'Violent Night': 5 movies featuring Santa Claus who aren't jolly good men
Whenever we talk or think about Christmas, the first thing that comes to our mind is Santa Claus. Known by several different names, Santa Claus is a legendary character who has become synonymous with the occasion and originated from Western Christian culture, bringing gifts for children during the overnight hours of Christmas. Apart from modern literature, the character has been used a lot of times in movies as well. But usually, whenever we think of Santa Claus in movies, we get the picture of a jolly good man dressed in a red suit, giving presents to the kids who have been nice.
However, there are times when filmmakers take a different route and turn the “jolly good man” into an “angry bad Santa." In recent years, we have seen a lot of movies where Santa gets really angry and fights people who try to mess with him. There’s a new entry in the list of ‘Bad Santa’ movies that features 'Stranger Things’ star David Harbour playing the role of angry Santa in Tommy Wirkola’s ‘Violent Night’. The movie sees Santa Claus helping a family that has been attacked by a group of mercenaries who are threatening to hurt the little girl. The upcoming action movie joins the list of films that features Santa Claus as someone who is ready to beat the s**t out of anyone.
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Let’s take a look at five movies having the “best” Bad Santa.
‘Jingle All The Way’ (1996)
Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Christmas movie? That’s a sight that no one would want to miss. ‘Jingle All The Way’ featured Arnie playing a father who is trying to buy a Turbo-Man action figure for his son on a last-minute shopping spree on Christmas eve. In one of the scenes, when Arnie’s character confronts a group of “drunk” mall Santas and calls them criminals and low-lives, a brawl breaks out.
Every Santa loses their mind and starts taunting Arnie’s character. A few moments later, we saw them fighting each other and all the Santas getting together to attack him. All the Santas forget that they are friendly and start punching Arnold in the face.
‘The Santa Clause 2’ (2002)
In 1994, John Pasquin enthralled us with the perfect Christmas movie titled ‘The Santa Clause’ that turned out to be really successful. However, the sequel to the 1994 movie was a bit different and featured a version of Santa Claus that was not only bossy but sometimes tyrannical as well. Toy Santa is created by Curtis (Spencer Breslin) in his toy-making machine when the real Santa goes to the North Pole to find a wife. However, things start to go wild when Toy Santa reads the rules book and gets obsessed with it. The toy wants everyone to follow these rules and if someone doesn’t follow them, Toy Santa punishes them.
When children don’t follow the rules, Toy Santa labels them naughty and orders that they receive coal instead of gifts this Christmas. Apart from that, he also makes an army of toy soldiers he uses to make sure that he remains a dictator of the place.
‘Tales from the Crypt’ (1972)
Even when the filmmakers show Santa as angry, they know that they are making a Christmas movie and it has to end with a happy ending. But the 1972 film ‘Tales from the Crypt’ changed the whole idea of Santa Claus and made him a stone-cold killer. The movie was divided into five segments and the first segment was called ‘And All Through The House’ in which we see Joanne (Joan Collins) killing her husband on Christmas eve and putting the blame on a serial killer who is on the loose after escaping a mental institution. Dressed as Santa Claus, the serial killer gets to know about the crime and seeks revenge. It’s truly a horrifying movie in which we see Santa Claus wielding an axe and trying to strangle people on Christmas.
This is perhaps the wildest take on Santa Claus and also a terrifying one.
‘Bad Santa’ (2003)
Well, if a movie is named ‘Bad Santa’ then it’s hard to expect jolly good things from the old man. The 2003 movie sees Willie T Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a sex-addicted workaholic, playing the character of a mall Santa who has taken the job so that they can rob the shopping mall at night. The movie is reportedly one of the most offensive movies to come out in recent years and it is exactly the opposite of what Christmas is all about. Even though it’s really rude and the characters continue to say mean things to each other, the movie is actually a treat to watch.
That’s why the movie turned out to be a box office success and a sequel also came out in 2016.
‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000)
What happens when you belittle someone frequently and don’t care about them at all? They hatch a plan to ruin your Christmas. In the aforementioned film, Jim Carrey plays the role of The Grinch, a green creature that’s disliked by the Whos. The Grinch escapes to the mountains and spends his life hating the Whos. However, a little girl from Whoville visits the Grinch and calls him to be the Holiday Cheermeister. His return is not liked by the Whos and they make him feel even worse this time around and that’s how he declares that Christmas is not all about good feelings and gifts.
He plans to ruin everyone’s Christmas by stealing all the gifts and decorations so that he can have his revenge. This was the first time viewers saw a movie about the Grinch and a lot of people believe that he still hates Christmas even though he starts singing Christmas carols at the end.
Which movies do you think feature the most savage Santa Claus? Tell us in the comments section.
