History YMMV / Krampus

* BetteronDVD: The 4K "Naughty Cut" of the film released in 2021 contains roughly 5 minutes of extra footage not included in the theatrical release of the film or the previous release. This footage attempts to soften the more abrasive relationships of the family with some genuinely touching and down to earth interactions.

** The conflict between Max and his counsins could be interpreted as sincere antagonism, or merely as ValuesDissonance. Max is clearly a fairly sheltered child, so it's possible that playful ribbing is their way of showing affection.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The practical effects used for the toy creatures (as well as Krampus himself) are nothing short of amazing, with Teddy and Der Klown standing out in particular.

* TheWoobie: Max. All he wanted for Christmas was for his family to not fight and hate each other anymore.
* UglyCute: Some have had this reaction to the monsters, like the Gingerbread men or Teddy. Even the terrifying Der Klown got hit with this due to the aforementioned scene where it's seen [[spoiler:hugging one of the elves]].

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: It seems intentional to set up numerous grating characters only to learn they're more useful or to show they're not so bad. Whether it succeeds with all or some of them is a matter of perspective. Most notably Howard, who starts off disliked in and out of universe for his small-minded, conservative, condescending personality but in the eyes of some fans he gets somewhat better, being shown to care very much for his family and start bonding with Tom, who saved him from the snow creature.]] [[spoiler: He even lunges at Der Klown in a attempt to save his baby daughter, knowing fully well he'd be killed.]]

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: A minor example, but a particularly hilarious one. Most outlets were predicting an opening weekend haul in the low-teens, but [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4127&p=.htm Brad Brevet of Box Office Mojo posted a forecast]] predicting complete supremacy for ''Mockingjay'' and ''The Good Dinosaur'', saying that an opening weekend forecast of $6.5 million for ''Krampus'' was "generous," and a weekend haul over $10 million was "unlikely". Then came the [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2015-12-04&p=.htm the Friday numbers on that very website]], showing ''Krampus'' breaking $6 million in '''one day''' and conquering both ''Mockingjay'' and ''The Good Dinosaur'' (the latter of which didn't even make the top 3).]] To Brevet's credit, [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4128&p=.htm he acknowledged his mistake without hesitation.]]

* RonTheDeathEater: Omi borders on being TheScrappy to many fans for knowing the story of Krampus but taking so long to reveal what's going on to the rest of the family. Her defenders are quick to point out how unrealistic it is that anyone have really believed her (as opposed to thinking she was senile) if she told them straight away that the weird things happening were the result of a demonic spirit intent on punishing them for lacking the Christmas spirit? They ''were'' very skeptical even after all the weird things that had happened? [[spoiler: Also, given the proof that Krampus and his henchmen were unstoppable in their assault on the family, it's arguable it wouldn't have mattered if she had told them about her experience or not since nothing they did made a difference.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Seeing Aunt Dorothy [[spoiler:saying SeeYouInHell before being abducted to her presumed death is now more cringing in light of her actress Conchata Ferrell's passing from cardiac arrest in 2020 five years after the theatrical release of this film]].

* TheScrappy: Many fans seem to dislike Howard for his though like so many others But the biggest Scrappy is surprisingly Omi, whom many fans decried as detestable because she knew that Krampus was to blame the entire time, told the family her story too late, and ultimately did nothing much to help. Although in Omi's defense,

* RonTheDeathEater: Omi is TheScrappy to man for knowing the story of Krampus but taking so long to reveal what's going on to the rest of the family. Her defenders are quick to point out how unrealistic it is that anyone have really believed her (as opposed to thinking she was senile) if she told them straight away that the weird things happening were the result of a demonic spirit intent on punishing them for lacking the Christmas spirit? They ''were'' very skeptical even after all the weird things that had happened? [[spoiler: Also, given the proof that Krampus and his henchmen were unstoppable in their assault on the family, it's arguable it wouldn't have mattered if she had told them about her experience or not since nothing they did made a difference.]]

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: It seems intentional to set up numerous grating characters only to learn they're more useful or to show they're not so bad. Whether it succeeds with all or some of them is a matter of perspective.

* TheScrappy: Many fans seem to dislike Howard for his small-minded, conservative, condescending personality, though he at least gets somewhat better, being shown to care very much for his family and start bonding with Tom, who saved him from the snow creature. [[spoiler: He even lunges at Der Klown in a attempt to save his baby daughter, knowing fully well he'd be killed.]] But the biggest Scrappy is surprisingly Omi, whom many fans decried as detestable because she knew that Krampus was to blame the entire time, told the family her story too late, and ultimately did nothing much to help. Although in Omi's defense, would anyone have really believed her if she told them straight away that the weird things happening were the result of a demonic spirit intent on punishing them for lacking the Christmas spirit? Or would they've just written her off as a senile and crazy old woman, since they were very skeptical even after all the weird things that had happened? [[spoiler: Also, given the proof that Krampus and his henchmen were unstoppable in their assault on the family, it's arguable it wouldn't have mattered if she had told them about her experience or not since nothing they did made a difference.]]

** The opening slow-motion scene set to "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas"

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: While not technically a character, the [[{{Snowlems}} creepy snowmen]] don't really do anything at all besides look threatening.
** Unless they're the neighbors that you never see, posed to look like snowmen. This is hinted at with the snowman that looks like Howie Jr.
** There's also the possibility that they're simply a ShoutOut to the disturbing snowmen [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Calvin]] builds.

