Violent Night

For me, this won’t become a Christmas classic. What a shame! The first trailers promised a perfectly outrageous black comedy. The film has two excellent aspects (which I can’t deny). David Harbour thoroughly enjoyed his role as the foul-mouthed Santa, and I bought into it completely (his backstory was also amusing... I definitely didn’t expect a theme about Viking PTSD even in my wildest dreams). The second aspect is the decent action, with one standout scene in the barn being particularly noteworthy (I might revisit that scene occasionally... an interesting use of skates :D). Unfortunately, the film doesn’t work at all on a story level. Yes, I’m willing to forgive a lot within the genre, but it shouldn’t be overwhelmed by illogical elements. Leguizamo didn’t quite fit as the villain, nor did the main family with the little girl. It has some production quality (David Leitch handled the production), so it wasn’t a complete disaster. On the other hand, I see it as nothing more than a decent one-off. I give it 6.5/10. P.S. On a second viewing, I wouldn’t be as critical. Sure, it’s a silly film, but it’s devilishly entertaining. David Harbour was born for this role. But I’ll keep the rating the same :D (2023-05-31)

Yippee ki-yay ho-ho-ho, motherfucker! When the special unit began their demolition with a sledgehammer during Bryan Adams' "Christmas Time," I was torn between envying Tommy Wirkola's arrested adolescence or criticizing it. He once again revealed his fondness for hobby store goods, especially various tools, but with the same passion, he might want to start focusing on characters. The invocation of family values often puts the brakes on things, but I understand, it's Christmas. Although David Harbour, playing the role with a Hellboy-like approach, gave it his all, I believe Bad Santa Billy Bob Thornton would still outshine him. Of course, I mean that figuratively... (2023-01-11)

Merry fuc*ing Christmas!! David Harbour as an alcoholic Santa with a dark killer past (I commend the awesome origin story!!) flying his reindeer through the starry skies and urinating on the residents below versus a bunch of killers in a house with a family that hates each other? Fuck yeah! This is like John Wick at Christmas, and clearly the best gift I could ask for at the end of the year. The humour goes at full speed, it's properly perverse and raunchy, but most importantly it's superbly integrated into the plot and feels natural and not pushed to the limit. Even the opening sequence, when Santa walks around the houses and instead of presents he brings out all sorts of disgusting things, grounded the whole cinema in their seats and made it clear what the spirit of the rest of the film would be. The characters of the attacked family are archetypically great, from the spoiled brats, to the funny goofballs, to the good guys, and likewise the gang of killers with nicknames like Candy or Gingerbread get plenty of space and have a great time! The film takes the best of similar genre pieces, wraps it up in an excellent Christmas package and works very cleverly with the Christmas motifs, hence there is no shortage of murders using lights, decorative chains, ornaments, icicles, skates and a even nativity scene. The definite highlights are the sequences in the style of Home Alone  and the rampage with Thor's hammer, you don’t know know whether to laugh or groan at the violence. Violent Night is a literal end of the year treat, which apart from a few sentimental emotional conversations has no deaf spots, perfectly combines violence, parodic humour, Christmas atmosphere and family comedy in a hell of a style and I have to admit that I didn't expect this kind of fun. Tommy Wirkola just did it. (2022-12-08)

Tommy Wirkola combined the story of a Santa who lost his faith in Christmas with Die Hard. A rich family is gathered in their well-guarded mansion for the holidays when they are attacked by evil kidnappers just as Santa is eating cookies from one of the few good girls there. David Harbour is initially profiled as a pudgy drunk who wants to quit his job, but when glimpses into the past reveal his origins, he takes on an almost mythical dimension. Then, when he picks up a sledgehammer in a shed and goes to rescue the little girl, things get intense, with mashed-up heads, dismembered kidnappers and ground-up soldiers. The action is not blurred and it’s also innovative in a Christmas way. The jokes ooze with cynicism, the references to Home Alone are downright brutal. It’s just a little slow at times, you need some patience at first, but most of the time it's great fun. (2022-12-26)

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. (2022-12-08)