Movie Review: 'Violent Night' At Least Makes Santa the Hero

Violent Night (2022)

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller

Starring David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Leah Brady, Alexis Louder

Release Date December 2nd, 2022

Published December 2nd, 2022

I've long had an aversion to Christmas themed horror movies. I'm a big fan of the innocence of Christmas. I love that I was part of maintaining my Goddaughter's belief in, and love of, Santa Claus which has continued long after many other kids lost their sense of magic. Santa Claus is sacred to me and thus I have a strong distaste for movies that score points on making Santa look bad. It's one of the rare places in popular culture where I become a pearl clutching media watchdog. I worry about little kids who might see Santa portrayed as a murderer and lose their sense of his magic.

Thus, my initial reaction to hearing about the new movie Violent Night, was a pit in my stomach. Here is a completely mainstream movie that was set to place Santa Claus, played by Stranger Things star David Harbour, an actor beloved among a relatively young audience, in a bloody, violent, horror movie context. I was more than just skeptical of Violent Night, I was worried that it could be a watershed moment in the horror portrayal of Santa Claus. That makes this review a bit of a catharsis for me as my worries have been allayed by seeing the movie. Violent Night may place Santa in a violent and bloody story but at least he's the hero in this story. It's a little thing, but it made it easier to take and even enjoy.

Violent Night introduces us to a Kris Kringle who has lost his smile. As we meet Santa on Christmas Eve, he's getting very, very drunk before heading out for his night of delivering presents to kids. Meanwhile, the gears of the story begin to turn as we meet the Lightstone family. Dad, Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassell), and mom, Linda (Alexis Louder), are spending Christmas together for the sake of their daughter, Trudy (Leah Brady). Mom and Dad have split up but Trudy is hopeful they can be reunited. In fact, mom and dad are at the center of Trudy's Christmas wish for her family to be whole again.

The family is reuniting for one final Christmas with the uber-rich Lightstone family. Jason is planning to abandon the family business and has concocted a convoluted plan. Also attending the Lightstone family Christmas are Jason's greed addled sister, Alva (Edi Patterson), Alva's airhead, movie star boyfriend, Morgan Steele (Cam Gigandet), and Alva's obnoxious influencer son Burt (Alexander Elliott). Overseeing the whole Christmas get together is the imperious mother of the Lightstone clan, Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo), a corrupt businesswoman who may or may not have $300 million in cash stored in her basement.

That would explain why the Lightstone Family Christmas is overtaken by terrorists led by Jimmy Martinez (John Leguizamo), codename Ebenezer Scrooge. Jimmy and his team infiltrated the Lightstone family Christmas under the guise of caterers and are in place for a violent takeover once the family is all in the same room. They are here for that $300 million and will do anything to get it. What they don't know is that someone else is crashing Christmas, a drunk Kris Kringle (Harbour) has dropped in and it's no surprise that Jimmy and his entire team are on Santa's naughty list.

Director Tommy Wirkola struggles early on with the comic tone of Violent Night but once the movie finds a rhythm, the dark humor gains momentum. The first two acts have some minor laughs but that sets up for very big laughs in the final act as Santa rediscovers his inner-warrior and begins to truly take to kicking bad guy butt. The fights are hard hitting and bloody but satisfying as Santa is unquestionably the good guy against a group of very bad men and women. David Harbour comes off as a legit tough guy who gives Santa a barroom brawler style of fighting that is fitting for a character who was once a warrior, became Santa, then a drunk, and is now on the road to redemption via protecting the innocent.

That's a terrific arc that is fully encapsulated in Violent Night. At the same time, this is not a movie about character arcs, it's very rudimentary in that aspect. Rather, Violent Night is a movie about violence, and the humorous and impactful presentation of violence. Accepting the film on those terms is essential to your enjoyment of Violent Night. After a time, I did accept the film on those terms and came to enjoy the blood and guts action of the film. I also began to laugh, a lot, and loudly, at the dark gags of Violent Night, the ones that especially came in the final act.

The biggest laughs in the movie are generated via the wonderful chemistry between David Harbour and young Leah Brady. Brady delivers one of the best child performances of 2022. Her timing is impeccable, her devotion to the idea of David Harbour's Santa Claus is a delight, and she earns the biggest laugh in the movie. Referring to Santa's favorite all time weapon, Brady exclaims the nickname of this weapon with such absurd, childish glee that it broke me, I laughed loudly and at length at just her perfect delivery of this one word line. Brilliant.

I am surprised to find myself recommending Violent Night. It should go without saying that this is not a movie for kids. That said, Santa is a magical hero in this movie so, if a child stumbled across it, at the very least, they get a hero Santa. I prefer this to movies that make Santa and Christmas a scary thing. Professional wrestler Bill Goldberg starred in a movie years ago about a violent, killer Santa Claus, and to this day, I find that film to be vile. And not just because Bill Goldberg can't act. The film is needlessly gross and the portrayal of Santa is ugly and nasty and unnecessarily gruesome. Violent Night may not be a work of artful, Christmas movie magic but, at the very, very, least, it treats Santa with some respect and a touch of childlike imagination.

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