The Big Picture
- Krampus is not your typical Christmas horror movie
- Grandma Omi plays a crucial role in the film, representing the consequences when the past is repressed by an immigrant.
- The film explores immigrant themes, such as the loss of bilingual ability and the shame and "otherness" experienced by first-generation immigrants in the United States.
Clement Clarke Moore got it horribly wrong when he wrote in his famous holiday poem, “Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” In 2015's Krampus, currently streaming on Peacock, a big, ancient creature will be doing more than just stirring; it will be wreaking havoc, "not to reward but to punish; not to give but to take." The danger begins when a young boy turns his back on the “happiest time of the year” and his loss of the Christmas spirit catches the attention of the yuletide demon, Krampus, who unleashes minions with a dark sense of humor. There are gingerbread cookies that turn into tiny terrors like Gremlins and a jack-in-the-box that mutates into a slithering, fanged monstrosity. Once these minions have had their fun, the head beast makes a grand entrance, all horned, cloaked, and menacing.
The one person among the helpless family that realizes why this is happening is grandma Omi (Krista Sadler). Despite what it may seem, the movie doesn’t limit the main villain to being a Christmas horror movie monster, nor is it the only important character to watch for. Omi is kept on the sidelines, by the family and the movie, as further attention is put on the nefarious, anti-Santa Claus and its fiendish friends. But the sweet grandmother plays a crucial role, in the language she speaks, and a dark secret from her childhood. Reading into this, Krampus and grandma Omi represent the consequences when the past is repressed by an immigrant.
Krampus
PG-13
A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.
‘Krampus’ Is Not Just About Christmas Horror
At the start, parents Tom (Adam Scott) and Sarah (Toni Collette) are flustered and anxious, not so much over their young son Max’s (Emjay Anthony) recent fight with a bully, but rather over the approaching arrival of extended family. They depart into different rooms and so does Max’s older sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), who confines herself to her bedroom. That leaves Max to stay behind with Omi as she works on just one of many batches of homemade cookies in the kitchen. She speaks loving words, all in German, and from the interaction, it’s obvious who the favorite Engel grandchild is. Except for Max, Omi is overlooked by nearly everyone else, including her son, who lets her know that plenty of store-made cookies have been bought. Aside from the fact that her baked goods are beautifully crafted, her son hardly appreciates them at all. The moment is a small but telling one, where audiences are quickly let in on Omi’s reserved and isolated place in the household.
In the same scene, it’s revealed Tom understands his mother yet he doesn’t speak German back to her. It's only later on when audiences find out that he can speak it. It comes when his daughter goes missing in the escalating blizzard outside. Tom goes to search for her but Omi warns him against the idea, sensing something is wrong. Max translates what she’s saying but Tom responds to her, this time in her mother tongue. As for Max, his communication skills are far different than his father's. The boy knows some words, mostly nodding along, getting the gist of what she is telling him. It would appear he understands her but he doesn’t speak the language himself. From the DVD commentary, the original plan was for Omi to be deaf. Had that remained, it would have completely altered the character, making her even more isolated from the people around her, although the lack of on-screen subtitles for the character is glaringly apparent. There is a disconnect that grounds the relationship between Omi, her son, and her grandson, and it’s a common issue found among immigrants in the United States.
The Immigrant Themes Behind ‘Krampus’
The children of immigrants tend to lose their bilingual ability, due to the first language not being used as much. Another factor in that loss is found within the American school systems, which don’t put forth good efforts to help the children of immigrants maintain their first language. English is dominantly taught and used in the classrooms, through and through. In an article on NCBI covering the language development of immigrant children, Claudio O. Toppelberg, MD, and Brian A. Collins, PhD stated that “due to the assimilative forces that propel children of immigrants to learn English quickly,” the language shift begins in school. By the third generation (or the grandkids), unless the older family members help divert this, the heritage language is completely gone.
RelatedThe Holiday Horror Movie That Caused a Serious Censorship Stir
Not everyone loved Santa Claus during the Christmas season of 1984.
When that happens, communication between the eldest and youngest relatives becomes incredibly difficult, if not impossible. In the NCBI article, there is a misconception about immigrant children not learning enough English; in actuality, it’s the complete opposite. Compared to generations in the past, the loss of the first language, “is occurring much sooner than in prior waves of immigration, when it was more typical for the second generation to remain bilingual, and only for the third to become English dominant.” There are additional societal circumstances beyond an English-dominant education. Stigmas and discrimination continue to persist against individuals speaking foreign languages in public, so why would parents, or even the children themselves, want to make their lives harder if a change as simple as using English, could be implemented? A key moment in Krampus is when the Christmas horror movie reveals a dark secret the Engel grandmother has tried to keep to herself.
