Violent Night (2022)

Decking the halls…..and the crooks!

David Harbour pounds, punches, slashes, slices, and dices his way through director Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night. In the film, Harbour portrays Santa Claus, THE Santa Claus, who finds himself caught in the middle of a hostage situation involving a greedy family, an even greedier gang of villains, and a young girl who still believes in Santa and the magic of Christmas. After initially planning to skip out on the affair, Santa Claus decides to help the young girl, Trudy (Leah Brady), and her family. What ensues is a ton of holly jolly violence.

All of the villains in the film use handles like Krampus, Tinsel, Gingerbread, and Frosty. The group is headed up by Mr. Scrooge (John Leguizamo), who plans to take the Lightstone family hostage, break into the family safe, and run off with three million dollars in cash. His plan initially works like a charm, but when Santa arrives, things begin falling apart. Santa’s first few interactions with the mercenaries are clumsy and feature a lot of lucky breaks for Santa. As the villains become more dangerous, Santa Claus draws on his bloody past as a Viking warrior and uses “the bad things that he did for good” with a little help from Trudy.

Aside from Trudy and, to a lesser degree, her separated parents, the Lightstone family is just as unlikable as the villains in the film. Beverly D’Angelo turns in a wicked performance as Gertrude Lightstone, the family matriarch. Alex Hassell and Alexis Louder portray Jason and Linda Lightstone, Trudy’s parents. Edi Patterson plays Jason’s sister, Alva, and Cam Gigandet plays her Hollywood actor boyfriend, Morgan Steel. Alexander Elliot play’s Alva’s son, Bertrude “Bert” Lightstone. He’s an annoying, entitled social media influencer who actually gets some solid laughs in this film.

The film mixes brutal violence involving everything from guns and woodchippers to snowballs and Christmas tree stars. Santa is also very fond of a sledgehammer that he finds in a shed on the property. The special effects appear to be primarily practical with a few CGI moments thrown in when it comes to some of Santa’s more magical moments. It’s a funny and brutal flick and I honestly believe that it will become an adult Christmas classic.

If you enjoy overly violent films that are loaded with action, comedy, and even a little bit of heart, Violent Night is definitely a must-see film. It’s a well written and executed film and I hope that a sequel comes along in the near future.

Thanks for checking out my review. Give Violent Night a look. I think that you’ll enjoy it!