WMG / Krampus

Krampus only comes when the last person loses hope

In Omi's description of her past, it's made fairly clear that everyone had lost hope, ultimately engulfing even her family and finally leading her as well to lose faith in Christmas, at which point Krampus came. The destruction around the neighborhood demonstrates that Krampus has attacked all the residents, and the initial shopping riot scene showed how materialistic and violent people had become in general. It stands to reason that, rather than Krampus having attacked countless "innocent bystanders" before finally going after his "true" target, instead Krampus only comes when an entire community has lost their faith, leaving only the one who believed and hoped the longest.

Krampus and Sam are the same being.

If we take the Trick 'R Treat comic Days of the Dead as canon (it was written by Dougherty after all), then Sam is a full-on Eldritch Abomination, who simply had no reason to use his full powers in the movie. It's not hard to imagine him changing his appearance to enforce the rules of another holiday.

Krampus and Sam are not the same being, but are related.

Specifically, they're part of an entire pantheon of Eldritch Abomination deities who embody certain holidays and beliefs. Howard may not have been too far off when he mockingly asked if they should worry about an evil Easter Bunny come spring...

Krampus is actually Santa Claus, when he has to "get tough" with people.

Unlike Sam, Krampus might not have actually killed his victims, and might have just wanted to teach them a lesson. Even if he and Santa are different beings, this may be a case here of Good Is Not Nice.

Krampus and Sam will be incorporated into the Universal Monsters mythology.

Legendary has now left its deal with Warner Bros. and partnered with Universal. Universal has been having trouble building enthusiasm for a Monsters reboot (to say nothing of their problem producing a good film). They now have access to two new monsters with large fanbases, and probably one of the more talented horror directors in recent memory.

In the new film Dracula and/or Imhotep will be freed, and break the rules of Samhain, but be so powerful not even Sam can stop him. Sam will be forced to call on Krampus out-of-season. Both sides will gather monsters for their cause. And it will be glorious.

• Can we still have the Mummy signal from the castle roof at the very first sound of a reindeer hoof?

The identity of the unseen snow beast

Throughout the movie, we have two scenes dedicated to this insanely aggressive underground monster we never see that pulls people down into the snow. A lot of fans were disappointed that they never saw whatever this huge "under snow" monster was. But what if the monster wasn't under the snow...

What if the monster was the snow itself?!? Krampus's henchmen are all Christmas icons come to life (gingerbread men, toys, etc.), and what's more iconic to the holiday season than snow! What if Krampus imbued the snow itself with life and had it devour Tom, Linda, and Sarah?

Michael Dougherty will eventually create eight monsters, as the guardians of the eight Sabbats on the Pagan Wheel of the Year.

This could be a bit difficult to build movies around, as Samhain and Yule are the only pagan holidays that Christians take seriously. But, currently, we still have Imbolc (Groundhog's Day), Ostara (Easter), Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, and Mabon. Presumably, they each have a Guardian as well.

• An evil Easter Bunny for Ostara wouldn't be out of the question. Beltane is basically the pagan Valentine's Day. I can see some of the harvest holidays having a thing with GM Os. Midsummer can be about not enjoying summer. Imbolc would be the most difficult to make a movie about.
  • It may be hard to sell some of these as individual horror movies, but this idea could easily be put to great effect in crossover fiction like Rise of the Guardians or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. There are all sorts of legends and myths to fill out these holidays. And a lot of them would probably be pretty ticked off nowadays due to a lack of respect.
  • Under this theory, Imbolic should be his next movie given he went from Samhain to Yule. Samhain got a demon disguised as a trick or treater, Yule got Krampus as a scary Santa. Imbolic's usual symbol is the Irish Goddess Brigid. She, however, isn't usually that negative an entity, but the holiday is about spring and some of its influence is felt on Groundhog's day. So perhaps the way to spin that one is if you hate spring, the weather and animals turn on you in a "Long Weekend" way. Make Brigid like a smiling watching spirit during the attacks.

Dougherty may not make movies based on Celtic Sabbats, but he will continue to make horror comedies based on holidays

For example...

• A Valentine's Day movie that ties the holiday into the Roman festival of Lupercalia ^note  in which priests would commemorate the divine Wolf Lupa by stripping themselves naked and running through the town whipping passerby, according to Plutarch , possibly with werewolves.
• A Mardi Gras movie with a horrored-up Baron Samedi, or perhaps Comus.
• Day of the Dead, perhaps, with Santa Muerte?
• A St. Patrick's Day movie with Crom Cruach portrayed as a giant monstrous snake creature imprisoned centuries ago by St. Patrick, and his twisted leprechaun minions.

The movie is placed in the same universe as Trick R Treat

It's made by the same guy who made Trick R Treat so the two films may co-exist. Krampus is just set in a different neighborhood and it isn't an anthology movie.

• I think Michael Dougherty all but confirmed this in an interview a while back, as indicated here.

There will be a prequel set in a WWII Concentration Camp.

Krampus is a German legend, and the Nazis have been very, very naughty. It practically writes itself: A young child locked in the camps loses hope and destroys a letter to Saint Nicholas, and so Krampus comes. The story would provide an Actionized Sequel, with Krampus and his ilk taking fire from military-grade weapons, the setting would be quite different, and Krampus would actually get to be The Hero instead of a Knight Templar Well-Intentioned Extremist.

• Keep in mind a lot of the people in these camps didn't celebrate Christmas to start with.
• Maybe not, but it's possible that some of the Nazis did, and it wouldn't be out of place the idea that Krampus would come and punish them for turning Christmas into a night of death and suffering. What could be more naughty?

