‘Krampus: The Return’ VOD Review (Amazon Prime)

Stars: Amber Doig-Thorne, Dan Robins, Charlie Esquire, Stephen Staley, Natasha Rose Mills, Elspeth Foster, Asian Dixon | Written by Ben Daly | Directed by David Gregory

After Lisa’s brother mysteriously dies, she and her college friends go to her family home for answers. They are shocked to discover that his killer was non-the than the Christmas demon, Krampus.

Not to be confused with the Robert Conway written and directed Krampus franchise, nor Scott Jeffrey’s OTHER production company, Proportion Productions, own Mother Krampus films, Krampus: The Return – as it’s called on Amazon Prime Video and not the IMDb-listed title The Return of Krampus (talk about arguing over semantics!) – is another of the now long-running, totally unconnected, series of direct to market horrors than were spawned by 2015’s big-budget Krampus movie. A movie that has a LOT to answer for!

Why? Well has there been a truly great Krampus movie since that one? Not really. Do I keep watching anything and everything with Krampus in the title, hoping for another one as good as Michael Dougherty’s 2015 film? Yes.

Besides being another in the series of unconnected Krampus movies, Krampus: The Return is also the latest Scott Jeffrey production to be seemingly dumped to Amazon Prime Video by distributors ITN Studios – a company that seems to be more interested in pumping out direct-to-DVD horrors in the US at places like Walmart and Target, than promoting British horror on British shores. Something which is totally evident in not only this film going direct to streaming but also the fourth film in the similarly seasonal Tooth Fairy franchise – despite previous entries making it to [budget] DVD – being dumped to VOD too. But hey, at least getting a VOD release on Prime Video is better than being dropped directly to one of many YouTube free streaming channels, which was the fate of a number of Jeffrey’s films in the recent past… Even if those films were inevitably cut!

I said in the opener that this film is seemingly NOT connected to any other Krampus movie yet… the Krampus of this movie looks pretty much identical to all the other Krampus’ in all the other Krampus movies! I get it, much like Santa Claus – the yin to Krampus’ yang – the look is iconic. But surely there’s something filmmakers can do to make their Krampus stand out from the crowd? Especially given how BIG the Krampus movie crowd is becoming! This film’s monster looks very much like it’s made from a mould of the monster from Robert Conway’s franchise. Though this film does have one thing over Conway’s films, we get physical effects, a man in a rubber costume and a cloak, rather than an increasingly badly-rendered CGI creature! It also REALLY doesn’t help that the distributors have seemingly gone to the same artist who made the DVD art for Conway’s films too! Talk about confusing your audience!

The film itself plays out very much like a number of other Scott Jeffrey horrors – in fact it’s almost like some of these films are following a standard template now, right down to the conflicts between the cast of characters and the behaviour of the titular killer/monster. I know slasher movies follow a “formula” but Krampus: The Return feels even more formulaic than normal. Maybe it’s because there’s nothing much you really can do with a Christmas demon? The only truly interesting part of the film is Lisa – the sister of Krampus’ first victim – whose mental state becomes unhinged when she realises Krampus is real and Harold was right all along… She even seems complicit in Krampus’ activities at one point, that’s how “broken” she becomes! It’s a credit to actress Natasha Rose Mills’ off-kilter performance that you’re never sure whose side she’s on at differing points in the film!

I say the film is formulaic, but there are flourishes of greatness in Krampus: The Return too though, especially in one of the film’s many killings – the use of Christmas lights to strangle one of his victims, providing a brilliant dichotomy between a characters death and the cheerful bright nature of the lights and the happiness of the season! Unfortunately, that’s only one highlight in a film that bizarrely falls apart at the end of the movie, with a weak recital of spell to banish the titular monster feeling like a complete anti-climax to the entire affair. And then there’s the film’s coda, which promises we’re probably going to see Krampus Returns Again Part Two: The Return of Krampus! No thanks.

*½  1.5/5

Krampus: The Return is available to rent or buy now on Amazon Prime Video.