This “Gory” Christmas Action Movie Has Now Taken Its Rightful Place as a Festive Favorite on Streaming
Christmas is coming at us fast once again, and while many are turning to the festive holiday favorites like The Grinch and Home Alone, action fans will be looking to find some holiday cheer amid all manner of explosions and violence. Well, a modern example, and one that’s now become a firm favorite on streaming, was unleashed in 2022, and finds Stranger Things alum David Harbour leading the fight as a savage version of Santa Claus.
Directed by Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow, The Trip), and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, Violent Night stars Harbour alongside John Leguizamo, Beverly D’Angelo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, and André Eriksen. The action outing finds Harbour’s Santa reaching into his sack and bringing out the big guns after a team of elite mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage.
Violent Night introduces a very different version of jolly old Saint Nick, who, while still finding some jolliness beneath the cynicism, also harbors a brutal and bloody past. The Christmas action movie is now climbing the charts on VUDU, where it stands proudly alongside the likes of Elf, The Polar Express, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. You can check out the official synopsis for Violent Night below…
When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things series) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
‘Violent Night 2’ Is Ho-Ho-Happening
Universal Pictures
In case you didn’t already know, here’s an early Christmas present, as Violent Night 2 is now in the works. Filmmaker Tommy Wirkola returns to helm the follow-up, with David Harbour reprising the role of Santa Claus. The Christmas action sequel is now filming and recently added The Suicide Squad star Daniela Melchior and Frozen’s Kristen Bell to the roster.
The biggest criticism leveled at Violent Night was its failure to push its festive-meets-action concept far enough. While details of the sequel remain under wraps, at present, now that the foundations have been laid, we can only hope that Violent Night 2 will bring in more Santa-themed elements, such as Mrs. Claus and the elves. Director Tommy Wirkola has previously revealed what he wants to unwrap in the sequel, with the filmmaker hoping to offer new takes on more of the Santa lore, including the Elves and Mrs. Claus.
“Of course the writers have talked about it, and I have thrown some ideas out there. We don’t see the North Pole, we don’t see Mrs. Claus and we don’t see the elves. There were also a few ideas that we loved in the script, but we had to cut them because we couldn’t afford to shoot them. It’s such a cliché to say, but we all had a blast doing this film. So I really hope we get to explore it more.”
David Harbour, meanwhile, wants to take the franchise even more into the fantastical. “We gotta get Pedro [Pascal] and Oscar [Isaac] to play the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy in the next iteration: the Santa cinematic universe with a bunch of ‘daddies’ as imaginary creatures,” the actor previously suggested.
Release Date
December 2, 2022
Runtime
101 minutes
Writers
Pat Casey, Josh Miller
