‘Violent Night’ review: Who is this murderous Santa movie for? 

Santa’s coming to city, and he is drunk, scorching, and able to go to warfare. 

If you happen to’re on the lookout for a heat and fuzzy vacation film, look elsewhere. Violent Evening is what we deserve for arguing 12 months after 12 months about whether or not or not Die Laborious is a Christmas film. This fucked up however festive movie is principally Die Laborious however with Santa Claus as John McClane, a world-weary enforcer of justice, who’s battling a gang of vicious thieves throughout a yuletide social gathering gone brutally off the rails. 

However how does that play out? Properly, let’s break it down.  

Is Violent Evening a Santa Slasher? 

Credit score: Allen Fraser / Common Photos

For these jolted by the phrase, the Santa Slasher is a horror subgenre wherein Santa (or somebody dressed like him) presents murderous mayhem. We’re speaking motion pictures like Santa’s Slay, Silent Evening Lethal Evening, Uncommon Exports: A Christmas Story, and — the very best of the bunch — Lethal Video games, which is principally Residence Alone, however with a mall Santa turned serial killer. 

Violent Evening follows of their footsteps, centering on a Santa (Stranger Issues’ David Harbour) killing folks. However somewhat than rosy-cheeked kiddies, feuding households, or problematic dad and mom, this Santa Claus is devoted purely to giving some heisting house invaders what they deserve. And it is not a lump of coal. It is a Christmas decoration shoved by way of the attention into the brainpan. In any case, killing with festive weapons — like a sweet cane sharpened to a degree — is a part of Santa Slasher’s bag.

In Violent Evening, a gang of surly caterers on the Lightstone household’s annual get-together are all secretly carrying weapons and seasonal codenames like Peppermint, Jingle, Krampus, and Scrooge (John Leguizamo because the film’s reply to Hans Gruber). They’re plotting to rob the household’s vault of tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars}. However it’s onerous to really feel too invested in these stakes as a result of this clan is a grumble of grim Grinches. 

The Lightstone household is made up of thinly sketched caricatures of American affluence and extra: the foul-mouthed and domineering matriarch (Nationwide Lampoon’s Christmas Trip’s Beverly D’Angelo), the money-grubbing kiss-ass (The Righteous Gems‘ Edi Patterson), the obnoxious teen influencer (Alexander Elliot), the guilt-stricken golden boy (The Boys‘ Alex Hassell), and a comically cocky aspiring film star (Twilight’s Cam Gigandet doing a cruel Mark Wahlberg send-up). 

With these poster kids for greed because the victims, you is perhaps tempted to root for the robbers. However of their midst, there’s a candy little one (Leah Brady), who believes in Santa and the restorative energy of Christmas. As soon as she connects to Santa through a walkie-talkie, the crusty Kris Kringle is set to provide her the present of survival. And perhaps her shitty household can share it — season of charity and all that. 

Is Violent Evening a family-friendly Christmas film? 

Credit score: Allen Fraser / Common Photos

Whereas it does have a coronary heart of gold — beneath a bunch of bloodshed — it is a Christmas comedy within the vein of the crass basic Scrooged however with a beneficiant slathering of motion and violence. That’s to say: this R-rated film is firmly not for teenagers. It begins with Santa drunk and belligerent at a bar, belly-aching concerning the state of the world. Whereas this is perhaps relatable — or wickedly enjoyable — for grown-ups, Santa’s disillusionment would possibly rattle children. And if that does not his gloppy try and boot and rally would possibly! 

Past that, as a result of Santa is battling villains who’re threatening not solely Christmas cheer but additionally an lovable little one, the red-suited warrior has a license to kill. Screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller line up loads of graphic violence, together with deadly gunshots, impalements, decapitation, war-hammer smashes, and explosions. Plus, punchlines are sometimes wrapped in flashy curse phrases, like when the not-so-kindly grandma says, “Do not shit in my mouth and inform me it is chocolate cake.” 

Principally, in case your normal Christmas season viewing favors movies like Elf, A Christmas Story, or the Rankin’/Bass assortment, Violent Evening will knock your hair again and switch it white for good measure. However what when you’ve fortunately nestled into the bloody lap of Santa Slashers? What when you’re a fan of Tommy Wirkola’s different horror comedies? 

