Violent Night, a rated R “Christmas” movie that came out Friday, December 2nd, has been taking the theaters by storm with the main character Santa being the stranger things actor David Harbour. Directed by Tommy Wirkola the movie had a pretty good turn out not only with the number of people who came to theaters to watch but also with the movie itself. The trailer that was released was no exception, it was a very well-made trailer and enticed people into being interested in the film. It most definitely got me to watch it.

On a wealthy estate, a family gathers to celebrate yet another fake smiles Christmas trying to appease and be the favorite child to their mother Gertrude when a group of unnamed mercenaries attacks trying to steal an undeserved fortune. A drunk and depressed Santa Clause (David Harbour) must stop the hostile takeover by any means necessary to save the family’s daughter and granddaughter Trudy. This movie was very clearly slightly inspired by the well-known holiday films Home Alone and Die Hard 1&2. This movie was EXTREMELY gory and had many death scenes that gave us throwbacks to the classics; such as when Trudy was stuck in the attic and had to use tactics from the Home Alone movie to outsmart her foes until Santa arrived to not only save her but Christmas as well. Unlike other movies surrounding Jolly Old Saint Nick, Violent Night went into the background of Santa and showed some of his past which I’ve rarely ever seen done in these movies. Unfortunately, the writing at the end of the movie really let me down as I was able to immediately, at a certain point in the film, guess the direction the movie was headed as well as the ending. I turned over to my friend and proceeded to predict the end of the movie almost without flaw. In the end, Santa wins and defeats all of the bad guys however suffered a fatal blow during his fight with the main villains. Soon after, Mr. Clause dies due to a gunshot wound and is magically brought back to life by the adults exclaiming their belief in him after he saved them from the mercenaries – although they were terrible, greedy, and unlovable people giving Santa enough magic to execute a Christmas miracle. The movie was pretty funny in my honest opinion. The theater I was in was cracking up for most of the movie and almost everybody really seemed to enjoy it. My friend, a very squeamish human, had to walk out of the theater at one point she was so disturbed. I definitely wouldn’t say this movie is for the faint of heart however if you aren’t squeamish, I highly recommend this movie; It’s definitely a must-see annual holiday movie for me!

Overall I give this movie a 7.3/10