Krampus: The Naughty Edition - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Krampus: The Naughty Edition



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Doesn’t everybody love Christmas? It’s that time of year when we all get together and share the happiness and joy of being born. Or for the less religious folks it’s a holiday that is meant to bring family together and share gifts as tokens of love and affection. OR it’s also a commercialized mess that can bring headaches, pain, suffering and the desire to wrap Christmas lights around the neck and pull just to end the holiday season. Krampus is directed and co-written by Michael Dougherty who has done such wonderful Halloween lore as “Trick-R-Treat” and brings a bit of a darker side to the holiday. The namesake Krampus is basically what happens when all hope and faith in the spirit of Christmas is lost. You know, when life is so miserable that the holidays are no longer about love and joy, but mucking it out until the end of the month when aunt and uncle and all the pain in the neck cousins and other relatives go back to their own home. While the people who are good and faithful to the spirit have St. Nick to bring presents and figgy pudding to all the good boys and girls, there has to be a punishment to those who ruin and mar the spirit. Another spirit, but this one much less benevolent.

Max (Emjay Anthony) absolutely adores Christmas, and despite being over the age of 7 still has this love of all things Santa Clause, including a not so secret belief in the old guy. However, the rest of his family and the world around him appears to have forgotten the reason for the season. Opening up in an old time 50’s style Christmas song, we see the rest of the world beating each up over trinkets in Wal-Mart, and even his own family seems to be jaded and worn down. Father Tom (Adam Scott) wants to believe, but the weight of life and the annoyance of extra family members seeps into the beaten down spirit of the patriarch. Mother Sarah (Toni Collette) is just about ready to become a walking talking pill machine as she pops Xanax to survive the arrival her sister Linda (Allison Tollman) and redneck husband Howard (David Koechner), and of course the bevy of annoying cousins to boot. Max is finally stretched to the breaking point on Christmas Eve, broken in spirit and to the point of tears from the incredible amount of selfishness shown. Tearing up his yearly letter to Santa and vowing off Christmas, the last spark of holiday cheer is extinguished from the abode.

Being that this is a horror movie named Krampus, we all know what’s coming next. With this last spark extinguished on this venerable day of the year, old St. Nick is no longer coming, but the taker and destroyer of those who trample over the holiday is coming to town. There’s no naughty and nice list this year, just a naughty list, and his presents aren’t nearly so nice. Accompanied by a blizzard that snows the whole neighborhood in, Krampus and his demonic toys start to pick off the family one by one. After seeing that something hinky is going on, the once estranged family begins to band together and fight the hordes of Satan’s gingerbread cookies, Angels with teeth, and even the occasional jack in the box who likes to eat children. However, it may be too little too late, as Krampus is not exactly the merciful spirit, and once something is done, many times it cannot be undone.

Let’s just say that I was more than a little excited when I found out Krampus was written and directed by the same creator of Trick-R-Treat, which was one of the most refreshing horror films of the last 10 years. Creepy and effective, Krampus takes a page from that set of Halloween short stories and manages to be both chilling creepy and darkly humorous at the same time. Imagine a world where we have “National Lampoon’s: Christmas Vacations” meet “Gremlins” and a smattering of other films into a twisted tale of Christmas terror. The film manages to be funny and action filled and pretty sickening at the same time. The setup is a little slow, but the suspense and foreboding dread combined with surreal looking visuals set the tone early on. Once the action kicks up and people start dying it becomes more fun. Even though there’s a lot of twisted macabre horror going on, Dougherty keeps the overall tone almost light and energetic, as the audience is chuckling at the antics of demonic toys that try and kill people. That and the over the top fun and goofball stunts it takes to enact revenge on said beasties.

There’s some flaws in the script, mainly in the form of there being a bit TOO much goofiness at times. The fight up in the attic was pretty cool, but some of the intensity of the situation was lost when Linda went all “Rambo” on everything. However, the battle with the nail gun and gingerbread men had me laughing till my eyes ran, yet still keeping that dark feeling in the pit of your stomach. I ALMOST thought the ending was going to completely fail us, but in Dougherty I trust, and I was NOT disappointed as the director’s penchant for leaving you without any hope is realized here. The cast work is top notch and each person has their own special flair to add to the film. I was worried with David Koechner as the redneck uncle, but his stupid antics actually work out to the benefit of the film after a while, including a rather gruesome scene with a snow monster.

Now you’ve read all this before for the original cut, but lets get down to the goodies. The reason why we’re here is not just a 4K UHD disc, it’s for the long awaited “Naughty Cut”. Director Michael Dougherty has long been on the record that Universal made him cut the film down from an R-rating to a PG-13 rating, and this “naughty” R-rated cut has been rumored for 5+ years. Well, it’s finally here as Scream Factory has worked to get the R-rated Cut from Universal and put it out. Honestly, the differences aren’t huge if you were expecting some massive difference. It’s a little naughtier, and the inclusion of different angles and more blood DOOOOO make it an R-rated film, but don’t go in expecting some revolationary cut like Jason Goes to Hell. Still, the additional 15 minutes of footage DO make for a better running film with more gore. The attic scene in particular stands out, as there are not so many quick cuts and you get to see the stabbings and blood in focus. The old cut was hacked and slashed up (pun intended) so you didn’t see as much, but this makes a more fluid looking scene. Then of course there’s the obligatory extra language that’s more R-rated. All in all, the two cuts aren’t MASSIVE, but it is nice. The good thing is this though. They’re similar enough that fans of the original cut wanting it on 4K UHD shouldn’t be too disappointed then (the theatrical cut is not included on either 4K or the Scream Factory Blu-ray for this set, so the universal discs will be where you go for that) as it’s a very similar viewing experience.




