While we wait for the inevitable remake/reboot of Gremlins (the original surely one of the most violent PG rated films ever released), Michael Dougherty was recentlly on hand to provide the Yuletide anarchic horror with 2015's Krampus, a film so indebted to Gremlins that refrains from its score can be heard on the soundtrack. The arrival of Krampus, a mythological monster who brings his helpers to a snowed-under town, signifies a night of horror as he dishes out punishment to anyone who has misbehaved. Adam Scott and Toni Collette head the family in peril and David Koechner is great as bull-headed Howard, but the real stars are the dizzying variety of animated, murderous toys, knife-wielding helpers and Krampus himself. Dougherty blends puppetry, animatronics and CGI to great effect while some of the creature design is among the most imaginative in recent years. Dougherty has previous experience making slick horror comedy with a keen eye for nostalgia, having written and directed the criminally underappreciated anthology film Trick R Treat, well worth seeing for Dylan Baker as a headmaster who moonlights as a serial killer and Brian Cox's extended ordeal with a very aggressive trick or treater.
