Violent Night

David Harbour is half of the film. He was made to play the role of a kind-hearted Santa Claus with the roots of a bad-ass Viking. The mixing of motifs from Die Hard and Home Alone, which are Christmas cult classics in America, is the right way to join their ranks in different genre garb. Wirkola almost succeeded – he combines Christmas clichés with new ideas, the endangered family members are not cliches and the narrative flows nicely. It’s just a shame that Harbour doesn’t face any correspondingly interesting bad guys for whom we would have more respect. (11/29/2023)

Honestly, I don’t get why anyone would label this movie a horror. But whatever, it’s always fun to dive into Christmas spirit in July. I didn’t know much about the film going in, so I expected some adult version of Home Alone. The amount of violence early on was shocking, so I paused to check the director. When I saw it was Tommy Wirkola, known for his bloody films, it all made sense. For a Christmas movie, the kill count was impressive, though not as intense as Wirkola’s usual fare. The film nailed the American holiday vibe: tacky decorations, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer, a loving family, snow, and even Beverly D’Angelo. David Harbour made a fantastic Santa. Surprisingly, the child actors didn’t bother me, even though I’m not a fan of kids in movies. I loved how Santa remembered his roots predating Christianity and long before he became a corporate mascot. What didn’t sit well was Wirkola’s taming down for the mainstream holiday magic, happiness, love, and family values. It felt like he traded his usual gory fun for a big payday. / Lesson Learned: In the age of the internet, writing letters to Santa is pointless. (07/08/2024)

A gang of killers decide to ruin Christmas for a dysfunctional family and only Santa Claus can save them, and the chubby bearded guy is definitely not afraid of violence. Tommy Wirkola may be a little slow to get going in his actioner, and maybe he plays a little too much with genres and Christmas clichés, but he manages to shift into the mode we love him in time. David Harbour is clearly in his element here, the action sequences are full of ideas and clearly shot, the humour is pitch black and the references to Home Alone and Die Hard are a delight too. (12/08/2022)

While still thinning out the naughty list of this year’s Christmas, I tip my imaginary Santa hat to whoever said: "I have an idea to make the Christmas plot of Die Hard even more Christmassy!", before adding: "How about combining it with Home Alone?", in front of the madman who finally filmed it in a way that's not cringe-inducing but funny. Yes, at first glance, Fatman with Mel Gibson came up with something similar two years ago, but while I liked that holiday almost-action flick, it falls far short of the fun of Violent Night. David Harbour is flawless in the leading role, he enjoys Santa to the fullest and is very convincing in the action scenes, which have great choreography. The trailer doesn't give everything away, so in addition to all the imaginative shooting, punching, breaking, stabbing, screaming, drinking, eating gingerbread, bleeding and swearing, we also get a glimpse into Santa’s past or one of the climactic scenes that shows what Home Alone would look like if it were truly brutal. Of course it's not a non-stop action ride, that wouldn't work, or it wouldn't have anything new to offer soon, but even the moments of calm before the storm were rarely taken deadly seriously, and I liked them. (12/08/2022)

A brutally appealing genre film in which heads burn and bodies explode in ultra-fun sequences, it's already achieving slight cult status at the moment and I'll happily include it among my classic Yuletide screenings in the future, i.e. alongside the first two Die Hard movies and Home Alone. Tommy Wirkola is a bit of a freak, but that doesn't take away from his huge dollop of talent and his remarkable flair for scenes that are extremely gory and funny at the same time. Violent Night is horribly irreverent ("Trudy? Well, that makes her sound like a whore."), brutally action-packed fun where you'll soak up the true Christmas spirit like (almost) nowhere else. [80%] (12/21/2022)