Not Rated by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Krampus was shot digitally and originally put on a 2K digital intermediate for the Universal release, and it looks like Scream Factory is using the same 2K master for this release, thus this is technically an upgrade. Comparing the two discs side by side it’s hard to see a massive textural upgrade due to the film’s dark nature and grim colors, but there are some minor upticks in quality. Especially when it comes to skin tones and details on the monsters themselves. The snow and darkness keep it from really popping, but the HDR and Dolby Vision are what really make this upgrade worth it. The black levels go from banding and slightly milky to deep and inky. I did notice a few grain spikes that were there on the Blu-ray, but overall it’s just a REALLY great looking dark image. Colors are slightly more blue and darker with more pop to the small instances of primary colors (a garish sweater, some blood, or the frosting on a gingerbread man). There’s less green to the picture and more of a deep blue, something that is apparent on Scream Factory’s Blu-ray release as well (I’m just guessing their Blu-ray of the Naughty Cut is a down rezzed version of the HDR/DV enhanced 4K disc). Image depth is a bit beefier, and while this is not going to wow audiences with a ton of new detail, IS most definitely an upgrade over the solid enough DVD.








Audio:

While the video is good, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track from the Blu-ray was just amazing (and is included as a supplementary audio track) just plain amazing. That being said, the Atmos remix is just even more perfect than the demo worth 5.1 mix from 5 years ago. Robust and deceivingly aggressive, the audio starts out with a wonderfully immersive Christmas song, but then settles down to a rather standard front heavy mix that relies primarily on dialog. That is UNTIL Beth goes out into the blizzard and the thudding of Krampus’ hooves resound throughout the room and incredibly active natural soundscape is awash with shrieking winds and swirling snow. From then on out it’s a bombastic assault on the senses as demonic elves chatter form all directions, and flesh eating Jack in the Box’s crash through the ductwork and ceiling with abandon. Surround channels get a fantastic workout with all of this and features some finely nuanced ambient noises as well. Dialog is never under scrutiny and everything is perfectly intelligible, even during the most hectic moments. The LFE channel is punishing, with deep LFE that rocks the entire home theater with the thunderous weight of the dark spirit and his army. Listen to Krampus as he lands on the roof or rolls down the chimney. The sheer weight and sonic pressure form the low end is astonishing. Not to mention the overheads getting some great use with said landing on the roof, or listening to the monsters slam around overhead in the attic. GREAT mix.







Extras:

4K UHD
• NEW KRAMPUS: THE NAUGHTY CUT SUPERVISED BY MICHAEL DOUGHERTY, featuring additional scenes and adult language previously cut to get a PG-13 rating
• DOLBY VISION PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• NEW DOLBY ATMOS TRACK
• Audio Commentary With Director/Co-Writer Michael Dougherty And Co-Writers Todd Casey And Zach Shields

Blu-ray
• NEW KRAMPUS: THE NAUGHTY CUT SUPERVISED BY MICHAEL DOUGHERTY, featuring additional scenes and adult language previously cut to get a PG-13 rating
• NEW DOLBY ATMOS TRACK
• NEW A Dash Of Mischief – An Interview with director/co-Writer Michael Dougherty
• NEW Storm Of The Centuries – An Interview with producer Todd Casey
• NEW The Great Protector – An Interview with actor David Koechner
• NEW Something Bad Happened On Christmas – An Interview with actress Allison Tolman
• NEW Max's Journey – An Interview with actor Emjay Anthony
• NEW Lord Of The Things – An Interview with WETA's Richard Taylor
• NEW Mapping Mythology – An Interview with storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins
• NEW I, Krampus – An Interview with performer Luke Hawker
• NEW A Winter Chorus – An Interview with composer Douglas Pipes
• Audio Commentary with director/co-Writer Michael Dougherty and co-writers Todd Casey and Zach Shields
• Krampus Comes Alive! – A five-part featurette on the making of the film
• Behind-The-Scenes at WETA workshop: Krampus
• Deleted/Extended scenes, not seen in the Theatrical Cut
• Gag Reel
• Alternate Ending
• Theatrical Trailers
• Photo Galleries – Creature Art, Storyboards, And More
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

Final Score:
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Krampus manages to manipulate the story and the viewer with a horror movie that isn’t as much bone chillingly frightening, but rather creepy and twisted in its own way. Balancing horror and comedy in an effective manner that is reminiscent of the 80s, Michael Dougherty crafts a really fun and really disturbing tale of Anti-Christmas for all of those boys and girls out there who are thinking of giving up on the holiday. The people who were hoping for a blood drenched “unrated” cut might be a bit frustrated, but all in all I liked this new Naughty cut. It runs smoother, a slightly cleaner feel to the violence, and is more in line with Michael Dougherty’s vision. Scream Factory has done a bang up job with the audio and video as expected, and the extras are INCREDIBLE, making this a true special edition. Being that I’m a super nerd here, I would have loved to have seen the theatrical cut included as well to make it a true “Ultimate Edition”, but that’s literally just me being nit picky as the Universal Blu-ray is like $5 and not hard to get. Great set, awesome movie, must own for horror fans.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Toni Collette, Adam Scott, David Koechner
Directed by: Michael Dougherty
Written by: Michael Dougherty, Todd Casey
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH,
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 102 minutes
Blu-Ray Release November 7th, 2021

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never heard of this but after reading the review, will check it out.