I do not need to tell you that horror anthologies are popular again. We have had any number over the past few years, some good and some dire, but all relying on often interconnected short stories to tell an overarching history of terror. The nice thing about anthology films is that you can get a lot of stars and directors in to work on them, producing a unique vision from a multitude of styles and approaches to the genre. The latest horror anthology that hopes to continue this trend will be Holidays, from XYZ Films, and it has just secured a bevy of directors to contribute.
Holidays takes a step away from the usual Halloween themed films and expands it to encompass more holidays, including Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day as candidates for horrific murder and mayhem. The participating directors now include the likes of Kevin Smith, Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), Scott Stewart (Legion, Priest), Matt Johnson (The Dirties), Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch (Starry Eyes), Nicholas McCarthy (At The Devil’s Door), Sarah Smith (The Midnight Swim) and Anthony Scott Burns.
Smith we know is no stranger to the horror genre, having directed last year’s Tusk and Red State before that. The others directors are decidedly lesser known in a mainstream sense, but we can hope they’ll produce some worthwhile entries.
Looking at this list, however, we have to notice that there are already eight directors attached to this production, with more to be announced. That means that the segments will not be very long in a film that should run somewhere around two hours. Whether that is good or bad will remain to be seen, but I admit that I prefer the interconnected and developed narratives of films like Trick ‘R Treat. I just hope Holidays doesn’t rush things.
Holidays does not have a release as yet, but you can check out the very cool, slightly retro poster for the film below.
