Violent Night: Ignore the Neigh-Slayers and Enjoy This Counter-Christmas B-Movie

By Thom Ernst

Rating: B-plus

Ignore the nay-sleighers. Violent Night is the counter-Christmas B-movie that ditches the ho-ho-wholesomeness of the season for a damn good, bad Santa. 

It might not be the movie you anticipated if you base your expectations solely on the title and previews alone. The film fulfills its promise, but in uneven chunks, both naughty and nice.

When naughty, the movie soars. When nice, it stalls. But, like it or not, Violent Night is a Christmas movie, and as a Christmas movie, it is more on point than most.

Linda (Alexis Louder) is apprehensive as Santa (David Harbour) prepares to get naughty in Violent Night.

But, do you go to a film called Violent Night to be enlightened? I suppose you could. You can appreciate Violent Night's attempts to be a bigger story, where losing faith in humanity and oneself is a prominent theme. But why bother?

Most everyone in Violent Night has a backstory. But none of their backstories is more interesting than the story happening in the present. If it's Christmas magic you want, you need look no further than David Harbour's fragile Santa on the down-swing.

Harbour doesn't exactly topple Edmund Gwenn as the quintessential Santa Claus of the movies—a position he's held since 1947, appearing as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street. But the suit fits, and Harbour wears it well. 

Harbour is not so much a bad Santa as an exhausted one. He has mystical powers that are as baffling to him as they are to the rest of us. But he is no hero. He would rather bail while the bailing is good, rather than get mixed up in the toxic affairs of the undeserving mortals he's been serving for thousands of years.

But if you're Santa, you're the whole package. And it doesn't matter how much you drink, smoke, cuss, and pee off the side of the sleigh while flying over our houses. You’re compelled to be good.

And he can't turn his back on children in need, especially children who are on the nice list. So, when 10-year-old Trudy (Leah Brady) asks Santa for help rescuing her and her family from a gang of highly trained and financed psychopaths headed by a man code-named Scrooge (John Leguizamo), he has no choice but to say yes.

Besides, his Christmas magic is a bit on the fritz, and the reindeer have abandoned him, so why not?

Trudy is on the nice list. Not just nice, Trudy is tooth-achingly sweet compared to her uber-rich, mostly despicable family that includes a cold-hearted matriarch (Beverly D'Angelo), a dim-witted movie star (Cam Gigandet), a sycophantic aunt (Edi Patterson), and a teenage internet influencer (Alexander Elliot).

Then there are Trudy's estranged parents, Linda (Alexis Louder) and Jason (Alex Hassell), who are the objects of Trudy's singular Christmas wish that Santa bring them back together.

Director Tommy Wirkola wants us to accept the latter as proof of Trudy's altruism, when her wish is as selfish as any other. But with a little shake of the head, these tiny discrepancies fall aside. Pushing for deeper meaning or getting hung up on loose moralities would be like knowing what you got before unwrapping your presents—it ruins the fun.

Of course, Violent Night is not a grade-A holiday winner (although it has been added to my seasonal watch list). But it's entertaining, and sprinkled with holiday hopefulness and humour.

You might have to forgive its succumbing to occasional excessive sentimentality. But it is, after all, a Christmas movie.

Violent Night is directed by Tommy Wirkola and stars David Harbour, Leah Brady, Beverly D'Angelo, Cam Gigandet, Edi Patterson, Alexander Elliott, Alexis Louder, Alex Hassell and John Leguizamo. Violent Night opens at select theatres Friday, December 2.