Directed by Michael Dougherty, the man responsible for the Halloween-themed anthology Trick R Treat, it’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of losing the Christmas spirit. Max (Emjay Anthony) is a Christmas-loving kid who’s hoping for a celebration worthy of a Coca Cola advert, but when his horrible uncle, aunt, and cousins arrive, his dreams are dashed. Rather than post his letter to Santa, he rips it up and throws it out away, inadvertently summoning the Krampus – and all of his evil helpers. That’s a fairly long cast list, and it’s pretty impressive that every single of them (bar maybe the baby cousin) is memorable; they might not all get more than one personality trait, but they all serve a purpose. Putting all of those people together for three days over a snowed-in Christmas is a recipe for horror even without throwing monsters into the mix, so the film’s first third trundles along nicely, with various conflicts bubbling up and over. And then the monsters arrive, and that part is brilliant. The creature design pushes the idea that everything’s scary if you give it big teeth almost to breaking point, as the unfortunate family is attacked by, among other things, a carnivorous teddy bear and an enormous Jack-in-the-Box, but they really are frightening. Unfortunately, the Krampus itself is kind of an anti-climax, as his hunched, horned Santa shtick is underwhelming after the brilliant menace of his many and varied minions. But by the time he turns up, there are barely any characters left to scare anyway (that’s the other advantage of a big cast, of course – lots of cannon fodder). On the whole, then? A Christmas horror that delivers on both the Christmas and the horror aspects. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite know where to end, settling on a bizarre triple-punch of unsatisfying conclusions. If it had ended with the first one, it’d have been too bleak; the second, too sugary; and the third, well, that’s just kind of nonsensical. It’s a real shame that Krampus doesn’t stick the landing, or it could well have become a new holiday classic. As it is, it’s kind of like being passed the family tin of Quality Streets after three or four people have already dug in – it’s still a treat, but it’s probably not what you really wanted. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.