Santa’s no longer handing out coal for naughty kids this year. Violent Night is a new movie that has come out for the holiday season, featuring a more violent and bloody version of Saint Nick.
The movie’s plot is based around Santa Clause, a former Viking warrior that was transformed into the sleigh-riding man of mythology, who has become saddened by the lack of Christmas spirit in the world. The reason why was that children are becoming more materialistic - no longer caring for the main purposes of Christmas and only wanting things for themselves. The movie then moves toward the Lightstone mansion, where the whole family gathered to celebrate the holidays together. Later on, The Lightstone family gets taken hostage by a mercenary group - led by a man codenamed “Mr. Scrooge,” who wanted to steal the family’s fortune of over 300 million dollars with his holiday-themed cronies. Santa, upon his arrival to the mansion, dispatches the mercenaries one by one with gore-esque style, using tools and his strength to finish them off. Father Christmas almost clears the mansion of all the mercenaries until he finds Mr. Scrooge, who had a second objective once he identified Santa - to kill him and end Christmas permanently. The two then begin to brawl, which ends with Santa killing the mercenary leader and nearly dying thanks to a bullet fired at him. The Lightstone family, after the last mercenaries alive were dealt with, then saves him by burning their fortune to keep him warm - surprisingly reviving Kris Kringle from his wounds. After that, Santa then bids the family farewell, hops on his sleigh, and goes on his route to deliver gifts around the world.
David Kenneth Harbour, an American actor, plays the role of Saint Nick in the film. Born in White Plains, New York to a pair of real estate parents, he first started his career in acting in a Broadway revival of “The Rainmaker.” He has played in many roles in many films over the years, such as “The Equalizer,” “Snitch,” Suicide Squad,” “Black Mass,” “Hellboy” and many others. Then, there’s John Alberto Leguizamo Pelaez, an American actor, comedian and film producer who has taken the role of “Mr. Scrooge” in the movie. He rose to fame by co-starring in the 1993 “Super Mario Bros.” movie as Luigi and a supporting role in “Carlito’s Way.” He has acted and voice acted in films that spanned from the 1990’s to the present date, with “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Repo Man” and “John Wick” to name a few.
The director of the film, Tommy Wirkola, is a Norwegian filmmaker and occasional actor. He co-writed “Kill Buljo” in 2007 with aid from Stig Frode Henriksen, before the two later made the 2009 horror comedy film “Dead Snow.” He made quite a batch of movies over the years, with some of the most recent being “The Trip,” “What Happened to Monday,” “Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead,” and the newest film which is coming out in 2023 “Spermageddon.”
“Violent Night” is a great film to watch for those who like a twist to the Christmas season. The film has already been released on Dec. 2 and can be seen in AMC Theaters, Living Room Theaters, Landmark’s Glendale Theaters and Regal UA Theaters.