Two Word Movie Review: Violent Night

Here are your two words:

Santa Slays

Violent Night, starring David Harbour of Stranger Things fame, is what Die Hard would be if Die Hard was actually a Christmas movie.

In this story, Santa Claus is on his usual Christmas Eve gift delivery rounds just minding his own business and dealing with his own demons when he falls asleep in the middle of a delivery only to be woken moments later by the sounds of a hostile home invasion.

Poor guy is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he's got a list, and he knows who's naughty.

True to its title, this is a gory movie. It is gratuitously and graphically violent.  At one point I physically covered my eyes and looked over to see Elder Son doing the same.

There's an equally gratuitous homage to Home Alone, and there's a strong family holiday movie vibe running throughout. It's an odd combination that seems to work if you just go along with it and try not to fight it.

It is also delightfully comical. Unfortunately, some of its best gags are spoiled in the theatrical trailer. I'd have enjoyed them more if I hadn't seen them coming.

However, there may not have been many other gags that were PG enough for the trailers 🤔

Quite gory and violent this movie was, yes.

Parts of the story could have been better. Elder Son was annoyed with dialog that over-explained what was happening, as if the audience wouldn't have figured it out. He also did not appreciate it when the same method of murder was used more than once, especially since there were far too many bad guys than seemed warranted. 

Santa's backstory, the part of the plot The Husband and I had been looking most forward to, seemed lacking; I suspect it got trimmed in exchange for the mansplaning and duplicate kills. Sad. They could have easily cut some surplus bad guys instead.

Did I like this movie? Let's say it was exactly what I expected and exactly what I was in the mood for.

So, if you crave a sardonic mix of action, family, and slasher flick, this might be the movie for you, too.