Violent Night (2022) I'm not sure about praising these filmmakers for their originality in coming up with something we'd never seen so far.......
Cause the more I think about it......given the state of our society, pop culture, and the crumbling of civilized norms, a movie like this was......inevitable.
And so it arrived in time for last year's holiday season......at long last, a Christmas movie including all the sentiment and heartwarming tropes we'd expect from a Santa Clause story.......along with spectacularly staged "Die Hard" worthy villain deaths drenched in gallons of gore.
Yes, it's none other than the real not-so-jolly St Nick re-invented as a burned out, drunken cynic, disgusted with Christmas commercialization and alienated from Mrs. Claus. In an alcoholic stupor as he and his reindeer hit the sky, he absently pukes and pees on any unsuspecting mortals who make the mistake of looking up.......
The concept could easily have crashed and burned with an actor not up to the script's perverse lunacy, but thankfully the movie has its MVP in burly everyguy David Harbour ("Stranger Things") His Santa is every family's drunk, pissed-off, tough but tender black sheep......and Harbour's not only hilarious, but all too humanly vulnerable.
Santa's mettle and belief in his own magic gets put to the test when he drops in on the sprawling compound of the ultra wealthy Lightstone family, an obnoxious clan who carry on like leftovers from a warmed over "Knives Out" ripoff.....(with the exception of youngest family member Trudy (Leah Brady) more than fulfilling her storyline task of being the one adorable Santa/Christmas believer).
Harbour's chimney drop-in to the Lightstones goes awry as the family's Christmas Eve turns murderous - despite their heavy security the compound's brutally home-invaded by a gang of repulsive thugs left over from every "Die Hard" and 'Die Hard' clone you've ever sat through.
Led with engaging, vicious enthusiasm by 'Mr. Scrooge' (John Leguizamo). the gang's after 300 million secretly squirreled away by ruthless Lightstone grand-matriarch Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo, also thoroughly enjoying herself). Torture and death at the hands of these creeps seems. imminent......until a desperate Trudy begs Santa to take a hand.....
Santa, as it turns out, has a centuries old backstory, where he began mortal life as a bloodthirsty Viking warrior, complete with his own trusty Thor-like hammer, the 'skullcrusher'. And as promised in the film's title, the rest of evening becomes an endlessly inventive spectacle of grindhouse gore.......with Santa decimating, eviscerating, castrating, slicing, dicing and shredding the entire good squad. The snowy grounds surrounding the house quickly turn deep crimson.
Director Tommy Wirkola and writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller surely know their audience, treating the fanboys and fangirls to loads of jaw-dropping, gruesome kills guaranteed to generate laughs and applause. But their best idea here by far.....sprinkling the film with the kind of tender, affectionate, Chritmas-y moments you'd expect to find in a Disney film.
Which begs the question: are these guys for real when they do this or are they slyly poking us in the ribs? Either way, it sets the film apart........ with its severe mashup of two genres that no one in their right mind would ever dream of viewing together in one film.
While I realize we're still on the verge of summer, if you're already anticipating the holidays and can never get enough movies with somebody's innards spewing out of a fan exhaust, "Violent Night"s the perfect cup of cheer.....4 stars (****)....Season's Bleedings!
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