Krampus First Look Trailer Conjures Up A Scare, 80% Of Horror Film’s Effects Were Practical

Still reeling from yesterday’s creepy batch of stills for Michael Dougherty’s festive horror? Well today, Legendary has completed its one-two punch by debuting the first look trailer for Krampus, which gives us a solid indication of the brand of horror that the screenwriter-cum-director is cooking up.

A light-hearted Christmas story at its dark core, the footage opens with shots of the family bickering and arguing in a manner that will be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in Home Alone or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. But when the youngest son – played by Chef‘s Emjay Anthony – has had enough of the festive spirit and tears up his heart-felt letter to Santa Claus, he unknowingly conjures up the titular, malevolent spirit.

There’s an innate charm buried beneath the festive madness of Krampus, as things begin to spiral out of control sooner rather than later. Part of that comes down to Dougherty’s commitment to practical effects in his horror feature, with Richard Taylor of WETA revealing to /Film that close to 80% of the movie’s effects work was brought to life via practical tricks and puppetry.

And we’ve just done another Legendary movie, called Krampus, that director, Michael Dougherty, he came down and embraced physical effects to an extreme level. Maybe 80% of that movie has been produced through puppetry. I can’t talk about that, but we’ve done lots of puppet work, it was a wonderful experience.

It’ll ultimately make for a more enduring scarefest come December – after all, there’s a reason the likes of Gremlins still strikes a chord with moviegoers today.

Krampus will offer up a decidedly darker spin on the Christmas spirit when Michael Dougherty’s latest opens on December 4.

Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday. 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.