Ho ho ho! Merry friggin’ Christmas! Have you been naughty or nice this year? Fuhget about Sandy Claws, it is Krampus who really wants to know.  And thanks to Shout Factory’s Naughty Cut of 2015’s Krampus, we get another chance to celebrate the dark lord of Christmas!

But don’t get too excited, while Krampus: The Naughty Cut plays better than the original version, the additional scenes add merely a bit more gore and details than one might expect.   But, hey, at least we get another reason for the season! 

Writer/director/producer Michael Dougherty (Trick 'r Treat) returns to cinemas to spread the Christmas cheer and jeer in a fun and irreverent way this weekend. His latest is a carnival of gore and laughs. Watch Christmas get celebrated via a bit of comically-themed cinéma vérité as the family holiday gets sliced and diced and flipped on its head in Krampus and see for yourself if you can’t relate to its comic handling of some pretty tired Christmas time clichés.

Inspired by some ancient pre-Christian folklore, Krampus is the story of a very relatable and stressed-out family get-together that goes completely off-kilter in a matter of hours thanks to the arrival of a deliciously evil-looking Alpine monster. Complete with plump, annoying cousins and very ancient aunts, screenwriters Dougherty, Todd Casey, and Zach Shields invite viewers in with a very relatable situation before they parade all the freaks and menacing looking snowmen in this feature.

And then shit gets real weird. Krampus, who travels underground before he switches to the rooftop, is ready to steal them away. Think Gremlins and you’ve pinpointed exactly where this holiday tale of home invasion is headed. But it ain’t St. Nick sliding down the chimney this year. Oh hell no; it’s a beast by another name.

Combine all that early familial “joy” in the movie with arguments about guns and sports (you know you’ve had them!!) and a boy’s (Emjay Anthony from Chef) devastation - best expressed by the violent disposal of his letter to Santa Claus – and it is the devil who gets the spirited message. Enter an unexpected blizzard. The power is cut. A package arrives.

And the snowmen. My god, the snowmen! Their faces alone will keep you alert and on the edge of your seat.

So – thanks to Dougherty’s crafting of the events in the movie – the flick goes from warm and inviting to a comically harrowing and gray. The family at the center of this domestic tale feels abandoned. Hopeless. And still Dougherty and cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin find ways to inject humor. From a comically-charged overuse of close-ups to the bleakest of wintry atmospheres, audiences – especially those with a sweet tooth for the absurd – will have fun with these thrills and chills as the twisted events of the night begin to ramp up in this Naughty Cut version of the original film.

When a family member suddenly disappears, Max’s parents (Adam Scott and Toni Collette) dare to venture outside to see what the hell is going on. Let the hunt begin. They – while the rest of their clan huddles around the fireplace - begin to realize just how much trouble they are in when a dark entity tries to pull them below. Back to the house. Quick!

Co-starring David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Stefania LaVie Owen, and Krista Stadler, Krampus is a comical ride through a very scary night. See for yourself just excellent the flick is in spreading some pretty merry madness among family members. I laughed out loud several times before shutting up quickly when face to face with Krampus himself. While Dougherty proves he’s serious about his horror, we can’t help but laugh alongside this very unsilent night and it's all marvelously by design, too.  Nothing unintentional.  

From an army of gingerbread men with nail guns to the headlining ogre of this relatively bloodless (but tasty!) snack, Krampus is the black comedy of the yuletide season to see.

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray | The Naughty Cut | Collector's Edition

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on 4K/Blu-ray - December 7, 2024
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Video: Upscaled 4K HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos; English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.

All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family's home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.

KRAMPUS: THE NAUGHTY CUT restores key dialogue and scenes that had to be trimmed from the original theatrical release in order to appease the MPAA. Supervised by filmmaker Michael Dougherty, this is the definitive version of the holiday cult classic for the entire family to enjoy.

VIDEO

Released by Shout Factory, Krampus’ new 4K transfer is as shiny as expected, highlighting the practical effects which bleed throughout the film. Colors are warm and expressive and black levels are deep. There are nice edges to the shadows and, as reds and grays dominate the picture, a surprising depth to a lot of the hues. The practical effects and chiseled in expressive textures that the transfer captures nicely. Christmas decorations are peppered throughout and very detailed.

AUDIO

Crank up the carnage!  The new Dolby Atmos audio track is a total immersive experience.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• Director-Co-Writer Michael Dougherty and Co-Writers Todd Casey & Zach Shields provide the film’s commentary track. Fans of the movie should enjoy their comments about the filming of the movie as they have many stories and also give some interesting technical details from the shoot.

Special Features:

What’s great about this release is its absolute embrace of practical effects. As if it knows this is what its fans appreciate, the additional content dives in and provides a detailed look at the costumes, the stunts, and the history of the legend at the heart of this release. There are a lot of deleted scenes to dive into, complete with an alternate ending. While they don’t add to the movie, they are fun to watch nonetheless.

DISC ONE (4K UHD):

• NEW The Naughty Cut With Additional Scenes And Adult Language Cut To Get A PG-13 Rating (Transfer Supervised By Director Michael Dougherty)
• NEW Dolby Atmos Track
• Audio Commentary With Director/Co-Writer Michael Dougherty And Co-Writers Todd Casey And Zach Shields

DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):

• NEW The Naughty Cut With Additional Scenes And Adult Language Cut To Get A PG-13 Rating (Transfer Supervised By Director Michael Dougherty)
• 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

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: PG-13.
Runtime: 98 mins
Director: Michael Dougherty
Writer: Todd Casey; Michael Dougherty; Zach Shields
Cast: Adam Scott; Toni Collette; David Koechner
Genre: Horror
Tagline: You Better Watch Out.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Like he had for thousands of years, Krampus came not to reward, but to punish. Not to give, but to take."
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures
Official Site: https://shoutfactory.com/collections/krampus
Release Date: December 4, 2015
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: December 7, 2024.
Synopsis: A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.