'VIOLENT NIGHT': A True 'Die Hard' Type Flick Made For The Holidays

When I was young I saw the Bill Murray movie Scrooged. It opens with a fake trailer The Night The Reindeer Died, a tale of Santa’s workshop under siege by a military force in snow-camo uniforms, and Lee Majors, assisted by a badass Santa, fighting them off. I remember that though I liked Scrooged I still wanted to see the fake movie, because it looked like a lot of fun.

The memory from my childhood

Fast forward to now, and to Violent Night. David Harbour is a badass Santa, and about halfway through the movie a literal military group, in snow-camo uniforms, lay siege to a family home. All I could think was “I may have had to wait 34 years, but I finally got my Christmas wish.”

However, Violent Night isn’t just a cheesy moment that may or may not remind you of a throwaway joke about mainstream commercial TV in the 80’s. It is an honest, heartfelt, joyful, gory romp for everyone who wanted to see a Santa willing to give more then lumps of coal to those on the naughty list.

David Harbour stars as Santa Klaus, the real, actual, magical one. But these days, disenfranchised by the greedy short-attention-span of modern children, has become worn-down and bitter about the only night that people think of him. Coincidentally, he ends up at a house just as a rich family, the Lightstones, are taken hostage by a mercenary group. Now normally he wouldn’t care since they represent the greed and entitlement that has made him so bitter, and initially he just intends to leave. As a general rule Santa doesn’t get involved.

But then finds out the youngest hostage, Trudy Lightstone (played by Leah Brady) is not only on his ‘Nice List’ but is the epitome of the children that made being Santa worthwhile. Representing a ray of hope in his own self-worth, Santa commits himself to saving Trudy and her family, a mixture of Christmas magic and the skills he had in the ancient times before he was Santa.

The family that slays together……

This was fundamentally and completely amazing. I have never seen such a kickass concept (i.e. Bad-ass Santa rescues family, Die Hard-Style) actually so fleshed out well developed. Every character has just enough screentime and exposure that they are well-realised, but none of the characterisation draws focus from the action. The fight choreography is clever, creative and just a joy to watch. They get the right mix of gritty, desperate fighting; blood-and-gore gunplay; and funny Christmas themed kills, without feeling over-reliant on any particular one.

David Harbour was the perfect casting for this, as he does such a good job of being bitter, mean and depressed, while also being relatable and loveable. He never feels unreasonable or too broken, but also doesn’t go the other way of being infallible or perfect (as Santa can often be depicted). They even give brief glimpses to show that he was once human as well, lending some frailty and relatability to his character.

John Leguizamo plays the mercenary leader, going by the code name Scrooge, and really shows he has lost none of his range, skill and intensity over the years. As the antagonist and diametric opposite of Santa, there are a few wonderful scenes between him and Harbour which make me hopeful to see them work together again.

This is Leah Brady’s first major role, and she is an absolute gem. Not content with just being a damsel in distress (having gotten to watch Home Alone the night before she goes to her grandmother’s house, the Lightstone mansion), Trudy helps Santa through out the movie and even gets a Home Alone moment of herself, setting makeshift traps for when the mercenaries come for her. With more grizzly results than what we saw with Macaulay Culkin.

As I said, I feel like I’ve been waiting for this movie for 34 years, and it is immediately being added to my annual Christmas marathon.

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