SLIDER

Film Friday: Holidays


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I had no real idea what this movie was going into it - I had never heard of it or seen trailers for it. It appeared on netflix and I was like "Hey, I'll watch that."

Holidays is a pretty quick horror movie in that it's a collection of 8 short stories, so on the dvd I would assume you could jump to a story if you chose. (Again, assuming.) The stories are short, so if one story isn't your thing - don't worry, another is coming very soon.
Each story is a different holiday (duh) and each one is written/directed by someone different, so you get several different styles.
It begins on
Valentine's Day
and moves through:
St. Patrick's Day
Easter
Mother's Day
Father's Day
Halloween
Christmas
to finish with a bang on:
New Years Eve

Now, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed other holidays weren't featured. Maybe Holidays 2 could be a thing. I really want to see 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day, oh the possibilities.


  • Valentine's Day was predictable but enjoyable, 
  • St. Patrick's Day was immensely creepy in pretty much every way possible and left me with a actual grimace (in a good "you succeeded in your job" way). 
  • Easter was clever and bizarre. It was clever, but didn't really give me any thrills.
  • Mother's Day didn't really do anything for me. The cinematography was themed appropriately to the character and the story; I just wasn't into it. 
  • Father's Day was shot very well and I was immensely impressed with how well the story is told considering how little is actually happening on screen. Personally, I did find the closer it got to the end of that little story though, the more and more the father's voice grated on my spinal column. I think it was meant to be like a soothing, comforting father voice, but to me it sounded like serial killer/pedophile/kidnapper voice trying to calm down a victim voice. (It didn't start that way, but the longer you listen to him speaking, the more his voice got creepy. This may have been an intentional sound editing effect to creep viewers out.) Finally, I found the end of Father's Day to be anti-climatic. I get what they were doing, but I think it could have been so much better.
  • Halloween was Kevin Smith's contribution to the anthology and it's far less atmospheric and more real-world, but one of the most "jolly good horror fun." 
  • Christmas is where I was surprised to see Seth Green as our protagonist. It was a fun story, perhaps the pacing is a little uneven, but it's enjoyable to watch, especially with Seth Green.
  • New Year's Eve ties with St. Patrick's Day for strongest all-around. It has dread and foreboding, but also serves up plenty of humor and leaves a strong, banging end to the film. 


All around, I was definitely entertained and the stories were enjoyable. If you don't feel like you want to watch the entire thing, perhaps check out one or two of the stories.

C+

Heads Up: Violence, brief nudity, adult themes, religious themes

Available HERE





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