Holidays

Ahhahaha I've caught up! Go me!

Tonight I watched the anthology film Holidays, a collection of 8 films that each focus on a different holiday: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year's. Like most anthology films, Holidays is a mixed bag; the short films range from successful to confusing to simply bad. There's a few standouts, and I think it's these ones that define the anthology and make Holidays an all-in-all strong flick.

One of the standouts that I really dug was the Father's Day piece wherein a young woman receives a tape from her father she believes was dead. She follows the instructions on the tape only to find more than she bargained for (DUN DUN DUNNNNN). Kevin Smith's contribution is pretty typical Kevin Smith (dialouge-y and twisted), which, given his recent output is both a good and a bad thing. It's a bit of an odd pick for the Halloween piece (I mean literally the only thing Halloween about it is the first 3 minutes) as it centers around a ponytailed pervert running a webcam girls service. He ends up getting his just deserts, but I'm left wondering: isn't it a little weird that Smith cast his own daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, as one of the camgirls? Uhhhhh...

Another strong piece stars Seth Green as a ball-less (not literally, I realized being in the market of horror movies I probably needed to be explicit about that) husband and father who watches a man die to get the man's VR headset. It's all the dad's son wants for Christmas (yeah, think Jingle All the Way), but the VR ends up being EVIL (well, kinda). And finally, probably the strongest contribution is the last film (New Year's) wherein a serial killer who picks up victims for each holiday on dating websites ends up (spoiler alert) picking up another serial killer. It's a witty twist on the serial killer idea and immensely satisfying to see the predator get his.

All in all Holidays' strong moments overcome the weaker films in the anthology. It's entertaining and a goofier-spirited horror film ala Trick-r-Treat.

8/10