A team of elite mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage. But the team isn't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.... (Full plot summary below)
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A team of elite mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage. But the team isn't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.
Leave your thoughts about Violent Night.
| TheWrapAlonso DuraldeViolent Night is one of the Yuletide season’s most delightful surprises, not just for what it gets right but also for the many ways the whole production could have gone very, very wrong. |
| ColliderMarco Vito OddoWhile being far from perfect, Violent Night is just too fun not to revisit, which means it can become a new holiday classic in the years to come. |
| Original-CinThom ErnstIgnore the nay-sleighers. Violent Night is the counter-Christmas B-movie that ditches the ho-ho-wholesomeness of the season for a damn good, bad Santa. |
| Entertainment WeeklyJoshua RothkopfA team of screenwriters more creative than Pat Casey and Josh Miller (best known for two manic Sonic the Hedgehog movies) might have done more with the backstory, and director Tommy Wirkola's beatdowns never transcend the merely serviceable. But there's no denying the joy in a child's eyes when she sees Santa's weapon of choice, a sledgehammer hefted with brutal artistry, and squeals its name: "Skullcrusher!" |
| ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerWhile the best thing about this movie is its clarity of intent, the worst thing about it is that it uses blunt force to call out its reference points, name-checking both Die Hard and Home Alone repeatedly. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNow comes the gruesomely bloody, cheerfully tasteless, fantastically naughty and entertaining Christmas thriller Violent Night, which is basically “Die Hard” with candy canes in a mansion. |
| The A.V. ClubJack SmartIt’s a premise that’s just clever enough to work; although too many anachronistically cheery needle drops during gruesome fight sequences abound, there’s plenty to milk from the juxtaposition of family-friendly Christmas spirit and R-rated action and comedy. |
| SlashfilmBen F. SilverioThe movie unexpectedly has a ton of heart that's guaranteed to refuel your Christmas spirit this year. |
| The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenThe picture is a hugely entertaining crowd-pleaser studded with laugh-out-loud moments from beginning to end. |
| Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleWhen the film leans too heavily into violence, it undercuts the comedy; when the comedy takes center stage, it makes for an awkward bedfellow with the hard-R violence that defines the fight sequences. It’s a tricky line to walk for a Christmas movie – even one as unconventional as this – and Violent Night is not above the occasional stumble. |
