If I were Kevin Smith, I’d be pretty pissed right about now. Earlier this year he announced plans for a Christmas-themed horror anthology tentatively titled Comes the Krampus, which was set to be his second film inspired by a SModcast episode. The movie would feature several shorts that revolve around a creature from German folklore known as the Krampus, which emerges during the Christmas season to punish kids who have been naughty. Last month it was announced that the movie had been retitled Anti-Claus and that it would bring back many of the cast members from his upcoming horror movie Tusk including Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks. Now this week Legendary Pictures has announced a holiday horror movie of their own called… wait for it… Krampus. Coincidence? I doubt it.

According to Deadline, Michael Dougherty (Trick R’ Treat) has signed on to co-write and direct Krampus, a horror comedy set during Christmas about a pagan demon who punishes the wicked. The movie is being co-written by Todd Casey (Green Lantern: Emerald Knights) and Zach Shields. Dougherty had this to say:

“The dark ancient origins of our holidays have always fascinated me… I’ve been drawing twisted Christmas cards for well over a decade, so it only made sense to bring some of that morbid yuletide fun to the big screen, and Krampus was the perfect mythology to do that. Christmas has been invading Halloween for far too long. It’s time to return the favor.”

The fact that Dougherty already directed a horror anthology film based around a holiday should afford him a little bit of slack, but if you ask me, this seems like yet another suspicious example of Hollywood deja vu. The good news for Kevin Smith is that it sounds like his production is farther along and will likely be finished first. What do you think, are they ripping off Kevin Smith’s idea? Which one of these movies will end up being better?