Violent Night is the movie that dares to ask the question, what if Santa Claus was a jaded

drug who steals booze while leaving presents under the tree on Christmas Eve? David

Harbor plays the not-so-jolly old Saint Nick, who unexpectedly finds himself caught in

the middle of a home invasion of an insanely wealthy family. John Lachuzamo plays the

dastardly leader of the Heist. And as the title suggests, violence and plenty of Christmas

themed puns ensue. I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about Violent Night on Pop

Culture Happy Hour from NPR.

Joining us today is NPR Culture Desk Correspondent, Netta Ulobi. Welcome back, Netta. Hi,

Mary Christmas. Mary Christmas. Also with us is Jordan Crusciola. She's a writer and producer

and the host of the podcast, Feeling Scene, on Maximum Fun. Welcome back to you too, Jordan.

Thank you so much, thrilled to be here as always. Yes, it's great to have you.

So in Violent Night, David Harbor plays Santa Claus, who's grown cynical about the state

of the world and is ready to end Christmas for good. While delivering gifts at the compound

of the wealthy, light-stone family, he unwittingly ensembles upon a home invasion led by Jimmy

Scrooge, played by a scenery-tuing John Lachuzamo. With help from Trudy, the sweet and innocent

granddaughter of the family played by Leah Brady, Santa does a bloody battle with Jimmy and

his bands of mercenaries. The movie also stars Alex Hasel and Alexis Lauder as Trudy's

parent Jason and Linda, Beverly DiAngelo as Jason's mean mother, Gertrude, and Edie

Patterson as Jason's greedy sister, Alva. Violent Night is out in theaters now. Jordan,

let's start with you. What did you think of Violent Night?

I'm a big fan of Violent Night. I was prepped for this by a friend by him telling me that

it was both one of the best Christmas movies he'd seen in years and also just like a super

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