What’s It About
An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
It’s officially the holiday season, and Universal Pictures has produced a nearly perfect movie that keeps Santa Claus a relevant lore character. David Harbour is great as a Santa that has practically given up on humanity. Violent Night lives up to its title. More importantly, it has a more realistic tone throughout the film. Besides the Christmas magic, this movie feels relatable within the context of the situations. It’s rated “R,” so there’s no shortage of foul language or body counts. That’s also the film’s best part – the language is what you expect to hear, and the kills are necessary for a believable story. Violent Night is so obviously similar to Die Hard. Santa is forced to play a John McClane-like character trying to save a wealthy family named Lightstone, containing a little girl named Trudy, one of very few people still believing in him. That alone causes Mr. Claus to slowly gains a re-appreciation for humankind while stranded during the Lightstone robbery. It was one of the best robberies-gone-wrong movies I’ve seen in a long time. And then there are the Home Alone scenes that practically copy that film’s wild booby traps, but with real-world consequences. Lots of cursing, lots of action, lots of killing, loads of comedic moments, and a few semi-heartfelt scenes blended nearly perfectly make Violent Night the new must-see holiday movie every adult should add to their yearly Christmas viewing schedule.
OUR RATING – A NICE LIST 8.5
MEDIA
- Genre – Action
- Street date
- Digital – December 20th, 2022
- DVD/Blu-Ray – January 24th, 2023
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 for Bonus Content), Latin American Spanish (DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio 7.1) and French Canadian (DTS Digital Surround 5.1)
- Subtitles – English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras
- Audio Commentary – The director, two writers, and producer Guy Danella all deliver a track together and all have a fun time laughing and discussing making the movie. There are easter eggs, behind-the-scenes info, and praise for the many actors and stunt workers. There are even some great anecdotes from the set. It’s a fun listen.
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 19 Mins.) – There are 9 scenes in total, which are worth the time. There is also a funny ’90s-style sitcom intro that introduces every character of the movie with graphics. There’s even an alternate ending.
- Quarrelin’ Kringle (HD, 4 Mins.) – An EPK moment where the cast and Harbour talk about doing the stuntwork for the film.
- Santa’s Helpers (HD, 6 Mins.) – Another EPK feature that has cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes, set design, costumes, and more. This is all too short to be anything substantial.
- Deck The Halls With Brawls (HD, 6 Mins.) – Another EPK-like feature that focuses on one of the big fight scenes of the movie that was filmed in one shot. Again, too short for anything fun, but good footage nonetheless.