The Blogboard Jungle

Krampus started something last year. Making horror themed Christmas movies wasn't really a thing until some historic folklore and the creative mind behind Trick R' Treat brought the Pre-Christian Alpine folkloric creature to American audiences. Now, you will find memes, collectibles, and "ugly Christmas Sweaters" with the horned figure on it. Then there's the 'B' movie, straight to video films that find a way to make clever use of the idea. A Christmas Horror Story does that,and stars William Shatner, and Zoe De Grand Maison but they manage to twist it into a modified anthology tale that has a pretty decent gift at the end. An asylum, a strange kid, Krampus, and a problem Santa has at his factory with some of his elves are the stories told almost simultaneously in this film. While they do sort of come together at the end, the way the film plays out may confuse some audiences. The film is not rated but there are some sexually suggestive themes and ...

Krampus graphic novel Not that long ago, we had told you about Michael Dougherty's book that was released to keep Trick r' Treat fans on ice for the sequel. When he had broke that news he mentioned he could not work on that film because he was working on Krampus , well now its out and this is our review. Dougherty must have a certain affection for holidays in general. Trick r' Treat showed viewers what happens to those that don't have the Halloween spirit and Krampus seems to extend that to Christmas. Nothing is spoiled by telling you how the film opens with people being horrible to each other during the holidays. No better time to point that out to people after the way many behave on Black Friday, just do a search on line for footage matching the opening of the film. The message the film has is that those people, will most likely get a visit from Krampus. Dougherty pulls the character right out of Austro-Bavarian   German-speaking   Alpine   folklore,...

Photo from Climate.gov Christmas is coming soon and you either love it or hate it.  This site obviously favors another time of year but if you are into the holidays you probably want the "white Christmas" the popular song says people dream of. If you are walking around, wondering, hoping and dreaming of one you can look up you chances at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's web site, better known as NOAA . The data they have there is only from 1981-2010 which are "the latest three-decade averages of several climatological measurements", according to the NOAA.  In the northeast, we had an average of a snow storm every week last year so being three years off may be a concern for the later winter months. If you're in the crowd that does not care for a "White Christmas", then this may be useful to you too.  It will help you stock up on food, and get your  +Netflix  queue in order to watch some good movies or binge watch some shows...

    I've mentioned before how the holidays seem to being out the crazies once Thanksgiving passes, and referred to it as " The Silly Season ".  That phrase was taken from a film, that sort of became an unofficial Christmas movie for myself and many others over the years through pop culture or what have you along with another film.  The films I am referring to are Die Hard and Lethal Weapon , while their genre may be action elements of holiday survival are ingrained and the message is of closeness and family are there that make them good choices for the grumpy guy's holiday. Firstly, both films start and end with Christmas music so you have your sandwich of holiday theme music right there.  Throughout both films you'll notice plenty of Christmas lights and Santa themed colors in many scenes.  Along with tinsel, and eggnog both films focus on families trying to get together for Christmas but have to deal with these pesky European terrorists or mercenaries...