same goes for the effects) ... I'd suggest you go on to other better movies, more deserving of your time, but ultimately it is up to you
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