Violent Night Review
Violent Night combines Home Alone and Die Hard in a festive and violent Christmas film.
Violent Night directed by Tommy Wirkola, follows the completely unlikeable and filthy rich family that is the Lightstones. The family matriarch is Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) a power house business woman with questionable ways of making her fortune. Gertrude has two adult children, Jason (Alex Hassell) and Alva (Edi Patterson). The Lightstones as a family (and individually) are entirely dysfunctional, Jason and his wife Linda (Alexis Louder) on the brink of divorce and Alva and her D-List actor boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), pathetically pine for Gertrude's attention. The only family member with any redeeming qualities is Jason and Linda's seven year old daughter Trudy, who still believes in Santa.
Separately, Santa Claus (David Harbour) seems to be at rock bottom. With Christmas cheer at an all time low, greed and the naughty list on the rise, Santa himself seems to have lost the Christmas spirit and is found washing away his sorrows in a pub. The role is somewhat similar to Harbour's role in Stranger Things. Making him the perfect likeable, barely functioning alcoholic with a heart of gold and a tortured past.
The Lightstones gather on Christmas eve at the Lightstone mansion for a Christmas celebration when a violent team of highly skilled robbers, led by 'Scrooge' (John Leguizamo), attempts to rob the family of their riches, taking the Lightstones hostage. Santa is attempting to deliver his presents to Trudy during the robbery and ends up caught in the chaos.
Violent Night is very on the nose, turning famous lyrics from Christmas carols into crass one liners. The film does have some funny moments and really leans into this corniness, going beyond just referencing movies like Home Alone but having the characters actively reference them. Alas, the corniness isn’t just limited to the script, the characters are mostly one dimensional stereotypes leaving much of the family drama to be quite stale.
The trailer might have you believe that it is a 'Santa Slasher' but it really feels more like a violent action comedy. Wirkola selects a score that you would hear in traditional hallmark holiday films, creating a whimsical musical backdrop for all the bloody badass Santa action.
Unfortunately though, the violence, combined with the ongoing (and cliché) family drama seems to drag out the film unnecessary, making it feel a little long in parts. The result being a movie that misses the mark.
