Krampus

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Krampus is the reason for the season.

Krampus ? 4 out of 5

'Tis the season, I guess?but when the season now starts the day before Halloween, it?s really hard to remain in the Christmas spirit when December gets here.  To me, the holiday is about spending some time with the family, exchanging stories, gifts and laughs and eating too much?and then going to the movies because that?s a tradition with my girlfriend and I.  Occasionally, I get into a Christmas film here and there?films like A Christmas Story, Die Hard (yes, that?s an X-mas film), Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Gremlins?but, for the most part and even though I like them, I don?t really partake in many of these features too often?at least, not on a yearly basis.  However, when I saw the trailer for Krampus, I quickly realized that I think I found a holiday feature that was right up my alley?and it surely was!

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When you think about it, sounds of joy and horror aren't really so
different.

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Adam Scott just looks at home in the dark comedy genre.

It?s the most wonderful time of the year for Tom (Adam Scott), Sarah (Toni Collette), their kids; Max (Emjay Anthony) and Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), and Tom?s mother (Krista Stadler).  The family is having their fair share of issues as Tom and Sarah?s marriage is a bit unstable and Max is becoming a bit of a problem; however, the boy is still hoping to have at least one Christmas like the ones he is used to.  Those hopes are dashed as Sarah?s sister Linda (Allison Tolman?who I loved on the first season of Fargo) and her husband Howard (David Koechner) bring their loud and abrasive family to the festivities and their tomboy daughters; Stevie (Lolo Owen) and Jordan (Queenie Samuel), find Max's letter to Santa and openly mock him for his belief in the bringer of happiness and joy at the dinner table.  Max is embarrassed, enraged and disheartened and rips up his letter to Santa.  This act awakens a dark and ancient spirit, the very shadow of Santa Claus, and he?s come to collect the wicked people of the neighborhood.  He is, as the grandmother explains, Krampus.

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Plot Twist:  Krampus was a bell the whole time!

For those of you who don?t know, Krampus is based on an ancient folklore from Europe who hung out with St. Nick and punished the bad kids and taught them lessons.  In the past few years, Krampus has re-entered the world of pop culture?possibly due to the extremely hilarious episode of The League.  I can?t confirm if that?s why the creature?s popularity returned but that?s how I discovered the legend of it.  Having this legend become a big piece of our pop culture pie, getting a sweet, dark Christmas story out of it seemed like inevitability.  Sure, there are a couple of cheap ones made by studios who mastered the art of the low budget, Direct-to-DVD features but it?s nice that a big budget one was released into the theaters because there just aren?t enough dark Christmas tales out there.  Sure, we have schlocky ones like Silent Night, Deadly Night and classics like Gremlins but it?s been a long time since we?ve had a darker, more twisted Christmas film come along and Krampus really hits the spot and fills the void.

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Krampus is metal as fuck!

One thing that surprised me about the film was the fact the story definitely felt more geared towards horror than comedy.  Yes, the film does have some very funny moments and there are enough of them that firmly cements the film into the genre of dark comedy but the story really felt more like it was leaning more in the direction of horror than it was towards the humorous.  This observation is in no way a complaint because I actually really liked that about the film.  The director (who also co-wrote this one and directed and co-wrote the awesome Halloween feature Trick ?r Treat) really mastered the tone and atmosphere of this film and was able to create something that took all the clich?s of the season?like snowmen, decorations, sweets and toys?and was able to make them feel horrifying, unsettling and extremely creepy.  The film is never flat-out terrifying but it does work in a few decent jump scares to get the heart racing and the visuals and Krampus? creatures (and the beast himself) are designed to look very spooky and really made for a film that will have you laughing one second with its humor and cast but sending a shiver down your spine the next.

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In all seriousness, this thing was terrifying.

