Holidays is the 2016 anthology film to watch for chuckles and the odd disturbing vignette. There is a twist in a few of the tales which range from blackly comic to darkly disturbing. 10 directors do there best to bring some originality to the screen and pay homage to existing classic horror films and themes.
Kevin Smith is perhaps the best known of the lot and his Halloween segment stars his “Yoga Hosers” Daughter Harley Quinn Smith. In terms of “names” Seth Green appears in the Christmas segment and The House of the Devil star Jocelin Donahue is Carol in Father’s Day.
Valentine’s Day starts off the proceedings and has clearly been influenced by the 1972 British offering Tales from the Crypt. This old anthology film featured a similar short tale starring horror icon Peter Cushing and also features a lot of “heart.” A lovely homage that proves someone knows their horror films.
The Easter story was equal parts disturbing and creepy. A young girl gets Jesus and the Easter Bunny mixed up in her head, the night before Easter. This felt like a homage to Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth right down to its downbeat ending. At points the tale was uncomfortable to watch as it seemed dangerously close to a take on pedophelia.
Two of the holidays on offer, St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day were seemingly influenced by Rosemary’s Baby. In the Irish tale, a doctor even tells the pregnant protagonist to “think of Rosemary’s reptile.” Set in Ireland this is more of a darkly comic parody of the Roman Polanski film. Mother’s Day was more serious in intent and was move evocative of the paranoiac nature of RB.
Father’s Day, starring Jocelin Donahue, was the saddest of the lot. Smith’s Halloween was the quirkiest and there was no sign of a homage anywhere. This was original horror with a blackly comic edge. His daughter starred as one of the three “webcam girls.”
Christmas starred Seth Green, with his real life wife Claire Grant, and featured a virtual reality type of equipment that bypasses game play and shows the wearer different things. A dark humorous look at human behavior, marriage and murder.
Saving the best for last, New Years Eve was easily the funniest segment. Watching this could well put viewers off of dating websites forever. This also feels as though it was influenced by a cult film from down-under. While there was no direct correlation, this seemed to be a nod and a wink to the Australian horror film,The Loved Ones. The female protagonist also resembled Robin McLeavy; who played “Princess” in that 2009 movie.
Rather interestingly the film focusses on “universal” holidays like Christmas and leaves out the more regional ones like Independence Day and Thanksgiving. Even though the film is set in the US it seems to cater to world audiences.
These omissions are not important but Holidays has been done well enough that after the last holiday on offer, one wishes devoutly for more. The range of styles and mix of darkly comic horror and eclectic storylines is nigh on perfect.
The directors and their respective segments are:
- Valentine’s Day -Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer
- St Patrick’s Day – Gary Shore
- Easter -Nicholas McCarthy
- Mother’s Day – Sarah Adina Smith
- Father’s Day – Anthony Scott Burns
- Halloween – Kevin Smith
- Christmas – Scott Stewart
- New Years Eve – Adam Egypt Mortimer
Fans of anthology films will love this offering of 10 entertaining stories with not one relying on “found footage” to sell these blackly comic scares.
Holidays is a 5 star gem of a film. A pleasant surprise that is streaming on Netflix at the moment. At 105 minutes the movie streaks by and leaves the viewer wanting more. The film offers horror with a twist and is well worth a look, or two.
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