Holidays, 2016 (A movie on Netflix)
Holidays is a horror anthology, which almost always means a mixed bag. In this case, the mix skews toward the negative. Each short is about 15 minutes long, and many of them feel only half thought out. Even some of the stronger entries feel like they needed more room to breathe.
Dennis Widmyer's "Valentine's Day" is intentionally over the top in its portrayal of a young woman with a dangerous crush on her swim coach. The short's garish style sometimes works against the film, as the hyperbolic colors and sequences also bleed into the acting. You will also see the ending coming a mile away.
Gary Shore's "St. Patrick's Day," about a bubbly school teacher whose life goes to pieces after a strange new girl enrolls had some wickedly funny moments, such as a blunt conversation between the teacher and her doctor when the teacher finds she is pregnant. There's some good imagery as well. But the editing is frantic, adding to the sense that the short could have used another 5 minutes.
Sarah Adina Smith's "Mother's Day" feels the most like it could have been really good given a bit more time. Without being too specific, the film simply chooses to end at a moment that in a feature film would have been the climax. The acting and direction are solid.
Nicholas McCarthy's "Easter" is slight, but won me over with its Jesus/Easter Bunny hybrid monster. It was the only short that felt like it had solid ownership of its narrative in the time given.
Anthony Scott Burns' "Father's Day" was easily my favorite short, and it was also the most minimal. A young woman receives a cassette tape in which the voice of her long-lost father tells he that he's waiting. She follows directions from the tape (the entire short, no exaggeration, is her listening to the tape as she walks), which she slowly realizes was recorded one day as she walked with her father. As she draws closer to her destination, she listens to not only her father but her younger self. The sound design and voice acting are great. I really liked this one.
Kevin Smith's "Halloween" is like an after thought. Three cam girls take revenge on their abusive "boss"--a man who keeps them essentially captive in a house and demeans and abuses them. The writing is not good, and the short gestures at the most reductive "girl power" dynamic. Even the message of empowerment is muddled, as it both wants to bemoan the treatment of sex workers and show women as being powerful by running their own business in sex work.
Scott Stewart's "Christmas" is a hot mess, but it's made watchable by a fun turn by Seth Green and Clare Grant. Weirdly, the short takes a total, inexplicable left turn in the last two minutes that left me pretty confused. Like two different horror shorts smashed together.
Adam Egypt Mortimer's "New Year's Eve" is another one that's not bad, but just far too predictable.
It's not the worst horror anthology I've seen, but there are very few high points. It is the definition of mediocre. I would still recommend it, if only to fast forward to "Father's Day".
The Ghost of Yotsuya, 1959 (A ghost movie)
There are many film adaptations of this story. This is the second one that I've seen.
A man named Iemon commits murder in order to get the chance to marry Oiwa. After even more ruthless deceit (which, yup, involves more murder), he succeeds in marrying her. But Oiwa is distressed by the disappearance of her sister and Iemon's refusal to follow through on his promise to avenge her father's death (yup, Iemon is actually the person who killed her dad and framed someone else). Having pawned all of their possessions (including several sentimental items belonging to Oiwa), Iemon decides he'd be happier married to a wealthy woman who has a crush on him. What to do? Why, more murder of course! Iemon plots to kill Oiwa (and frame her for adultery), but Oiwa's ghost isn't having it.
The real strength and delight of this film is its imagery, such as the scene above in which an interior of a room suddenly transforms into a pond. There's a conceit that Oiwa's ghost is making Iemon mad, and specifically that she tricks him into seeing things. In the second half of the film, these sequences are really excellent: her ghost hovers impossibly on the ceiling, takes the place of his new bride, or emerges from the waters where he sank her body. Iemon and his main accomplice are haunted by the sudden appearance of blood or dark hair.
Overall this was really satisfying and a real visual treat.