Some movies can win you over with sheer chutzpah. The brutal Christmas adventure Violent Night is, for me, one of those movies. I didn’t expect to like it at all, but I found it to be amusing and occasionally funny, with villains that deserve to be butchered by Kris Kringle and a central story of faith and generosity that works well to dispel some of the more disturbing elements of this goofy story. This is bound to be a cult film of the future, I think.
Tommy Wirkola’s Christmas story finds Santa Claus (David Harbour) having a very bad Christmas Eve. He’s lost faith in the holidays and is seriously considering packing it all in, until he stumbles upon a family with a big problem: they are being robbed. Should he ignore the mostly naughty grown-ups squabbling over their inheritance to come, or help the young girl (Leah Brady) who still believes in him and only wants her estranged parents to reconcile? Unwilling to give up on the one person who truly needs him, he tries to assist her, only to find himself facing a Christmas-hating thief (John Leguizamo) and his army of greedy sycophants. The situation calls for Santa to dole out violent justice to the naughty names on his magical list. Which he does, with his favored sledgehammer, Skullcrusher.
Not for the faint of heart, Violent Night is one of a cadre of nasty, subversive modern movies which exploit traditionally beloved figures (Santa Claus, Winnie the Pooh, etc.) to juxtapose wholesome goodness with nightmarish, ultra-violent, hedonistic savagery. That’s not usually something I would enjoy, but I must say that this film was much more enjoyable than I would have imagined. Santa’s plight is heartfelt, and the perhaps too-saccharine relationship he develops with Trudy is quite convincing. And it is fun to watch the paunchy, hungover saint of Christmas go on a murderous rampage, because these conscienceless robbers and killers deserve every hammer blow they receive.
As with Brian and Charles, I might have even given this film a three star rating, except for one element. While I generally like the cast, which includes old favorite Beverly D’Angelo as the matriarchy of this motley money-grubbing family, I really disliked the performance of Trudy’s father, Jason (Alex Hassell). Something about him made me cringe, and I never warmed up to either the character nor the actor himself. I think he was miscast and never achieves believability. There are other issues I had with the film, as well, but most of those are simply part of the premise. This one is a guilty pleasure that actually was surprisingly pleasurable. But it’s not a family film; keep the kids and the grandparents away. ☆ ☆ 1/2. 31 August 2024.