Is this one strictly based on the classic stories or did you add to that mythology?
Well, I expanded on the mythology. Krampus is no longer limited to punishing children and he really lets the adults know they’ve been naughty when he brings down the Hell Fire! But other than that, I tried to not only stay true to the myth but considering the fact that many American audience members might not know of Krampus, I tried to present the myth in a way that would inform them about his origins. But alas, I think Universal has by this point done a great job of letting the public know about Krampus. So many thanks to my mega budget counterpart!! J
Why did you consider Krampus a perfect subject to put on film?
Well for me the first attraction was that until recently, very few Americans even knew about Krampus, and after reading the legend of St. Nick’s less than friendly counterpart, I became intrigued at the idea of making a film where Krampus punishes just as Santa rewards. The perfect combination of the carrot and the stick!
Have you watched any previous Krampus movies? Have there been many?
I haven’t, which is crazy when you consider that by some accounts Krampus’s origins go back even further to pre-Christian Europe.
Is there one common link between them all?
I can’t really tell and I think we have to wait and see. So far I’ve only seen the trailer to the Universal film and the others I’ve only heard about. From what I know about the other films, the only noticeable link is the word Krampus, so it will be exciting to see what other filmmakers have come up with.
A werewolf movie must include a silver bullet and some howling. What must a Krampus movie include?
Goat legs, chains and Fire! Yes, Hell Fire or dragging people to hell is what I would say. He’s also famous for using birch sticks but I found no way to make that scary. I did try but I kept landing at Skuzzlebutt and his celery hand! South Park fans will get that one.
The creature looks impressive. How long did it take you to settle on that concept?
Well the idea of making him big and bad was the first thing I came up with. I wanted something truly terrifying so we needed to make him a lot more menacing than he often appears in the lore. After that it was a matter of taking my ideas to my concept artist Chris Cold, who did some great sketches that we sent to our 3D modeller Borja Ortiz, who brought our Krampus to life. So the concept did not take that long as I had a very clear idea of how I wanted our Krampus to look and behave, and I’m very happy with the results.