Possible plot of the sequel

The sequel will have a group of kids who are kidnapped by Krampus, brought into his domain, and picked off one-by-one by either him or his minions. While the set-up and general plot seem generic, it is slowly revealed that all the kids know each other, and all of them were involved in an act that was very, VERY naughty.....as in, "would result in grown adults getting the death penalty" naughty. All of the kids had a hand in either planning, preparing, or executing his naughty act in varying capacities all of them saw it in action. The two kids that are the main focus of the story include the one kid who is only guilty of knowing about this naughty act but was pressured into not telling grown up and the one kid who was ultimately responsible for this naughty act in the first place. Part of the mystery revolves around which focus kid is which.

In the end, Krampus himself will confront the two focus kids, and from here there will be two different endings. The Happy Ending will have the Witness resolving to tell the authorities of the naughty act, ratting out the others kids. All the kids are returned to their homes on Christmas day, the Witness spills the beans, and while all the kids are punished, except the Mastermind all of them either get off light and/or received the therapy and guidance they need, allowing them to move on from the Naughty Act and live happy and fulfilling lives. The Mastermind, on the other hand, remains unrepentant for the Naughty Act and spends the rest of his childhood in juvenile detention, eventually leading to a life of crime and ruin, eventually becoming a murderous hobo on the streets where he's finally arrested by the police.

The Bad Ending will have the Witness refusing to tell the authorities about the Naughty Act. Only the Witness is returned to his home on Christmas day, and while the police eventually crack the case of the Naughty Act, the Witness takes the fall for it due to the virtue of all the other kids involved in it having been killed off by the Krampus. The Witness's life takes a downward spiral from there, the guilt of the Act and his initial refusal to tell anyone about consuming him and ruining him, eventually leading him to become a crazed, murderous hobo on the streets until he's finally arrested by the police.

Krampus gave Omi back her family.

An interesting theory I thought of last night. None of the family knew much about Omi's history. What if Omi knew the entire time that Krampus was only trying to teach them a lesson? However, she was concerned that if she told them that she would effectively ruin the lesson, and Krampus would be REALLY mad. So, she told them her story but left out the ending.

• Omi hid, though. If Krampus only returned the family because Max offered himself up instead, Omi wouldn't have gotten the same benefit.

The Krampus attacks have nothing to do with "losing the Christmas spirit..."

But with taking one's family for granted. Max yelled at his family and told them that he hated them. Omi wished her family would go away. The Krampus is a combination Literal Genie and Trickster Mentor with a focus on Scare 'Em Straight. The difference between Max and Omi's Krampus attacks is that Max proved he learned his lesson when he begs the Krampus to Take Me Instead. Related to the above, Omi did NOT get her family back because she didn't learn her lesson in time. It seems strange that Omi didn't mention that her family was alright since it would prove that the Krampus can bring people back. As for the attacks taking place during Christmas, it is a stressful time when families get together, plus it's the one time of year where we're especially expected to show "goodwill towards man."

Dougherty will eventually make a film about The Wild Hunt.

I re-watched Krampus with a friend who's well-versed in mythology, and she was quite annoyed that much of the imagery seemed more applicable to the Wild Hunt than to Krampus.

Then it hit me: What if Krampus and Sam are just members of the Wild Hunt who break away once a year to do their own thing (Krampus has a few followers who come with him)?

This would establish a Meta Origin. If Krampus can devastate a town and drag people into the Underworld, God help whoever pisses off the leader of the full legion. (That said, I'm curious which leader they'll go with since it varies throughout Europe.)

• The way they kidnap the family does feel very reminiscent of the Wild Hunt. We should also make note that a lot of things in this film are from various not as recognized folk traditions (at least for the American audience) even though to this troper's knowledge this specific compilation is new for this film. So if we tie into the above the various entities could eventually converge into a Wild Hunt movie

Summoning Krampus is a ritual of sorts

It kinda struck me as I was watching it, but there were a lot more similarities between Omi's story and what happened to Max than were explicitly pointed out. They were the only ones left - apparently in their entire towns - that held on to hope and the Christmas spirit. Eventually, they too lost hope and destroyed an object that represented that hope and cheer(a sacrifice) and explicitly called out for their family's destruction(an invocation). Then the Krampus came. When you add in their shared blood(requirements of the caster), it has the makings of a ritual, albeit an unintentional one. Perhaps I've been reading too many occult novels, but that seems like a summoning rite to me. I'm guessing that Krampus didn't just stand around and spy on people and see when they've been "naughty." His attention and presence are mystically attracted to a particular set of conditions, upon the meeting at which he begins his work.

• There’s also a prepared area (a town that’s lost Christmas spirit) and a particular time it evidently must be performed.

Krampus returned Omi's family too.

At the end of the film, everything reset as though Krampus was never there after Tom learned his lesson in the end. It's likely that when she was a girl, Omi had undergone the exact same arc and Krampus had returned her family. The reason why she acted as though she remained the only survivor was for two reasons: the first was because the experience was still a traumatizing one for her. She was a young girl when monsters came and kidnapped her entire village. The end of the film proves as much that surviving no worse for wear physically still left its mark on them psychologically. The other reason is because she knew that telling everyone that they would be fine anyway could have sabotaged the lesson Krampus was trying to impart with the terror he was inflicting. In her old age, it's clear that Omi had learned her lesson, and if she didn't, she wouldn't be so willing partake in celebrating Christmas, now would she?

A sequel could adapt the mall Santa story from the comic.

The shell-shocked veteran playing a mall Santa trying to protect a bunch of kids could make for great cinema.