Violent Night

David Harbour is half of the film. He was made to play the role of a kind-hearted Santa Claus with the roots of a bad-ass Viking. The mixing of motifs from Die Hard and Home Alone, which are Christmas cult classics in America, is the right way to join their ranks in different genre garb. Wirkola almost succeeded – he combines Christmas clichés with new ideas, the endangered family members are not cliches and the narrative flows nicely. It’s just a shame that Harbour doesn’t face any correspondingly interesting bad guys for whom we would have more respect. (29/11/2023)

Seasons Beatings! A beautiful film. Exactly one of those movies that highlights why I love movies. Tommy Wirkola reaffirms his status as a tough butcher off the rails and has quite possibly made one of his best films; at the very least he made a film that has the potential to become a Christmas classic and will definitely not be missing in my living room every Christmas in the future. Of course, for the introverts, weirdo entities, puritans and outcasts of society, this will be and American piece of shit without a story that is unnecessarily filthy and brutal, and I'm glad that the code of decency suffered incredibly in the process, I really enjoy torturing this bunch like this, probably like David Harbour, who played the best role of his career. Violent Night is one crazy, fun, perverse and brutal action ride that takes Christmas traditions, John Wick-like action, twisted humour and references to Home Alone and together it works incredibly well and cool. The story may be simple, but there's beauty in simplicity, and all the other filmmaking aspects and details are important; the work they have put in is very evident and I appreciate it accordingly. Apart from the excellent Harbour, for whom this was a tailor-made role (his flashback was also awesome, by the way, and I hope we will learn even more about him in the eventual sequel), the villains are also a delight, John Leguizamo plays a surprisingly decent bad guy, but his henchmen also have their bit of glory, and I looked forward to every disposal, which are brimming with original and entertaining ideas. I was sure of a decent 4 stars, but once it came to the barn scene, it was a done deal. It was such a carnage!!! Santa, with a skullcracker and skates for knives, performs the Christmas ballet of death, and for me it is without a doubt one of the best scenes I have seen this year. I'll be playing this before bed every night. This whole glorious sequence is then built up with traps like in Home Alone, and I was roaring with laughter and joy. I'm glad Wirkola put something like that, those were two top notch sequences (read orgasm) right after each other. The Christmas music was good too and of course I couldn't fail to mention the properly twisted and bawdy humour, which was perfectly fitting. The emotions worked on me at times thanks to the cute little girl and there were a few minor twists and turns, so very satisfied. A properly entertaining, crazy and brutal film like this year's Bullet Train. 9/10 (12/12/2022)

Tommy Wirkola combined the story of a Santa who lost his faith in Christmas with Die Hard. A rich family is gathered in their well-guarded mansion for the holidays when they are attacked by evil kidnappers just as Santa is eating cookies from one of the few good girls there. David Harbour is initially profiled as a pudgy drunk who wants to quit his job, but when glimpses into the past reveal his origins, he takes on an almost mythical dimension. Then, when he picks up a sledgehammer in a shed and goes to rescue the little girl, things get intense, with mashed-up heads, dismembered kidnappers and ground-up soldiers. The action is not blurred and it’s also innovative in a Christmas way. The jokes ooze with cynicism, the references to Home Alone are downright brutal. It’s just a little slow at times, you need some patience at first, but most of the time it's great fun. (26/12/2022)

A brutally appealing genre film in which heads burn and bodies explode in ultra-fun sequences, it's already achieving slight cult status at the moment and I'll happily include it among my classic Yuletide screenings in the future, i.e. alongside the first two Die Hard movies and Home Alone. Tommy Wirkola is a bit of a freak, but that doesn't take away from his huge dollop of talent and his remarkable flair for scenes that are extremely gory and funny at the same time. Violent Night is horribly irreverent ("Trudy? Well, that makes her sound like a whore."), brutally action-packed fun where you'll soak up the true Christmas spirit like (almost) nowhere else. [80%] (21/12/2022)

A gang of killers decide to ruin Christmas for a dysfunctional family and only Santa Claus can save them, and the chubby bearded guy is definitely not afraid of violence. Tommy Wirkola may be a little slow to get going in his actioner, and maybe he plays a little too much with genres and Christmas clichés, but he manages to shift into the mode we love him in time. David Harbour is clearly in his element here, the action sequences are full of ideas and clearly shot, the humour is pitch black and the references to Home Alone and Die Hard are a delight too. (08/12/2022)