KRAMPUS (2015)

Boasting a cast way better than the story deserves, KRAMPUS is about a kid who is so upset about people's lack of Christmas spirit that he rips up his heartfelt letter to Santa and tosses it out the window.  This causes Krampus and his minions to show up and start wrecking the joint.  It's kinda like how in XANADU when the artist got upset, ripped up his drawings and tossed the pieces out the window causing Olivia Newton-John and her sisters to show up and start wrecking the joint...with their awesome dance moves!

For a lightweight, PG-13 holiday horror film KRAMPUS is alright.  It's more like an extended episode of an 80's horror anthology show (like "Tales from the Darkside") than an actual horror movie. I am curious as to why the film was named after Krampus when Krampus himself didn't do anything?  For real.  The dude ran around out in the snow for a bit, sent in his minions to take care of everybody then at the very end of the film he just stood there staring at the kid.  The End.

No blood, no nudity, no gore, no scares, very little foul language, slow pace.  I was halfway entertained while watching it, but I didn't care at all about any of the characters. Worth a watch, I guess, but it's nothing to get excited about. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm gonna go to the shitter and drop a krampus of my own!

HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE (1996)

The film opens on a space station in the year 2127. There's only one dude, Paul Merchant, on the station and he's using a remote controlled robot to open up The Lament Configuration. He's doing this in order to call up Pinhead and then destroy him with his specially made trap. Right as this is about to happen some military squad bust in and take him prisoner. During his interview he warns them that Pinhead is loose on the ship and tells them his backstory about how back 400 years ago a relative of his innocently created the box for this secretly evil dude who conjured forth the demon Angelique who is a buddy of Pinhead. Evil shit happens and blood is splattered all over the joint. Fast-forward to 1996 and another guy in Merchant's bloodline was an architect who designed the building seen at the end of Part 3. Angelique pieces together that this is where the cube is (remember the concrete at the end of 3?). This sets off a chain of events where it's the architect dude versus Pinhead, Angelique and their dog. Back in 2127, the army guys are quickly killed off by the Pinhead gang, so now it's up to Merchant to kill Pinhead once and for all...or whatever.

One refreshing thing about the HELLRAISER series is you never know what you're gonna get. I remember seeing HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE at the theater on opening day at the very first morning showing and being confused during the opening scene...a space station! What the fuck? But then when the story set in I really got into it and even bought that poster above. I still have it. I was so young that I even remember getting scared. Haha. Watching it again now, it's pretty dated and not scary at all, but still a fun ride. Pinhead talks a lot, Angelique is pretty awesome, the Chatter Dog is cool and the story is so out there you can't help but pay attention. It would've been nice if there had been more nudity, gore and a higher budget, but hey whatever. For a mid-90's horror flick I think H:B is a good movie and a nice addition to the HELLRAISER series. Definitely worth watching if you're a fan.

Also, according to IMDb Kenneth Tobey is listed as "Hologram-Priest (uncredited)" but I didn't see him.

Part 1 - Hellraiser (1987)
Part 2 - Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Part 3 - Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
Part 5 - Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
Part 6 - Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)
Part 7 - Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
Part 8 - Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
Part 9 - Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)
Part 10 - Hellraiser: Judgement (2018)
Remake - Hellraiser (2022)