Here is the Krampus ending explained, complete with spoilers. This explains why Krampus killed who he killed.
Why did Krampus kill the family?
Towards the end, Krampus threw Max into a fiery pit and didn’t release his family to punish them all for losing the Christmas spirit.
As Omi explained, Krampus only came to punish. He didn’t come to give, but to take. So, after Max unleashed the demon with his wish in the first act of the film, Krampus arrived to take everyone away one by one. He kidnapped Max’s entire family, which led Max to apologize to him.
Unlike Omi, Max wished for his family to survive. He was willing to sacrifice himself and asked Krampus to take him instead of his family. The demon felt Max’s remorse. But just as one would think that he’d honor Max’s wishes, he laughed and tossed Max to his doom.
The next day, Max woke up and found himself in a rerun of his Christmas morning. But this time, things were as he wanted them to be. His family was back together and everyone happily opened their presents. But as Max found a Krampus bell in his gift box, everyone started remembering the real Christmas night they spent. The camera zooms out and we find Max’s family trapped in a snow globe within Krampus’ lair.
Why did Krampus trap Max’s family in a snow globe?
The snow globe represents a bad omen and Krampus trapped Max’s family in it to fulfill the kid’s wish, but also punish them.
Unlike other movies, Krampus had a bleak ending where even though Max realized what’s important and wished his family to survive, they were all still trapped together. Their snow globe wasn’t the only one, as Krampus had many of them in his lair, acting as his personal prison cells.
While Max got to be with his family in a happy environment, the bitter truth was that Krampus trapped them all to punish them for losing their way, similar to how he did with other families in the past. So, the ending is a lesson for the viewers not to lose their way and to keep their Christmas spirits alive even during tough times.
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