The Hall of Infamy
Krampus: The Christmas Devil (2013) -
This is a case of a film made by someone who doesn't know how to make movies. You can clearly see the movie was shot on a low budget, but while I suppose that isn't the worst thing a film can be guilty of, what I will hold against it is how joyless it is. The various horror sequences are awful and not in the fun so-bad-they're-good way. Just in a really uninteresting and unfun way. The pacing, direction, and annoying aesthetic choices used throughout them (changing color filters) do more harm than good and they become pretty dull and lifeless as a result. I also found the writing poor for a few reasons. The delivery of Jeremy's backstory and some other attempts at pathos via monologue came off as rather clunky and unnatural. They were incorporated into the film in a really awkward way and, as a result, didn't have much of an impact on me at all. Also, the sub-plot concerning the released convict looking for revenge was unnecessary and could've been cut from the film. In fact, that sub-plot and the whole barfight sequence really screwed up the film's pacing as, after the first 40 minutes or so, Krampus didn't do much until the final several minutes of the film since it was pushed aside for those other sub-plots. This made the film really unfocused. I also found the story confusing. Though it was stated that Krampus punishes bad kids, we also saw it praying on several adults for some unexplained reason. During one scene, we see it sexually assaulting an adult woman (since she's never alluded to again, I'm guessing the movie just wanted an excuse to show nudity) and we also see it attacking other adults later in the film. Its motives didn't make much sense. So yeah, this movie was a complete letdown virtually from start to finish. Aside from the characters of Santa Claus and the released convict who got a few laughs out at me, there's virtually no fun to be had in this film at all and, as a result, it was a chore to get through it. I initially thought it was going to be a so-bad-it's-good film, which would've given me more respect for it, but it's not even that. Just very unpleasant.