Noite Infeliz

As far as Christmas movies go, is this better than Die Hard? Of course not! However, it's no doubt a Christmas movie. David Harbor plays a Santa Claus who lost his Christmas spirit and gets it back by going total medieval on a gang of kidnappers looking to take a small fortune from the type of rich folks you hate the most over the Holiday season. Harbor's Santa reminds me a lot of his version of Hellboy, I think when it comes down to it both pictures are Metal as Hell, and it's like Mr. Stranger Things just doing vocals for both albums. Mr. John Leguizamo is in the flick as the naughtiest of naughty men (not as naughty as Hans Gruber, but who can be). Like a sick guitar riff Leguizamo brings his season experience as an actor to create an interesting and funny bad guy. Leaning towards the Home Alone factor, this movie is as violent as the title suggests, which is rare, really. The little kid in turns out to be worse than Kevin McCallister when it comes to projecting her home from criminal masterminds. It's like someone read the minds of every person that watches Die Hard on Christmas day and just wanted to give us something official. I appreciate that.

Simply put this movie is Die Hard mixed with The Santa Clause mixed with Home Alone (Macaulay Culkin would be proud). It's an enjoyable romp and should be included in any action movie fan's Christmas playlist. Sure there's some questionable content. I've noticed that directors love putting David Harbour in red, but he suited the role, and the teeny tiny bit of an origin story was, well, interesting. I'd love to see that made into an origin movie.

But, like I said, if you're an Christmas action movie person, who enjoyed Die Hard and consider it a Christmas movie, Violent Night is a good addition to your yearly play list.

'Violent Night (2022)' is surprisingly earnest in its themes of Christmas magic and rekindling your Christmas spirit. What initially seems like a sardonic anti-Christmas movie soon reveals itself to be genuinely interested in spreading Yuletide cheer, although that's not to imply it doesn't also feature all the brutality, bad language and bodily fluids its concept promises. Merging 'Die Hard (1988)', 'Home Alone (1990', 'Bad Santa (2004)' and 'John Wick (2014)' (or, perhaps more accurately, some of its lesser imitators), the piece provides a stockingful of festive fun despite its undeniably derivative nature. David Harbour and John Leguizamo make up for the cast's general lack of charisma, as they're eminently watchable and sell even the silliest of dialogue. Though the piece is certainly self-aware, it's also really sincere and it establishes a strong sense of character for its central figure. In fact, Papa Noël actually has a relatively convincing character arc which prevents his inclusion from feeling as half-baked as it may initially seem. Although the flick sometimes comes closer to feeling like 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)' than 'Die Hard (1988)' (particularly when it comes to most elements not directly associated with Santa), it features plenty of well-choreographed and exciting set-pieces that revel in all the gory mayhem you could want. The action never rises to the level of something like 'John Wick (2014)', but it's better than a lot of similar American stuff and it continues the welcome post-'Wick' trend of having clean camera work that favours wider compositions. The movie is really fun when it gets going. It has a few issues here and there, and it's arguably a little too sappy for its own good, but it's an entertaining actioner with a strong central performance and several accomplished set-pieces.

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"Violent Night is one of the biggest surprises of the year, instantly becoming a contemporary Christmas classic! David Harbour expertly embodies a shockingly brutal, savage version of Santa Claus that somehow still delivers lovely messages.

Fighting sequences feature truly violent practical stunts, taking advantage of the R rating to provide unmeasurable amounts of gore. Creative use of Christmas songs will leave audiences crying with laughter.

A brilliant homage to the seasonal genre classics that should be seen in a packed theater!"

Rating: A-

Isn't it fantastic when everything you love nicely comes together? Especially around Christmas! What I like to do most during the holiday period is watching at least one - preferably more - Christmas horror movies, but the two mainstream non-horror Christmas movies that I've seen the most (that everyone has seen the most, for that matter) are "Die Hard" and "Home Alone".

"Violent Night" may not be a genuine horror movie, but it's excessively violent for sure, and - moreover - it's a love letter to the two aforementioned cinematic Christmas landmarks! Tommy Wirkola, who brought us the refreshing "Dead Snow", goes mainstream with this thrill-ride of an actioner about Santa Clause - the real one - battling a small army of evil scoundrels and protecting a cute girl and her rotten wealthy family during a heist/home invasion. It's not very original, it's not particularly sophisticated, but it sure is a lot of fun.

Certain ideas and gimmicks in the script are genius, like Santa having a Viking background, the casting of Beverly D'Angelo as a loathsome hag of a matriarch, or the killing of thugs with Christmas attributes like candy canes or electric lights. Other parts are clichéd and/or sentimental (but mandatory), like the overlong "true meaning of Christmas" conversations, but that's just a minor default. The "John Wick" type of battle in the bar is déjà-vu but nonetheless exciting, especially because it's to the cheesy tones of Bryan Adams' "Christmas Time". There are other jolly great songs on the soundtrack, like from Slade and Burl Ives, and a great role for John Leguizamo as über-villain "Scrooge".