Film

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FILM

‘Violent Night’: Deck the halls with buckets of blood

BY PAT PADUA

The Washington Post

Ordinarily, one wouldn’t judge a Christmas movie by the quality of its on-screen kills. But as yet another volatile year draws to a close, you might find yourself taking a measure of vicarious satisfaction in the spectacle of a red-suited, hammerswinging, skull-crushing hero smiting his enemies. That hero, of course, is Santa Claus in “Violent Night,” a surprisingly festive action comedy from Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola (“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters”).

The dark tone is set early as Santa — the real one, not a mall knockoff — is seen leaving an English pub, where the overwhelmed and burnedout character has been drowning his seasonal sorrows. (Yes, Virginia, sometimes even Santa wants to give up.) As Santa’s sleigh takes off into the winter night, the middle-aged pub owner looks up at the sky in childlike wonder — only for Santa to lean over and vomit on her.

This is the kind of movie where Santa steps in reindeer poop. But stick with it. It gets better.

During his Christmas Eve rounds, Santa (David Harbour) makes a fateful stop at a Connecticut mansion, where wealthy widow Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D’Angelo) has gathered her moneygrubbing adult children for a night of expletive-laden bad cheer. The only nice person in the room is Gertrude’s granddaughter Trudy (Leah Brady), a girl whose only wish for Christmas is that her divorced parents get back together.

Enter Scrooge in the form of John Leguizamo, whose character leads a gang of mercenaries posing as caterers before they kill the Lightstones’ entire security staff and take the family hostage.

Surely Santa can save the day, but will he use Christmas magic or brute force?

Written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller (co-screenwriters on the two “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies), “Violent Night” frequently plays out like a Yuletide video game. But while much of the violence is unpleasantly gruesome, a few of the killings are hilarious.

Yet under all that slick, rapidfire mayhem, there’s also a touch of the noir — call it Yule Noir. This Kriss Kringle drinks to forget, and we share his lament for a hopelessly cynical world. And Leguizamo plays Scrooge (yes, that’s his name) with a gravelly voice that brings his performance within range of a Humphrey Bogart impression.

This cinematic bloodbath is only the latest in a curious subgenre of holiday movies envisioned through the jaded eyes of Nordic filmmakers. (See “Riders of Justice,” a wickedly ingenious revenge tale from Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen, framed around a girl’s Christmas wish. It had a similarly high body count, and an even more melancholy subtext.)

Whether hostage or captor, most of the grown-up characters here are awful people. But from Dickens’s Scrooge to Suess’s Grinch, isn’t the spirit of the season really about redemption? At its vulgar heart, “Violent Night” is about the tension between a child’s idealism and vigilante justice.

Behind all the gore-splattered walls and domestic rancor lies a sweet-and-sour bedtime story of good triumphing over evil. That said, please leave the kids at home.

Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures

From left, Alex Hassell, Beverly D’Angelo, Edi Patterson, Alexis Louder, Leah Brady and David Harbour in “Violent Night.”

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Chambersburg St., Gettysburg, Pa. Featuring the work of Dorothea Barrick. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. adamscountywinery. com/events. ”Lore” — through Jan. 8, Gallery 115 at the Y Art Center, 115 E. Church St., Frederick. Features 15 artists from around the world including London, New York City, Wyoming and Maryland. Artists reimagine traditional folklore and explore original contemporary myth through a variety of perspectives. Artworks include an eclectic range of media including short film and an interactive installation. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. https://www.instagram.com/ gallery_115_y.

”Joseph Holston: Color in Freedom, Journey Along the Underground

Railroad” — through Jan. 14, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown. In this exhibit, Holston leads his audience through four movements that deepen our understanding of America’s Black enslaved people’s experience. Hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission and parking are free.301-739-5727 or wcmfa.org.

“The Poetry of Place: Paintings”

— through Jan. 15 at Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E, Bethesda. Loriann Signori is a painter of place and luminosity. Her work is based on traditional methods defined by colorist tendencies, aiming for continual transformation. Her paintings consistently are an emotional interpretation of time and place. 301-215-6660, bethesda.org/ bethesda/gallery-b-exhibitions. ”Relief From the Heat” — through Jan. 22, Kentlands Mansion, 320 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. Works by the Washington Water Color Association. Viewing is by appointment 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 301-2586425 to schedule an appointment. gaithersburgmd.gov. “Beneath the Forest” — through Jan. 27 at the FAC Art Center at 5 E. Second St., Frederick. Pamela Moulton’s solo show makes use of textiles and found materials to weave a narrative about connectivity and environmentalism. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 301-662-4190, frederickartscouncil.org. ”Winter Nights, Winter Lights” — through Jan. 29 at The Mansion House Art Center & Gallery, 480 Highland Ave., City Park, Hagerstown. Valley Art Association members’ show. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Free admission. valleyartassoc.org or 301-797-2867.

”From the Pages of PAN: Art

Nouveau Prints, 1895-1900” — through Jan. 29, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown. Features brilliant lithographs, etchings and woodcuts by renowned artists such as Auguste Rodin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac, Georges Seurat, Käthe Kollwitz, Peter Behrens and Aubrey Beardsley, among others. PAN was an avant-garde periodical that sought to represent an overview of cuttingedge international graphic art. Works encompass the art nouveau movement, expressionism, postimpressionism, and symbolism and give a view of the both artistic and intellectual life of this period. From the collection of the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and is organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions. Free admission. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Closed Dec. 24-25 and Dec. 31-Jan. 1. Go to wcmfa. org.

“Crosscurrents: Works by Emma Barnes, Madeleine Speicher-Willis,

and Billy Friebele” — through Feb. 3, King Street Gallery at Montgomery College, 930 King St., Silver Spring. Includes a broad range of mediums, from traditional painterly processes to cast concrete to video. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed Dec. 24 to Jan. 2. 240-567-1374, mieke.gentis@montgomerycollege. edu, cms.montgomerycollege.edu/ arts-tpss/exhibitions. “The Hot Button” — through August 2023, Hot Button Gallery, 129 E. German St., Shepherdstown, W.Va. Carol Williams exhibits textiles and poster art that reflect her passion for social responsibility through artistic communication. Gallery hours from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. The artist will be available for conversation at these times. anothercarolwilliams.com.

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