Director Tommy Wirkola is perhaps best known for his horror-comedy film "Dead Snow" and its sequel, although perhaps his biggest release was "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (which I didn't like - I haven't seen the "Dead Snow" movies). But the idea of a disgruntled Santa Claus getting drawn into a bloody hostage situation really appealed to me, so I sat down to watch "Violent Night."

We first meet David Harbour as Santa Claus, in a bar, disgusted with modern kids who want only video games as gifts and who are only thrilled by a new gift for about five seconds because they've already bought into the consumer ethos. He's trying to get drunk, but still manages to leave for his rounds (after vomiting on the bartender - which is both disgusting and funny). Harbour was an inspired choice for the role, managing to show us not only world-weary and foul-mouthed, but also a heart that still melts for young children.

The next big component of the story is the Lightstone family - father and husband Jason (Alex Hassell), mother and estranged wife Linda (Alexis Louder), and extra-cute daughter Trudy (Leah Brady). They're on their way to another painful Christmas at the estate of Jason's spectacularly rich mother Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo). Also in attendance are Jason's obnoxious suck-up sister Alva (Edi Patterson), her son Bert (Alexander Elliot), and her stupid action movie star boyfriend Morgan (Cam Gigandet). Christmas Eve is (further) wrecked by a group of mercenaries intent on stealing the family fortune, led by "Scrooge" (John Leguizamo).

It's violent and bloody, and I found it immensely funny (as it was intended to be). Harbour is great in the lead, Trudy is appropriately adorable and innocent, and her parents are charming. I thought Leguizamo was a bit weak as the bad guy, but overall a wonderful exercise in comedic violence, and possibly my new favourite Christmas movie. In an unfortunate turn, the ending eases into sentimentality - but still a lot of fun.