Additionally, the story never tries to overcomplicate itself or try to be anything beyond what it needs to be.  It?s simple, direct and to the point and it works to get the plot moving rapidly and establish so much without having to resort to over-explaining what is happening.  The only real time exposition is laid out for you is when the grandmother Omi is explaining who is tormenting their neighborhood and her history with Krampus and, even then, it is done creatively with some sweet animation and it never feels like the production is telling rather than showing.  Furthermore, the writing is done so well with the characters that we are able to learn so much about them, their motivations and their conflicts by natural feeling dialogue and interaction between them.  This really helped to create characters that all feel unique, vital to the plot, fairly realistic and extremely sympathetic.

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"His name is Krampus and we all need to kiss our asses goodbye.  Omi out!"

Writing the characters well is all good but without actors to back it up you don?t have much.  That really wasn?t a problem here as the cast is comprised of very talented people that all did their job very well.  I?m a big fan of Adam Scott and really enjoyed him in another dark comedy (Piranha 3D) and it was nice to see him return to this genre and share the screen with other actors I?m fond of like Collette, Tolman and Koechner.  One thing that wouldn?t get out of my head as I watched this was the reality that if I was an actor, this would be a project I would fall all over myself to be a part of.  Being a fan of dark comedies and combining that with the story and the concept of killer toys being led by an evil version of Santa, I don?t know how I could resist such a project.

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It's pretty much a guarantee that if Koechner is in it, I'll see it!

Finally, the one thing I really enjoyed about this film was the ambiguous but ominous ending.  Everything built up in the story could have easily been undone with an overly sappy clich? Hollywood happy ending.  However (and without giving anything away), Krampus takes an old formula seen in the Christmas lesson stories and does a nice little twist on them that allows the viewer to make up their own mind on how pleasant (or unpleasant) of an ending it was.

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Now we just need the badass tattooed Santa from Rise of the Guardians and
we have an epic battle crossover event of a lifetime!

I was pretty excited to watch Krampus and was thoroughly pleased with the final product.  The story is straight forward and filled with some laughs and some genuinely creepy moments.  The cast is fantastic and it definitely has some replay value to it that I want to buy it on Blu-ray and make it a yearly tradition to watch the thing.  I?ll always have a place in my heart for more traditional Christmas tales that involve a mean man with a tragic case of a tiny heart or a dude who is abducted by some ghosts and taught to not be a dick or seeing a bullied reindeer learn that everyone is special?especially when some asshole needs something from you?but, as much as I dig these stories, I kinda dig ones with a little darkness and horror to them more.

The Boxtrolls

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! Trolls come in boxes now...but those boxes better be biodegradable.

The Boxtrolls ? 5 out of 5

When I first saw the trailer for The Boxtrolls, I thought it looked like it would be a fun movie but it wasn?t enough to make me run out to the theater to see it?however, I should have because I absolutely loved every single second of this film?it was so fun, so well made, and so adorable that I can?t help but gush in my review here.

Dear me...that is freakin' cute as hell!

In the fictional town of Cheesebridge, underground dwelling trolls called the boxtrolls roam the night.  The citizens are scared and exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) strikes up a deal with the town?s mayor (Jared Harris) to take out all the boxtrolls and when they are all eliminated he will get a seat on the town?s high council; The White Hats.  Snatcher takes his team?the unsure Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) and Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade) and the simple and volatile Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan)?and set out to take out the creatures and spread vicious rumors about them, claiming they eat children.  Meanwhile, the boxtrolls are trying to live a simple life of being trash scavengers and raise a small human boy they call Eggs (Game of Thrones? Isaac Hempstead Wright).  Unfortunately, the same time Eggs discovers he isn?t a boxtroll from the mayor?s daughter Winnie (Elle Fanning) is the same time he learns a shocking truth about his past and has to gather up the courage to save his friends from Snatcher.

Great, now they are going to be abducted by aliens.

