KRAMPUS IS COMING (OR KRAPUS)

Greetings internet dwellers!

What has become the worst kept secret at HHN XXVI (see their Exorcist fake-out), became even less of a mystery before its official announcement. A publication let slip early, that the film Krampus would be coming to HHN Orlando this year.

Even after the announcement slipped out early, it still took the HHN powers that be, an awful lot of time to officially announce the thing. We have had leaks like this in the past. Similar in nature, the official Halloween movies site, let slip the property would be coming to HHN Orlando, a few weeks before the official announcement. That same year, Publix put out their HHN ticket display revealing that Halloween was part of the line-up. Mike Aiello even posed for a picture with the display.

The Universal blog, had this to say about the house: 

"You’ll not only try and dodge the invading dark elves around every corner, but will also have to keep your holiday spirits up, while sneaking past the looming presence of Krampus himself. Each encounter with Krampus holds its own unique perspective, as he gathers more souls for his sinister workshop."

That's out of the way, time for me to have a little bit of fanboy rage here. This has been the house announcement I have been dreading since I found out it was coming in March. I hate everything about this property. The movie is awful, the film wasn't overly successful, and it seems pandering to people who wanted it last year. 

We are almost a year removed from this film's release. Is there even hype about this, outside of die-hard horror geeks? That I'm not sure. While the film made a good chunk of change, it was all relative to its budget. Which wasn't much. The film made $61 million dollars around the globe. While the production budget was indeed 15 million, that still doesn't justify bringing the property to the event in my book.

Pick and choose any awful Blumhouse movie, and you have the same scenario. Would people be this excited if HHN brought Ouija to the event instead? That film cost $5 million, and made over $100 million around the world. That is a much better profit in terms of budget. So, sure Krampus was a success in terms of its production cost. However, it was not a huge hit with audiences. And it garnered mixed reviews from critics.

I just can't justify this thing's existence at the event. I hate this movie with a passion. Krampus, let me down as a film. People get so excited because the movie used practical effects. So what? If the narrative is terrible, and the characters aren't memorable, it doesn't matter. If we are going to make houses based on things that were popular for a hot minute, Dougherty's own Trick 'r Treat would have been the better option. 

You also now have the task of living up to expectations regarding Krampus himself. The title character was a practical being in the film which again, people go all goo-goo for (which I thought looked awful). Now HHN has to do it. If they fail, you are going to have a problem. And while on the subject, again, what does anybody ever talk about when mentioning Krampus? The practical effects. Nobody mentions characters or story. 

This is the first time in a long time, an IP at HHN makes me physically angry. The last time was the Evil Dead remake. However, that property was at least justifiable in my opinion. Krampus, or Krapus as I call it, ins't. From my hatred for the property, to it's pandering addition to this year's line-up, Krampus gets a lump of coal. 

​That being said, now, HHN must wow me with this house. My expectations are lower than low. Have I mentioned how much I hate this movie?

Announcement video below.