Grandma Omi's Backstory in 'Krampus' Is About Shame
Omi experienced the wrath of Krampus during childhood. Told in Rankin/Bass-inspired stop-motion, her memory of post-World War II Austria comes alive for audiences. Villagers fight over bread rations, viciously destroying little Omi’s supply and when she returns home without any food, her parents destroy her toy doll, mistaking it for something to devour. These two coinciding incidents could depress even the most joyous of people and that’s what happens to poor Omi, denouncing Christmas, unknowingly allowing Krampus to slip into her house. Inside, it stakes its claim, snatching up her parents and leaving behind a rusty bell, a parting gift to remember what happens when one loses the Christmas spirit. It isn’t until after Omi reveals this memory that audiences and her family around her realize she knew more than she let on. She also knows English but chooses when to speak it and to whom. While this flashback works to further the plot and answer questions, Omi’s admission works on another level.
The main conflict in the film and all the ensuing madness could have easily been averted with one crucial decision: if she told her story. But this can be said for a lot of movies, where if one character did just one thing differently, or said just one thing beforehand, everything would be different. There would also be no story to tell. In Krampus, it is the shame a grandmother feels from her childhood in a different country that keeps her quiet. Omi remains the only one in her family who knows German. If her son or grandson knew more of the language, perhaps they would ask about her past, something she surely wouldn't want to divulge before the events of the film. So she kept to herself. Omi's secret is a cinematic representation of the shame and “otherness” first-generation immigrants in the United States feel. They hope to assimilate as best as they can and ensure their children aren’t seen as outsiders due to their “un-American” heritage. In doing so, the second and third generations don’t gain an essential part of their identity.
Michael Dougherty Wants the Engel Family to Heal
CloseIt’s a very American Christmas celebrated in Krampus too. Gun talk is brought in and hushed up when the family is around the dinner table. Linda and Howard (played by Allison Tolman and David Koechner) are polar opposites to Sarah and Tom. The Engels are upper-middle class living in suburbia while Linda and Howard are talked down as being “country folk.” In dialogue jabs, Linda and Howard are both surprised and annoyed at the arrival of large mail packages looking awfully like gift bags and when Howard wonders why “rich people get all the free stuff,” Linda rebuffs it as something related to “Democrats.” The Engel house itself is a very Americanized image of pop culture, appearing similar to the setting of a Christmas classic, the elaborate booby-trapped residence in Home Alone (1990). Even the use of the Krampus lore is Americanized for this Hollywood production, limiting the central European origins through flashbacks and using Omi as a cultural stand-in.
Earlier in the film, Max wonders out loud to his father why they have to be stuck with the extended family, Tom tries to figure out how to respond. At first, he answers, “That’s what a family is, people you try to be friends with even if you don’t have a lot in common.” And then, perhaps seeing how it wasn’t the most positive of examples, he thinks about it some more. He tells his son that being part of a family “makes us work a little harder to find what we do have in common.” And that’s what happens, the whole family comes together to fight against Krampus and the minions. Director Michael Dougherty might not have realized how timely this message was when the credits rolled, since the theatrical release was in December 2015 when political parties were beginning to severely split people against one another. Things were only going to get much worse, which makes the bleak ending of Krampus rather appropriate. Omi decides to give the remaining family a head start from the beast, sacrificing herself. Her son does the same and it goes on until the adults and cousins are gone, and Max is the only one left standing.
After the first watch, maybe even several viewings afterward, it may seem all is alright as the movie comes to a close. Don't look to Doughtery for answers. In the DVD commentary, he still won’t reveal what his intentions were, leaving it up to the audience’s interpretation. After every family member is taken by Krampus, Max is thrown into a fiery pit before he suddenly wakes up in his bedroom. Like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Max sees that everything is back to normal, the nightmare is over, and he’s finally awake. A perfect snowfall is happening outside, almost blindingly white. Downstairs, the whole family has gathered in the living room to open gifts, laughs and smiles are shared among them all. It’s too good to be true and that's because it is.
Are the Engel Family Trapped in the Snow Globe at the End of 'Krampus'?
Then Max finds a strange gift no one admits to having gotten him. Inside is a rusty bell, not at all as sentimental as the one in The Polar Express (2004). The bell in the ending of Krampus is the same one Omi received, and it seems pretty clear, with the expressions dropping on everyone’s faces, that Max didn’t have a nightmare. The camera pulls away and the Engels house is shown to be encased in a snow globe, a souvenir carefully placed on a shelf with many others, in a lair a sensible yuletide demon would be quite at home in. There are two ways to look at what the final shot means, each one depending on how much Christmas spirit you have.
While director Michael Dougherty isn’t giving straight answers, he does have plans for Krampus 2. In a Q&A with Collider's Perri Nemiroff, he teased: “It doesn't necessarily center around a family as much as it might be about a group of strangers who are trapped somewhere.” Unless the sequel revisits the Engels, their fate is left to this final shot. They may not be imprisoned, Krampus is simply using the snow globe as a watchful eye should anyone lose the Christmas spirit again. Or they could be physically stuck, enjoying an infinite Christmas morning with no escape. In both, Omi will always be trapped in this slice of Christmas Americana. Like what is happening in the real world with immigrant families in the United States, one can only wish there would be a new push for them to keep their respective heritage alive and not be repressed from the shame of “otherness.” That remains in question with how unstable the current times are. Being hopeful is what the yuletide season is all about, but it’s not without a hint of darkness.
Krampus is streaming on Peacock.
ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kuLOtzKmsrGWdpMOqsYymnJqmmaO0cA%3D%3D