Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Madeleine Coghlan | ... | Maxine (segment: "Valentine's Day") | |
Savannah Kennick | ... | Heidi (segment: "Valentine's Day") | |
Rick Peters | ... | Coach Rockwell (segment: "Valentine's Day") | |
Kate Rachesky | ... | Cathy (segment: "Valentine's Day") | |
Marilyn Flores | ... | Swim Team Member (segment: "Valentine's Day") | |
![]() |
Emily Haggins | ... | Swim Team Member (segment: "Valentine's Day") |
![]() |
Sierra Malo | ... | Swim Team Member (segment: "Valentine's Day") |
![]() |
Aimee Sagara | ... | Swim Team Member (segment: "Valentine's Day") |
Britain Simons | ... | Handsome Boy (segment: "Valentine's Day") | |
Ruth Bradley | ... | Elizabeth (segment: "Saint Patrick's Day") | |
Peter Campion | ... | The Man (segment: "Saint Patrick's Day") | |
![]() |
Isolt McCaffrey | ... | Grainne (segment: "Saint Patrick's Day") |
![]() |
Norma Sheahan | ... | The Voice (segment: Saint Patrick's Day) (voice) |
![]() |
Guy Carleton | ... | St. Patrick (segment: "Saint Patrick's Day") |
Glen Barry | ... | TV Presenter (segment: "Saint Patrick's Day") |
HOLIDAYS is an anthology feature film that puts a uniquely dark and original spin on some of the most iconic and beloved holidays of all time. The film challenges our folklore, traditions and assumptions, making HOLIDAYS a celebration of the horror on those same special days' year after year. A collaboration of some of Hollywood's most distinct voices, the directors include Kevin Smith (Tusk), Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), Scott Stewart (Dark Skies), Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes), Sarah Adina Smith (The Midnight Swim), Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact), Adam Egypt Mortimer (Some Kind of Hate), and Anthony Scott Burns (Darknet). Written by Vertical Entertainment
Using a celebratory holiday as the background for your horror film isn't a new technique. The most popular slasher film of all time is "Halloween," complete with trick or treaters and the teenaged screams of Jamie Lee Curtis. Many other lesser known, yet beloved, holiday features have been made, including "Santa's Slay," "New Year's Evil," and "ThanksKilling." In this vein comes a horror anthology film that celebrates the horror of the holiday season. The holidays in question include Father's Day, Mother's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, Halloween, New Year's Eve, Easter, and Valentine's Day.
Those who will enjoy this film must love the grotesque and the weird. None of these movies are especially scary, because that doesn't seem to be the aim for these newbie directors. Some of the vignettes are spooky, like "Father's Day," and most of them are downright weird, like "Easter," and "St. Patrick's Day," but if you're going in thinking that there will be an emphasis on jump scares and low budget thrills, you are mistaken. Honestly, I enjoyed the creepy, grim realities of these holidays, but these films don't take themselves too seriously and they revel in their campiness. If you love movies like "Black Christmas," and "Silent Night, Deadly Night," this is definitely going to make you feel nostalgic for the fun of seventies psychological faire and eighties slashers.
Though this is a film that I enjoyed, mostly for its unapologetic strangeness, it is not a good anthology. Some of these entries are so underwhelming, not only because they don't scare but because they don't know how to end. "Mother's Day," is an entry with an especially strong start a la "Rosemary's Baby," and then stumbles around until it ends predictably. "St. Patrick's Day," has, literally, the exact same themes, but ends in a comical (?) farce of Irish lore. Kevin Smith, the only large name attributed to this film, has an entry that stars his teenaged daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, as a cam worker bent on revenge on her pervy, rapist of a boss (played by Harley Morenstein of Epic Meal Time internet fame.)
Anthology horror films are rarely good, but they act positively as a space for filmmakers to take a small amount of time to try and create the next great horror fiction. Horror is so often drawn out and ruined via contrived plots and repeat sequels, and seeing a simple idea condensed down can be its own reward. While there' definitely some uncomfortably terrible entries in this anthology, there are some particularly potential gems as well.