KRAMPUS (2015)
THE NAUGHTY CUT
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: Region-Free, A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 102 Minutes
Audio: Dolby Atmos with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision 2160p UHD Widescreen (2.39:1), 1080P HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Michael Dougherty
Cast: Adam Scott, Toni Collette Allison Tolman, David Koechner, Emjay Anthony, Krista Stadler, Stefania LaVie Owen, Adam Scott
Mike Dougherty's Trick R Treat became an instant Halloween classic in my household when it finally received a home video release after being unceremoniously shelved for a few years. So you can bet yer nog-loving butt I was excited when his yuletide-horror Krampus hit the cinema back in 2015. I was there for it opening weekend with a big buttery bag of popcorn and a smile on my face.
In it the Christmas-loving adolescent Max (Emjay Anthony, Incarnate) is a firm Santa believer who writes a letter to the big guy every year, which is encouraged by his kindly grandmother, Omi (Krista Stadler), but not so much by the rest of the family who think he should have outgrown it. This year however his yuletide spirit is challenged not only by his cynical teen sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen, Sweet Tooth), but also when his parents Tom (Adam Scott, Ghosted) and Sarah (Toni Collette, Hereditary) decide to play host to the more obnoxious side of family by way of crotchety Aunt Dorothy (Conchata Ferrell, Mystic Pizza), douchey Uncle Howard (David Koechner, Wating...) and his wife Linda (Allison Tolman, Fargo) plus their bratty tomboy daughters Howie Jr. (Maverick Flack), Jordan (Queenie Samuel) and jerky son Stevie (Lolo Owen)
Things begin to turn for the worse during a dysfunctional dinner when his cousins steal his letter to Santa and read it out loud for the whole family, causing Max to become disillusioned with Christmas, turning his back on the yuletide spirit and throwing his letter to Santa away. Not long after a blizzard blankets the area trapping everyone in the house, as eerie looking snowmen suddenly appear around the perimiter of the yard. Teen sister Beth becomes alarmed that her boyfriend is not answering his phone and worried she sets off into the blizzard to check on him just down the street. A bit later when the power goes out in the neighborhood Tom and Howard venture into the snowbound streets in Howard's SUV to look for her, only to discover that the whole neighborhood is under attack by the Krampus - a demonic ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers and his evil yuletide minions.
Krampus was PG-13 when it hit the cinema, which I wasn't too thrilled about going into it, but it won me over with its National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation dysfunctional family Holiday jeer by way of Gremlins style Christmas terror. Its quite a feast for the eyes as gingerbread men, stuffed animal and toys terrorize the family, while a hoofed anti-santa demon leaps from rooftop to rooftop spreading fear to the non-believers. The creature designs by WETA and attack sequences are terrific fun. Its a bit light on character develop.ent but I don't think it needs it, the character while one-dimensional are well-worn and fit like a glove, perfectly suiting the holiday horror theme.
Now The Naughty Cut is not the gory R-rated revelatio some, including myself, were hoping for, it's pretty much stitches back in the deleted and extended scenes that were available on the theatrical Blu-ray, and I was hard-pressed to note a big difference until I went back and compared the two cuts. I think the most notable stuff is that we get a bit more attic attack goodness and a fun nod to Trick R Treat. I'd suggest you come into this with tempered expectations, if you either loved, hated or were indifferent on the original theatrical cut the changes are not significant enough to sway you one way or the other. The big-sell here for me is the Atmos and Dolby Vision upgrade plus over an hour of new interviews plus all the archival extras that make this the definitive release of the film with a superior A/V presentation.
Audio Video: Krampus: The Naughty Cut arrives on 4K UHD in 2160p UHD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen supervised by director Michael Dougherty with both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos upgrades. Shot on digiral and sourced from a 2K digital intermediate the image is sharp, detailed and crisp with no imperfections. The wider color gamut of Dolby Vision grading offers deeper blacks and more layered contrast with excellent looking primaries throughout. The darker scenes outside are definitely a deeper shade of Blue compared to the previous Blu-ray, but overall colors changes are subtle and not dramatic, but the visuals are tighter and more nuanced. The Dolby Atmos upgrade is much appreciated, when the Krampis is stomping around the rooftops and the height channels kick in its startling and might make you want to go see if there's a demonic anti-Santa up on your rooftop! The sounds of the tiny terrors lurking around the house also benefit from the terrific sound design.
Notably, the accompanying Blu-ray disc features the new restoration and SDR color-grading, plus it also gets the Atmos upgrade as well, which is appreciated. The only extra on the UHD is the archival commentary, all other extras are relegated to the Blu-ray. Also noteworthy, this set does not contain the original theatrical cut of the film.
Onto the extras, we get all the archival extras from the previous Universal Blu-ray, plus over an hour of new interviews with director Michael Dougherty, actors Todd Casey, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Emjay Anthony, WETA’s Richard Taylor, Simeon Wilkins, Luke Hawker, and composer David Pipes. These are fantastic and are wirth the upgrade on their own.
The 2-disc release arrives in a dual-hubbed black keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring a cool new illustration as well as the original theatrical cut, plus a slipcover with the new artwork.
Special Features:
Disc 1: 4K UHD Disc
- Audio Commentary featuring Michael Dougherty, Todd Casey, and Zach Shields
Disc 2: Blu-ray
- Audio Commentary featuring Michael Dougherty, Todd Casey, and Zach Shields
- NEW! A Dash of Mischief - Interview with Michael Dougherty (19 min)
- NEW! Storm of the Centuries - Interview with Todd Casey (9 min)
- NEW! The Great Protector - Interview with David Koechner (9 min)
- NEW! Something Bad Happened on Christmas - Interview with Allison Tolman (12 min
- NEW! Max’s Journey - Interview with Emjay Anthony (5 min)
- NEW! Lord of the Things - Interview with WETA’s Richard Taylor (10 min)
- NEW! Mapping Mythology - Interview with Simeon Wilkins (8 min)
- NEW! I, Krampus - Interview with Luke Hawker (11 min)
- NEW! A Winter Corus - Interview with Douglas Pipes (8 min)
- Krampus Comes Alive! (30 min)
- Behind the Scenes at WETA Workshop (1 min)
- Deleted/Extended Scenes (18 min)
- Gag Reel (5 min)
- Alternate Ending (1 min)
- Galleries
