We’ve tried to do a mini-review for each short film in the Holidays horror anthology.
On this page you’ll find the mini-reviews featuring the holidays that honor the toughest job in the world: Parenting! First, we get to enjoy a little Mother’s Day horror, before moving on to our absolute favorite in the anthology with the Father’s Day short film.
Mother’s Day (3/5)
Never underestimate what people are ready to go through to have a baby! This has been the concept for various horror movies with one of the absolute best being the French Inside, which is in pre-production to be remade starring Rachel Nichols. Getting back to this particular short film, where this time around, they probably shouldn’t have chosen to mess with the woman, who can’t help but get pregnant every single time she has sex. There’s a very sensual vibe in the majority of this short film, but believe me, that won’t last and the ending is anything but happy!
Plot: A fertility tale with the story of Kate who gets pregnant every time she has sex, even when she’s using multiple forms of birth control. Every time. No doctor or
specialist has been able to figure out why. Until she meets Dr. Harding, who suggests she attend a fertility ceremony in the high desert, led by a shaman.
Written and Directed by Sarah Adina Smith
Starring: Sophie Traub, Aleksa Palladino, Sheila Vand, Jennifer Lafleur, and Sonja Kinski
Father’s Day (5/5)
This was our favorite part of the Holidays horror anthology, which is probably why we really didn’t want it to end. You’re following in the footsteps of a young woman, who in turn is following in the footsteps of her own dad. A man, she thought was dead, but now a mysterious message has turned up from him, and he’s encouraging her to come find him. If you’ve ever seen John Carpenter’s classic Starman (1984) starring Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen (my entire family still quotes this movie whenever reaching an intersection when the light changes to yellow), then maybe you’ll get the same sense of recognition that we did. In fact, we felt like this could be a sequel to that film. The ending might not suggest this, but you never really know what lurks in the darkness…
Michael Gross (Tremors) is giving an award deserving acting performance with just his voice. To me, this is an even stronger performance than Michael Madsen in Flipped, an he had an entire feature film to win me over.
Plot: Carol missed out on having a father. According to her mother, her Dad passed away when she was very little. It’s Father’s Day now, and a mysterious package has been dropped off on Carol’s
doorstep. Inside, she finds a tape recorder from the early 80s. After replacing aged batteries, she presses the PLAY button. On the tape is a message from her ‘daddy’ that he recorded many years
ago.
Written and Directed by Anthony Scott Burns
Starring: Jocelin Donahue and Michael Gross
Last, but definitely not least, we have Halloween, Christmas and New Years’s Eve right over here…
- Into the Deep [2025] – Movie Review (1/5) - January 22, 2025
- Prime Target – Series Review | Apple TV+ - January 22, 2025
- Blink Twice – Review | Prime Video (4/5) - January 21, 2025
