Movie Review: Violent Night

While horror genre enthusiasts regularly get stuff like Krampus, Santa's Slay and all 62 versions of Black Christmas to scratch their itches for twisted Christmas fare, action movie fans haven't had the same good fortune. Thanks to the good people at Universal Pictures, that cruel dry spell has finally come to an end with Violent Night.

This film from director Tommy Wirkola (What Happened to Monday?, both Dead Snow films) and writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller (the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise) poses a classic question: What if Santa Claus (David Harbour) came down the chimney while mercenaries (led by John Leguizamo) were trying to rob $300 million in cash from home vault of a billionaire oil executive (Beverly D'Angelo)? Well, since the billionaire's granddaughter (Leah Brady) is on the nice list, Santa decides to stick around, turn some decorations into makeshift weapons and make a crack at saving the day.

Violent Night is one of those movies where the plot synopsis and trailers let you know pretty much exactly what you're getting into. Wirkola, Casey and Miller have effectively placed a darkly comedic, over-the-top R-rated action flick smack dab at the center of a warmhearted Christmas movie. As weird of a marriage as it appears to be on paper, these polar opposites are able to coexist with each other quite well in practice. The action scenes are full of energy, amusing sight gags and bloody "oh shit!!"-inducing kills, Leguizamo gives a deliriously hammy villain performance that feels like it was ripped straight from the 80's/90's B-action movie heyday and Harbour's delightful, deceptively multi-faceted portrayal of Santa Claus allows him to be convincing as a cynical drunk who has had it with Christmas, a resourceful ass-kicker and a kind, honest man who rediscovers his purpose through the belief that a sweet little girl had in his inherent good. 

There are some complaints to be made about how genuine Violent Night's heart is considering how much cartoonish albeit graphic violence it contains and how shitty most of the characters are as human beings (including the survivors), but I'd argue that a phony sense of love and optimism is a pillar of Christmas, so that doesn't really take away from its ability to emit a holiday spirit. Violent Night never promised to suppress the questionable sentimentality that drives the subgenre, it just invited some morbid favors along to the party. And if there's a better recipe for a Christmas film than Santa stabbing a henchman in the eye with a light-up ornament then immediately crawling over to a walkie talkie to comfort a distressed small child after her family said that he wasn't real, we've yet to see it.            

Grade: B+