YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ON HIS LIST.

The unruly Engel family gather for the holidays, little dreaming that they will all end up battling a monster that gains strength from children who hate Christmas.

A horned creature from Alpine folklore is brought to Hollywood in this horror-comedy that starts out in the vein of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) and then turns into a new Gremlins (1984).

The director, who did something similar in the Halloween flick Trick ’r Treat (2007), is the right person to bring humor and thrills to this wicked, inventive and (almost too) elaborately effects-laden tale.

2015-U.S. 97 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Michael Dougherty. Cast: Adam Scott (Tom Engel), Toni Collette (Sarah Engel), David Koechner (Howard), Allison Tolman, Emjay Anthony, Conchata Ferrell. Voice of Seth Green.