The horror genre has always been huge (even though it was not always loved). From horror comics to TV shows like American Horror Story, this genre has been growing rapidly in recent years with more and more horror film directors being acknowledged.
Likewise, there are some popular folklore horror movies being created such as those about the German Christmas demon Krampus. To help you choose the one to watch next, here is Every Krampus Movie, Ranked.
Krampus: The Devil Returns (2016)
If the first movie is bad, the second one is even worse. Krampus: The Devil Returns is a sequel to 2013’s Krampus: The Christmas Devil. Though both of them have a very low rating on IMDb, the sequel has been described as a much worse movie than the original.
The story follows three police officers who try to solve the case of the children from their town disappearing. As they soon learn, this is the work of Krampus who also killed one of the officer’s wife and abducted his daughter.
Krampus: The Christmas Devil (2013)
As mentioned earlier, this is the first movie in a duology about Krampus. Like Krampus: The Devil Returns, Krampus: The Christmas Devil takes a police officer as its main character and mostly follows a similar structure of mystery, realization, and further slaughter.
Jeremy is a police officer who was kidnapped as a kid. He lives in his hometown and continues looking for his childhood kidnapper, but when other kids begin missing, he realizes that this might be the same kidnapper who abducted him as a kid.
Krampus Unleashed (2016)
Krampus Unleashed only has a slightly higher rating on IMDb (2.4), but you might like it much better than Krampus: The Christmas Devil and Krampus: The Devil Returns. After all, the special effects here are much better, though the story might still feel boring.
In the movie, a group of treasure hunters is looking for a buried treasure. However, they find an ancient stone that has demonic summoning qualities that ultimately awaken Krampus himself. After sleeping for centuries, he starts hunting down people again.
Krampus: The Reckoning (2015)
Another Krampus movie of questionable quality which has the same rating as the previous movie seems to be enjoying more popularity. Though the graphics are not perfect and the story is far from being well-written, Krampus: The Reckoning is still worth a watch because of its original approach to the tale of Krampus.
At the center of it all is Zoe, a girl who is adopted by foster parents after her biological ones die. Some time ago, her grandmother told her about Krampus, and now the girl has made friends with the demon. Once her new parents start abusing her, she kills them with a voodoo doll and continues killing others with the help of Krampus and voodoo magic.
Krampus Origins (2018)
If you have ever wondered where Krampus came from, Krampus Origins might answer that question (though the answer will be a questionable one). The movie tries to tell its own tale about how the ancient demon came to be and takes a lot of liberty in its creative decisions.
World War I is currently raging on as a group of American soldiers find an artifact that can summon Krampus. The soldiers are killed in battle and the artifact is relayed to one of the soldiers’ widows. The woman works at an orphanage, and the kids summon the demon who they now must battle.
Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride (2018)
Just like with Krampus: The Christmas Devil, Mother Krampus was more successful than its sequel Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride. Nevertheless, the sequel is still watchable considering that the approach is similar to the original.
Four young ladies in Cleveland, Ohio are completing their mandatory community service during the Christmas night. They arrive at the last house and meet an old, welcoming woman, but as darkness approaches, they realize that there is something sinister about their host.
Mother Krampus (2017)
As mentioned earlier, Mother Krampus was more successful than its sequel. It has a somewhat acceptable score on IMDb (5.1), so you can expect the movie to be decent for a one-time watch with friends to laugh or get scared together.
The story is based on the German legends about Frau Perchta who was somewhat similar to Krampus. This witch takes a child each night during the twelve days of Christmas. In 1921, everything happened just this way. Then, the same thing continued in 1992, but this time the townspeople hung a woman who they believed to be responsible. The woman cursed the town saying that Frau Perchta would come to avenge her death. Twenty-five years later, kids starting missing yet again…
A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
If you are a fan of anthology films, then A Christmas Horror Story might be the one you will fall in love with. All four stories, obviously, take place on Christmas Eve and are connected to Krampus in some way.
At the center of the story is the radio DJ who tells his listeners to stay away from the local mall as he thinks there is something bad going on. At a local school, two students are making a documentary about the death of two other students from the school. A police officer goes to the woods with his family and his son gets lost. Another family reunites with their aunt who tells the kids about Krampus. Santa Claus has to battle evil and then fight against Krampus himself.
Krampus (2015)
One of the two most successful films about the Christmas devil is 2015’s Krampus. In fact, even critics on Metacritic gave it a 49 out of 100 (according to 21 reviews). Perhaps one of the reasons for its success is the cast that has such stars as Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation) and Toni Collette (Knives Out, Hereditary, Little Miss Sunshine).
The story follows a family in which a boy accidentally summons the demon Krampus to their home due to having an unhappy Christmas. At the time, the premise was fairly fresh because there hadn’t been a horror Christmas movie since 2006’s Black Christmas.
Rare Exports (2010)
Rare Exports is truly an exceptional movie. Horror films are usually not very loved by critics yet are favored by audiences, but here the situation is different.
The movie is based on a short film Rare Exports Inc. and its sequel about a company that ships out Santa Clauses to locations around the world. The story of the feature film follows the lives of people living near the Korvanturi mountains who discover the secret behind Santa Claus.