* HarsherInHindsight: Seeing Aunt Dorothy [[spoiler:saying SeeYouInHell before being abducted to her presumed death is now more cringing in light of her actress Conchata Ferrell's passing in 2020]].

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: A minor example, but a particularly hilarious one. Most outlets were predicting an opening weekend haul in the low-teens, but [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4127&p=.htm Brad Brevet of Box Office Mojo posted a forecast predicting complete supremacy for Mockingjay and The Good Dinosaur, saying that an opening weekend forecast of $6.5 million for Krampus was "generous," and a weekend haul over $10 million was "unlikely".]] Then came the [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2015-12-04&p=.htm the Friday numbers on that very website, showing Krampus breaking $6 million in ONE DAY and conquering both Mockingjay and The Good Dinosaur (the latter of which didn't even make the top 3).]] To Brevet's credit, [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4128&p=.htm he acknowledged his mistake without hesitation.]]

* TheScrappy: Many fans seem to dislike Howard for his small-minded, conservative, condescending personality, though he at least gets somewhat better, being shown to care very much for his family and start bonding with Tom, who saved him from the snow creature. [[spoiler: He even lunges at Der Klown in a attempt to save his baby daughter, knowing fully well he'd be killed.]] But the biggest Scrappy is surprisingly Omi, whom many fans decried as detestable because she knew that Krampus was to blame the entire time, told the family her story too late, and ultimately did nothing much to help. Although in Omi's defense, would anyone have really believed her if she told them straight away that the weird things happening were the result of a demonic spirit intent on punishing them for lacking the Christmas spirit? Or would they've just written her off as a senile and/or crazy old woman, since they were very skeptical even after all the weird things that had happened? [[spoiler: Also, given the proof that Krampus and his henchmen were unstoppable in their assault on the family, it's arguable it wouldn't have mattered if she had told them about her experience or not since nothing they did made a difference.]]

* ToughActToFollow: Dougherty's previous film was ''Film/TrickRTreat'', a cult classic with an absolutely rabid fanbase.

* TearJerker:
** [[spoiler:Max's attempted HeroicSacrifice. He's literally ''pleading'' with him to spare the cousins, and to to take him to the underworld in their place. Krampus seemingly agrees... then reveals he had no plan of agreeing and sends them all to the underworld. [[AllJustADream So]] [[GainaxEnding it]] [[MindScrew appears]], anyway.]]
** Stevie and Jordan reading Max's letter out loud when it turns out all's he asking Santa is for his family to be happy. The girls spend most of their time mocking Max about it until they get to the part where he mentions their parents. To wit, the list includes:
*** That he can spend more time with Beth like they used since he doesn't have many friends. Beth is visibly taken aback by this.
*** That Tom and Sarah can be closer like they used to because he can tell things are straining between them and just wants them to keep loving each other.
*** That thins get easier between Howard and Linda because he thinks they're unhappy too. Linda comes in just as the girls get to this part, and the girls sound surprised and somewhat ashamed while reading it out loud, either because they didn't realize their parents were unhappy or that even Max can see it.
*** Finally, [[LaserGuidedKarma they get angry when they come to the part where Max asks that Howard stop wishing Stevie and Jordan were boys]], which may be something they're genuinely afraid of and probably thought a few times themselves.
** Omi sacrificing herself and staying behind to face Krampus and later Tom sacrificing himself to the underground snow beast. The look on his face before letting the beast take him away says it all.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: If you believe that Max and his whole family are dead and their souls trapped within Krampus’ snowglobe.]]

* TheScrappy: Many fans seem to dislike Howard for his small-minded, conservative, condescending personality, though he at least gets somewhat better, being shown to care very much for his family and start bonding with Tom, who saved him from the snow creature. [[spoiler: He even lunges at Der Klown in a attempt to save his baby daughter, knowing fully well he'd be killed.]] But the biggest Scrappy is surprisingly Omi, whom many fans decried as detestable because she knew that Krampus was to blame the entire time, told the family her story too late, and ultimately did nothing much to help. Although in Omi's defense, would anyone have really believed her if she told them straight away that the weird things happening were the result of a demonic spirit intent on punishing them for lacking the Christmas spirit? Or would they've just written her off as a senile and/or crazy old woman, since they were very skeptical even after all the weird things that had happened?

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: It seems intentional to set up numerous grating characters only to learn they're more useful or to show they're not so bad.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Though the family eventually does show they have redeeming qualities throughout the film, don't be surprised if you find yourself rooting for Krampus and his henchmen to teach this family of [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkasses]] a lesson.

*** Finally, they get angry when they come to the part where Max asks that Howard stop wishing Stevie and Jordan were boys, which may be something they're genuinely afraid of and probably thought a few times themselves.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Krampus' motivations seem to be quite similar to [[TrickRTreat Sam's]]. The prequel comic ''Trick 'R Treat: Days of the Dead'' made it clear Sam was a full-on EldritchAbomination with the ability to do things like turn an entire wagon train of people into pumpkins. It's not hard to imagine that he can also shapeshift when enforcing the rules of another holiday.