It’s not easy being a kick-ass Santa Claus. Anyone can don the red suit and white gloves, but what does it take to be the ultimate butt-whooping Kris Kringle? Well, that’s something Cory Wharton of MTV’s The Challenge, RDC World’s Mark Phillips, and Watcher’s Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej needed to learn the hard way this holiday season by attending Santa Claus Boot Camp, a no-nonsense (alright, well, maybe a little nonsense) combat training course which allowed these TV and internet personalities to get in David Harbour‘s boots and see what it takes to play a naughty Jolly Ole’ Saint Nick in the new action-comedy, Violent Night. Grab your sledgehammer (and, while you’re at it, perhaps a few holiday spirits too) and learn a thing or two about kicking ass, Christmas style.
Joined by Jojo Eusebio, the stunt coordinator and 2nd unit director of the upcoming holiday season action lark, Wharton, Phillips, Bergara, and Madej put on their fluffy suits and adopt some great white beards as they learn a few pointers about what it takes to take down a bad guy or three as Santa Claus. As this video notes, being a great sledgehammer-wielding Santa Claus not only requires you to swing your mallet properly but do it with attitude. It also doesn’t hurt to bring an extra kick or two into the fight.
As this promo details, things take a violent turn when this training becomes an exercise in ass-kicking. When men in camo gear and guns come storming into the house and leave Eucebio incapacitated, our newly-trained entertainment personalities have to put their Santa training to the test, and the result is a holiday throwdown as only Mr. Claus himself could bring. If you enjoy what these young guys can do in just a matter of minutes, wait until you see a seasoned pro like Harbour’s Father Christmas in action in this new film.
‘Violent Night’ Review: A Bloody And Brutal Christmas Classic Is Born
Directed by Tommy Wirkola (the Dead Snow movies), Violent Night is already been well-regarded as a slickly-entertaining romp with humor and heart, along with plenty of R-rated gore. While we have seen our fair share of naughty Santas in the past, Harbour’s portrayal is considered a nice new take on the familiar Christmas character, allowing his outsized personality to play a fun-loving but also an unexpectedly emotional version of the stocking-stuffing holiday figure. But we don’t have long to wait to see Harbour in action. Violent Night will be premiering in theaters worldwide on December 2.
In the meantime, though, check out the promotional video below: