Violent Night
Written by Cameron Geiser
Sometimes you just need the right balance. Perfectly poised combinations of disparate flavors and tastes can be the right nourishment for any tasty treat, or occasionally a newfound disaster in the making. This is the headspace of this year’s newest addition to the Holiday B-movie canon, Violent Night. Depending on where you lie on the Action/Christmas barometer of entertainment value, this film may or may not be your jam. Personally, I quite enjoyed my time with Tommy Wirkola’s genre blending Christmas action-comedy. That the film works as good as it does is due in large part to the performances of John Leguizamo as the aptly named Scrooge and David Harbour as Santa Claus.
We’re introduced to a punchy, cynical, and dare I say a little depressed Santa Claus as he’s taking a break on his annual route with a beer at a pub in England. After Santa having imbibed, perhaps a few too many, he departs with sleigh and reindeer into the frosty air confirming that this version of Old Saint Nicolas will have a lot of the traditional bells and whistles that often come with the character. However, as we learn later on in the film, our Santa has his own more divergent background and history that should delight fans of Viking Mythology that errs on the side of mystery rather than going whole hog on their Santa mythos.
The plot is essentially an 80/20 split of Die Hard to Home Alone ratios, but the plot isn’t really why one goes to a movie called Violent Night. You come for the scenes of Santa beating the literal snot out of some bad guys, but you stay for the Holiday themed puns and one-liners. So, Santa gets stranded by his reindeer at a McMansion in America where a rich family is being held hostage as a team of mercenaries are breaking into the vault in the basement. Luckily for them Santa takes a liking to a young girl, Trudy (Leah Brady), the daughter of a couple going through a separation, Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassell) and Linda (Alexis Louder)
Violent Night is exactly what it sounds like, for better or for worse.
The family is mostly a bunch of stereotypically “Rich” characters including the overbearing Matriarch of the family Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D'Angelo) and the whiny leeches who double as familial antagonists of Trudy and her separated parents, Alva Lightstone (Edi Patterson) and Morgan Steel (Cam Gigandet). After Santa takes a walkie-talkie off one of the dead mercenaries he gains a direct line to Trudy who gives him details on Scrooge and his men. Trudy also gets her fair share of preparing Home Alone style traps later on in the film- though hers are a fair bit more violent than Kevin McCallister’s antics.
This film doesn’t reinvent the wheel nor ultimately change the medium of filmmaking in any way, but it does deliver on its promise of Santa wielding a sledgehammer to violent, and satisfying, effect. If you’re looking for another addition to your yearly yuletide yarns- this one might just be it!
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.