Holidays (2016)
Director(s): Anthony Scott Burns, Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer, Nicholas McCarthy, Adam Egypt Mortimer, Ellen Reid , Sarah Adina Smith, Gary Shore, Kevin Smith, Scott Stewart, Dennis Widmyer
Writer(s): Anthony Scott Burns, Kevin Kolsch, Nicholas McCarthy, Gary Shore,
Kevin Smith, Sarah Adina Smith, Scott Stewart, Dennis Widmyer
Starring: Harley Quinn Smith, Seth Green, Ruth Bradley, Jocelin Donahue, Madeleine Coghlan
I love me a LAZY SUNDAY. When you dedicate your week to your profession and your weekends to your social life, having a day dedicated to only the things that YOU want is the best remedy for whatever did not go to plan during the week. To keep it brief, my week consisted of a 10-12 hour work days, checking out some rasslin’ (the proper term for pro wrestling), sleeping for about 3 hours from Friday to Saturday and then spending all of Saturday grilling up some grub for some great comrades. At the end, my knees were shot, my calves aching, my head decided to throb in random fashion and dizziness that came from sleeping 9 hours straight when I’m used to doing it in 2-3 hour increments.
Although all these things led to productive and/or fun activities, I decided a lazy Sunday was in order and after a good cleaning of the apartment and some delivery pizza, the next best thing to celebrate the boisterous week was a HORROR FLICK (if you didn’t see that one coming…go see a doctor). I added the movie Holidays to my Netflix queue when my email told me that it would be a flick that would catch my interest so first off, KUDOS Netflix for knowing my horror – loving ways. Secondly, the cool 80’s throwback poster passed the test with a bloody present box stuffed with your different holiday items (Jack – O – Lantern, chocolate bunny, etc.). Finally, this was a horror anthology movie (WIN) that follows the theme of eight (8) short segments that represent 8 holidays.
A name that caught my eye however was that of Kevin Smith, one of my favorite writer/directors of my youth who made such treasures such as Clerks and Mallrats. The last few years have been….interesting for Mr. Smith to say the least as he rammed his way into the horror genre with such entries as Red State and Tusk. I hold that these flicks aren’t terrible but they definitely don’t make the vault for the simple fact that they scream of a man that did not give his audience enough time to transition from witty comedy director to bizarre horror cult leader. Seeing that almost any horror flick can benefit from being short and straight to the point, perhaps this would be the perfect vehicle for Kevin Smith to stretch out his horror chops.
Here’s a breakdown of each terror-rific short described as a tagline like the ones you read on the back of a movie box…or blue ray…DVDs are still a thing…just read:
Valentine’s Day: An outcast teen gal develops a crush on her coach and she’s willing to do anything to prove her dedication.
St. Patrick’s Day: An elementary school teacher has a strange new student that gives her a gift that may turn out to be something much more sinister.
Easter: A little girl is curious about the creature that leaves chicks and eggs at her house the night before the festive holiday; little does she know the terror that lurks.
Mother’s Day: Trapped in a ritual with a cult of creepy women, a pregnant woman tries to escape before her destiny becomes reality.
Father’s Day: A cryptic message from beyond the grave has a daughter searching for her father, no matter where the search may take her.
Halloween: Three ladies get revenge on their cruel boss in a fashion that would make you squirm.
Christmas: A father does the unthinkable to get his son the newest toy but the aftermath may be more than he can handle.
New Year’s: A killer gets more than he bargained for when decides to try his hand at online dating.
Man! I think I have a future with this sort of thing! But from a review standpoint; the standouts were definitely New Year’s Day for its twist on serial killers dealing with online dating, Easter for its excellent use of creature effects and overall creepiness and surprisingly Kevin Smith’s segment, Halloween. I could be biased, sure but really, this was the one that stuck the most because not only was it the most cringe – worthy and bizarre but it was reminiscent of the shock – horror that works in smaller doses. If Smith is serious in charging into the horror world, perhaps shorter segments may be his calling. I enjoyed the dialog that didn’t drag, the horror…that didn’t drag and the gory/bloody money shots….that didn’t drag. Basically, his horror flicks tend to drag and his recent offering did not have that problem AT ALL!
Have yourself an Lazy Sunday and check this flick out!
Life is FAR more interesting when we take interest in things that scare us.