Christmas-themed horror movies are more common than one might think. From Silent Night, Deadly Night to Santa’s Slay, Mr. Claus has a lot of blood on his hands. Recently, a couple of filmmakers (Jalmari Helander, director of Rare Exports, for instance) have been focusing on his not-so-jolly origins as the fearsome Krampus. In Krampus: The Reckoning, indie writer and director Robert Conway presents us with another take on this yuletide monster with a formulaic slasher containing some fun, gruesome ideas that don’t quite add up to a Christmas classic.

The story here follows Monica Engesser as small-town child-psychologist Dr. Rachel Stewart, who’s aiding Detective Miles O’Connor, played by James Ray, in his investigation of a mysterious murder case involving a disturbed young girl with a troubled past, Zoe Reaver (Amelia Haberman). As Christmas approaches, it becomes apparent that Zoe’s imaginary friend might have something to do with these winter murders.

The plot isn’t anything to write home about, but it does a respectable job in making these characters feel somewhat like real people with real feelings, not just potential victims for St. Nick’s demonic counterpart. The protagonists react in a mostly believable fashion and have decent-enough dialogue to exchange, but the acting just isn’t on par with the already imperfect script. There also isn’t much to the film’s central mystery, but the characters are charming enough to keep you entertained through most of the runtime.

Although the main characters are convincing enough, much of the cast gets by on high-school theater class acting. Engesser stands out as the most promising actress of the bunch, but she’s not enough to keep the film from feeling amateurish. Zoe Reaver also does a good job, considering her age, but the darker aspects of her character are a bit uneven.

For the most part, the film is visually pleasant; nothing about the framing or lighting lets on how small the budget was. However, the special effects come close to ruining the experience. The practical gore effects were great, but the digital monster just wasn’t enough for a film with this kind of budget. The story was too serious to properly mesh with the SyFy-esque cgi, so you can’t even enjoy it as a ‘so bad it’s good’ feature.

Krampus: The Reckoning isn’t an altogether-horrible movie. There is enough quality present to make up for much of the bad acting and effects, not to mention a low-budget charm that few filmmakers are capable of pulling off convincingly. The ending was also properly impactful, a rare feat for this kind of film. That being said, if you crave some spooky Christmas fun this year, Michael Dougherty’s Krampus is probably a better choice, though there is room out there for more than one entertaining Krampus movie.