All I ask from a movie as batshit crazy as Violent Night is that they sell it, and make it with every bit of good intention as they can. VN succeeds. It is as well done as you could ask of a movie like this, and it truly does have a heart of gold inside.
Leah Brady, who plays Trudy, the little girl who truly believes in Santa, is fine as young actors go. But this is David Harbour's movie, and this is exactly the type of role that David Harbour should be playing. We don't need Hellboy reboots, we need Santa on the Edge movies.
Would I take Nikki to see this movie? Hell, no. And that's why I didn't. Is it a great movie? Well, no. But it was a helluva lot of fun, and really, that's all I was asking of it. I'll certainly be buying the 4k UHD version when they release it, because I'll bet the behind the scenes stuff is *fantastic*.