REVIEW #228 Violent Night (2022)

A group of mercenaries break in to a family compound on Christmas Eve and take one of the richest families in the USA hostage. The only one that can stop them now? Santa, a deadly combatant ready to save Christmas!

Violent Night was one of the biggest surprises of 2022, I went into it with quite low expectations but I soon found myself having a great time watching it. Who would have thought seeing Santa kill bad guys in the most brutal ways would be so enjoyable? To be honest that does sound quite badass and that is exactly what it was. Especially since they incorporated his viking routes to justify him being such a skilled combatant. David Harbour absolutely kills it as Santa Claus, his humour as well as his impressive combat choreography really lights the film up. There is of course the occasional cringey Christmas dialogue but for the most part you can forgive it because after all it wouldn’t be a Christmas film without it! But one thing I could not get over was the ending, it was butchered by the ‘Tinker Bell’ inspired revival of Santa and it made a successful R rated Christmas flick end like a child’s movie. They might have done that out of pure irony but I didn’t enjoy it and my rating for the film could would have been higher without it for sure. 

The cinematography was pretty impressive, every frame had incredible lighting that influenced the colour grading of the scene. Not to mention the overall aesthetic does get you in the Christmas spirit! The combat choreography was also impressive, with Santa’s kills becoming more and more brutal as the film goes on. The scene in the shed/barn towards the end was peak brutality, gore and action, everything I wanted the film to be and more! So I had a great time with Violent Night and I’d recommend it to anyone who wanted to spice up their holiday season next year with an R rated Christmas film.

Overall (8/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan