Violent Night

David Harbour is Santa Claus in this gloriously violent and unapologetically campy Christmas tale that is destined to become a cult classic.

There was a time, actually not too long ago, when there’d be three or four different Christmas movies that would hit the big screen from November all the way up until early December. Some of these films became classics in their own right like “Elf” and “Love Actually” while others faded into obscurity like “A Bad Moms Christmas” and “Fred Claus,” ever since COVID-19 came around and forever changed the movie theater business, the annual big-budget Christmas films have launched not in theaters nationwide, but on streaming services.

Take for example “Spirited,” a musical comedy starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds that offered a new and fresh take on “A Christmas Carol.” Five years ago it likely would have been a bonafide hit at the box office, but alas times have changed. The edgy R-rated action-comedy “Violent Night,” which features David Harbour as a foul-mouthed and vicious Santa Claus, is one of the sole Christmas movies hitting the big screen this season.

From the minds of Tommy Wirkola and David Leitch, “Violent Night,” follows a more jaded Santa (Harbour), he prefers a 6 pack of beer over milk and cookies, curses like a sailor, and has become disenfranchised with modern society’s obsession with materialism. To put it bluntly, nobody really believes in Santa anymore. Trudy Lightstone (Leah Brady) is one of the only true believers left, but her obnoxiously wealthy and conceited family threatens to destroy her holiday spirit.

When the Lightstone family mansion is attacked on Christmas Eve by a group of mercenaries led by a man calling himself Mr. Scrooge (John Leguizamo), Santa finds himself having to become a reluctant hero in order to save Trudy… and the rest of her family, even if they’re not on his nice list.

The marketing for “Violent Night” may lead you to believe that the film is basically “John Wick” with Santa Claus, it even has some of the same producing team. It’s not that. Those familiar with director Tommy Wirkola’s past work, including films like the “Dead Snow” films and “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” likely will have a much better idea of what “Violent Night” has in store for its audience. This is a tried and true B-Movie, the campiness is felt in every single line of dialogue, in every single frame, in every single kill, and in every single one-liner.

The scope is small in scale and you can feel the film’s $20 million budget. This is something that is destined to garner a cult following.

“Violent Night” is mean-spirited, cynical, and ridiculously violent all the way through. It’ll either win you over or have you leaving the theater in disgust 15 minutes in. The action scenes never fail to be amusing and even when the jokes don’t work it’s easy to forgive the film as it is clearly the intention. There are shades of “Die Hard,” “Home Alone,” “Krampus,” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” felt throughout the film as well as a little bit of “Succession” thrown in as well.

For those wondering if the novelty of David Harbour as Santa Claus brutally killing criminals in extravagant ways grows old quickly, it doesn’t. In fact, there could’ve and should’ve been more of it, as the film sometimes focuses a little bit too much on the drama within the Lightstone family, who are extremely hard to feel any empathy for outside of Trudy. For those buying a ticket to see an R-Rated Santa Claus action film, you’ll get your money’s worth, even if there are some areas that fall flat.

David Harbour slays a disillusioned Santa Claus, not only does he completely go for broke with his performance and play with the film’s campy nature, but the few heartfelt scenes there are in the film work because of him. We may not care about anyone else, but we do care about Santa. Why wouldn’t you? John Leguizamo gives an amusing villainous performance and even manages to feel quite intimidating in a movie that feels more comedic than tense.

“Violent Night” isn’t perfect nor will it be walking home with any Academy Awards in a few months, but it’s perfectly aware of that. It’s a movie where Santa bashes heads in with a giant hammer. You get what you pay for.