Violent Night

Cert - 15, Run-time - 1 hour 52 minutes,

Director - Tommy Wirkola

After being stranded in the house of a wealthy family, Santa (David Harbour), must protect himself, and them, from a gang of criminals looking to steal millions of dollars.

It seems a drunk, disgruntled Santa is the role David Harbour was born to play. It’s clear that he’s having a great deal of fun as he punches, stabs, pees and belches his way through the blood-soaked snow and carpets of Violent Night. He’s got no choice but to take a break from his delivery schedule and fight when his reindeer fly off leaving him stranded in the home of the wealthy Lightstone family on Christmas Eve. Having to protect them and himself from a gang, led by John Leguizamo, looking to steal millions of dollars from their complex vault system.

While throughout the night Santa communicates with youngest Lightstone Trudy (Leah Brady) - a girl so nice she invited the weird kid to her party, whose Christmas wish is for her parents (Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder) to make-up - in-between their conversations he brings savage seasons beatings to those holding the family hostage. The two navigate the house with two very distinct styles, one much more heavily inspired by Home Alone than the other - one particular sequence has more laughs and entertainment than the entirety of Home Alone (this coming from someone, however, who isn’t such a fan of that film).

There’s plenty of creativity on display when it comes to the various weapons used. Avoiding leaning into a John Wick style territory the fact that the central hammer-wielding figure is Santa is rarely forgotten. There’s joy at the sight of a candy cane shiv and an undeniable smile when an ice-skate is reached for in one particularly thrilling sequence. As a whole it’s undeniable that the bloody, occasionally gory, action makes up the highlights of the film. All without feeling as if it goes overboard or outside of anything that fits the film’s style.

Aside from the action there’s plenty to enjoy amongst the family relationship’s we see, before the night of one-upmanship is halted by the hostage situation. Beverly D’Angelo brings a number of laughs as the foul-mouthed matriarch. If you’ve seen any of the trailers for Violent Night you very much get what you expect; an enjoyable action flick with plenty of chuckles along the way that, most importantly, doesn’t take itself too seriously.

While the final product may be a couple of minutes too long there’s still a consistency within the pace and tone which allows things to avoid dropping just before truly wrapping up, allowing for a phenomenally utilised chimney to still have full effect! As far as new festive offerings go this may just be the most entertaining, albeit crimson-lined, one of the year. All led by a deeply enjoyable David Harbour who feels a natural fit for this skimmed-milk-hating interpretation of jolly old St Nick.

Jamie Skinner -Four stars