Bless Netflix for finally offering up the new horror anthology, Holidays, on their streaming service! I've been looking forward to this one for a while (and included it on my list of most anticipated horror films of 2016), so I was excited to see this horror anthology which features eight different tales that revolve around holidays. The shorts include "Valentine's Day" directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes), "Saint Patrick's Day" directed by Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), "Easter" directed by Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact), "Mother's Day" directed by Sarah Adina Smith (The Midnight Swim), "Father's Day" directed by Anthony Scott Burns (a Darknet episode), "Halloween" directed by Kevin Smith (Tusk, Red State), "Christmas" directed by Scott Stewart (Dark Skies), and "New Year's Eve" directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer (Some Kind of Hate).
I was really surprised at the high quality of each of these shorts! It isn't your typical, in-your-face anthology like the V/H/S or an interlocking anthology like Trick 'r Treat. For the most part, the shorts are more artsy and weird (in a good way) than your typical horror shorts. It isn't for everyone, but I liked Holidays much more than the recent Southbound anthology which everyone is raving about, but I found rather dull.
My favorites from Holidays were "Father's Day", an eerie journey about a young woman looking for her father, and "New Year's Eve", about two lonely people connecting at the new year. I also really enjoyed "Valentine's Day", about a bullied high school girl who has a crush on her swim coach, and "Saint Patrick's Day", about a teacher whose deep secret is fulfilled by a creepy red-haired child in her class (though the ending was a bit silly). I also thought "Easter" was interestingly grotesque (about a child who meets the Easter bunny) and that "Christmas" (about a father that grabs the hottest new toy for Christmas, a virtual reality-type gadget, that shows people's most inner wants) was a solid entry.
Though "Mother's Day" wasn't the strongest entry, it did still have some great witchy imagery and the concept behind it (getting pregnant any time you have sex) was petrifying. Unfortunately, the worst entry was "Halloween", which could have taken place on the 4th of July as it was devoid of any autumn atmosphere whatsoever. It's about a douchebag who lures girls to work for him as cam girls and treats them like dirt, until three of them take their revenge. It was poorly written and lame, which is a pity since Kevin Smith directed and will probably be the reason most people check out this anthology.
Despite that clunker, the rest of Holidays is worth a watch, and you can find it on Netflix instant or on Amazon!
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