Originally published April 29, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
Back in January, Kevin Smith announced that he was working on a new Christmas-themed horror anthology movie based around the European folk legend the Krampus. Originally titled Comes the Krampus, Smith has now revealed that the project is a go under the new name of Anti-Claus, and that it’s set to feature his Tusk stars Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks.
“When I was a kid, if they wanted to make a Christmas horror movie, they’d stick an axe in Santa’s hands,” Smith tells The Hollywood Reporter. “In Anti-Claus, we leave Santa alone and creep with the Krampus through twisted tales of holly-jolly murder, desire, desperation and despair. Just in time for the holiday season. In America, we’re taught that nice kids gets presents from Santa and naughty kids get coal. But in countries like Germany, Austria, Bavaria, Romania and Hungary, Christmas is more metal than merry: Saint Nicholas brings a sack full of toys for good kids and the Krampus carries an empty bag for taking away the bad kids. I wanna see THAT Christmas movie. So rather than wait for it, we’ll make it instead.”
XYZ Films is set to shop Anti-Claus around Cannes to international distributors, with WME Global handling domestic distribution.