How does Violent Evening rank as a Tommy Wirkola film?

Credit score: Allen Fraser / Common Photos

The Norwegian author/director made his mark in 2009 with Useless Snow, a very outrageous zombie film about school mates, whose ski trip is annihilated when Nazi troopers rise from the lifeless. 4 years later, Wirkola introduced his model of grisly comedy mayhem to a fairy story setting with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, which memorably solid Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as armed avengers decided to beat their childhood trauma by wiping sinister sorceresses off the map. 

The place Useless Snow was tough and wild, Hansel and Gretel had American studio slickness, but was a satisfyingly sick romp, full of absurd violence and unapologetically silly jokes. When it got here out, I known as it “the honey badger of films” (pulling from a meme of the time), and whereas that joke has aged the sentiment stays true. However nothing may put together me for the completely magnificent insanity of 2014’s Useless Snow 2: Pink Vs. Useless. A direct sequel to his bloody breakout, this one is so astoundingly violent and twisted that I screamed all through in uncontrollable ghoulish delight. And admittedly, you would be hard-pressed to discover a weirder but pitch-perfect ending in any style. 

So, with all of the dizzying derangements of those Wirkola works dancing in my head like visions of sugar plums, I used to be anticipating Violent Evening. And I can confidently report that…it is nice. For a star-studded American film the place Santa kills folks, it is fairly stunning, indulging in scenes of festive murder with a wink befitting the mischievous Saint Nick. However for a Wirkola film, it feels tame. He is given us badder baddies, extra eye-popping kills, and extra charismatically chaotic heroes earlier than. 

Although adorned with cleverly Christmas-y weaponry, the struggle choreography is a bit banal, unadorned by swish pans and uninspired cinematography. Nevertheless, one Residence Alone-inspired sequence stands out. There, Wirkola cheerfully lays the anticipation about what the pursuing foes are about to face as they chase down the plucky child hero, and the payoff is as thrilling as seeing a giant glistening present field along with your title on it. 

However when you’ve seen different motion pictures like this or different Wirkola motion pictures, nothing in Violent Evening feels as provocatively irreverent. This Santa would possibly slaughter with out remorse, however he additionally gently advises a toddler that “butthole” is simply too near a swear phrase for these on the Good Checklist. But, credit score the place it is due, Harbour sells the hell out of that line. 

David Harbour slays as Santa in Violent Evening. 

Credit score: Common Photos

Bedecked in fur-trimmed pink leather-based and topped with a man-bun that alerts playtime is over, Harbour brings the beer-bellied would possibly that has change into his area of interest, from Stranger Issues‘ Hopper, to Black Widow’s Pink Guardian to Hellboy’s Hellboy. It is his gruff however lovable persona that makes Violent Evening work, even when the script will get lazy with characterizations and the struggle scenes lack a nasty shimmer. 

Plus, Harbour appears to be like good as Santa. And Wirkola is aware of it, gifting us with pictures of this Santa shirtless and leaning into close-ups that linger so close to, you would possibly scent the stale beer and sugar cookies on his breath. I will give it to them each, Santa Slashers do not usually boast this a lot intercourse attraction. 

In the long run, Violent Evening is a combined bag. It lives as much as the gore and seasonal slaughter demanded of the Santa Slasher style and boasts a better manufacturing worth that makes some moments — like Santa dashing up a chimney — sing. It is R-rated for being impolite, crude, grotesque, and graphic, which could fulfill your starvation for one thing savage to counterbalance the sugary sweetness of an onslaught of earnest yuletide rom-coms. However for a Wirkola work, it is perhaps greatest thought of an entry level. You should be this wild to proceed on this trip. 

Possibly the litmus check for Violent Evening is that this: does the concept of Santa pissing off the facet of his sled — whereas the reindeer fly excessive over Washington D.C. — disgust, titillate, or depart you shrugging? If you happen to’re disgusted, store elsewhere for vacation enjoyable. If you happen to’re shrugging, handle your expectations earlier than lining as much as see this Santa. If you happen to’re titillated, you higher be careful for Useless Snow 2. 

Violent Evening involves theaters in every single place on Dec. 2.