Laika, the animation studio that gave us Coraline and one of my favorite animated films ever; ParaNorman, brought that same level of quality animation to the animated loose adaptation of Alan Snow?s book Here Be Monsters! (I said ?animated? and ?animation? a lot in that sentence).  The thing about this studio that continues to blow me away is the realistic motions they create with their characters.  Everyone in this film moves so life-like that it is nearly mind-blowing.  There is such an attention to detail that they make the characters really come to life and pushes the film away from just being another stop-motion film for kids. 

Maybe if trolls stopped acting like trolls this sort of violence wouldn't happen.

The moment that sticks out for me was the sequence where Fish, the boxtroll that became Eggs? adapted father, is taken by Archibald Snatcher and Eggs can?t save him.  When Fish is taken away, Eggs? entire body slumps down with sadness and overwhelming sense of failure.  It?s a simple bit of bodily acting from the animated character but it spoke volumes to me and made me realize that once again Laika studios were here to deliver something incredible.  The way they make the characters move and the facial expressions they are able to capture not only helps dish out the emotion, drama, and humor the film was soaked in but they were able to ride that line where the characters move fluid and realistic and have them be over-the-top enough to look like they belong in this wondrous cartoonish reality they exist in.

Look at that smile...I wanna be his best friend.

I was just thinking the other day that my blog lacked greatly
in the troll butt department.

Like Coraline and ParaNorman, this stop-motion affair was perfectly crafted to be a family film where kids can have fun with the adorable boxtrolls and adults can appreciate the tender story?and both parties can appreciate the fact that the film doesn?t talk down to either of them.  The story is loaded with heart, humor, and fun that I was pretty much smiling and overwhelmingly enjoying myself the entire running length.  The story made me laugh (and it is damn funny) and even made me cry when it explored Eggs? tragic past and the relationship that he has with the boxtrolls.  Just like ParaNorman, this movie absolutely and perfectly blended having tender moments with humor and action.

"Tell my boxtroll wife that I love her!!!!"

Believe it or not, I've met people who look like this.

Every time I review an animated film, I always have to talk about the voice acting because without it, you can ruin an animated film really fast.  Like everything else about this movie, the voice acting is top notch and some of the best I?ve seen.  Ben Kingsley is absolutely FANTASTIC as Archibald Snatcher?he was so awesome that I had to capitalize the word ?fantastic.?  I honestly didn?t even realize it was him because he did such a great job of crafting a voice that fits the character perfectly.  And the team that Snatcher has is backed up so effectively by the trio of Richard Ayoade, Nick Frost, and Tracy Morgan.  All three of these actors fit like a glove with their characters and they brought so many funny moments.  Morgan especially was hysterical as he really nailed the simple lines of Mr. Gristle and really knew how to make the character hilarious.

There is either one of two things in that box...a boxtroll or something that Justin Timberlake
sang about.

Winnie kinda looks like she can start fires with her mind.

Isaac Hempstead Wright has already won my favor because of Game of Thrones but he was so good as Eggs.  The emotion he was able to convey and the confusion over the realization he discovers was tremendously displayed in his acting.  The same level is brought by Elle Fanning as Winnie.  There isn?t a single actor within this film that doesn?t deliver.  Jared Harris is great as Lord Portly-Rind, the mayor of Cheesebridge, Simon Pegg is great as the significant person from Eggs? past, and the list of talented voice actors like Dee Bradley Baker, Fred Tatasciore, Maurice LaMarche, Tom Kenny, Pat Fraley, Steven Blum, and more really helped bring this wonderful fantasy world to life and made it fun and colorful.

But when I do that to my Subway Sandwich Artist I'm called a creep.

I have absolutely no complaints about The Boxtrolls.  It was fun, dramatic, emotional, hilarious, cute, whimsical, entertaining, delightful, adorable?it was all the good words that my little brain can think of.  Nothing about it felt out of place or like it didn?t belong.  It will definitely go down as one of the best animated films I?ve seen and it absolutely deserved my perfect score.  It was just that epic.