"In my opinion, Fatman was the far better film, and it’s not close."

This is 100% correct. Fatman was a much better film. Violent Night was a level below it, and was cheesy in all the wrong ways. But the reality is that a lot of people still don't like Mel Gibson and that plays into the reviews and ratings for any movie he's in. Short of an Oscar candidate type movie, Mel's films will always suffer because of people's perception of him, personally.

Fatman was a decent entry into the Xmas film genre that I'd watch again. Violent Night was a disappointment that I don't regret fast-forwarding through some parts and I wouldn't put it on my Xmas films list.