Editorials
The 5 Best Holiday-Themed Horror Anthology Segments
For the last several decades, the major holidays have almost all played an integral role in the horror genre, particularly the big ones like Halloween and Christmas. Countless films over the years have used various different holidays – Mother’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, you name it – as jumping off points for their horror stories, giving us at least a couple different movies to choose from whenever the calendar flips over to another day of observance.
Just released onto VOD outlets, the brand spankin’ new anthology Holidays is the first horror movie to tackle all the major holidays in one fell swoop, and it’s a wonder that it took so long for such a film to come around. Watching the anthology, directed by some of the top names in horror, we couldn’t help but think of other anthologies that have featured holiday-themed segments, and in celebration of the release, we wanted to shine the spotlight on our favorites this week.
Of course, if you disagree with our picks, we’d love for you to drop us a comment!
Tales from the Crypt – “And All Through the House”
When Silent Night, Deadly Night was released in 1984, many upset parents couldn’t handle the depiction of Santa Claus as a serial killer, leading them to angrily picket the film. But it was 12 years prior that the very first Santa Claus killer was brought to the screen, and we have the 1972 anthology Tales from the Crypt to thank for that.
Based on a story found in Vault of Horror #35, the segment “And All Through the House” stars Joan Collins as a greedy woman who kills her husband on Christmas Eve, and is subsequently stalked by an escaped lunatic in a Santa suit (a nightmarish Oliver MacGreevy). Humorously, and horrifyingly, the night of holiday terror ends with the woman’s young daughter inviting the madman into their home, believing him to be the real Santa – a pitch perfect Tales twist, if there ever was one.
The same story went on to become a standout episode of HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, which is arguably even better.
Creepshow – “Father’s Day”
An homage to comic books like Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, the George Romero-directed Creepshow was released in 1982, and the first tale put a sinister spin on Father’s Day. Appropriately titled, well, “Father’s Day,” the segment was written by Stephen King and tells the story of Aunt Bedelia, a woman driven to insanity by her cruel father, Nathan Grantham. One Father’s Day, Nathan’s demands for a special cake led Bedelia to bash his head in with a marble ashtray, and the bulk of the tale takes place years later – when Bedelia returns to the scene of the crime… on Father’s Day.
Of course, Nathan Grantham soon emerges from his grave and gets revenge on his murderous daughter, driven by his insatiable appetite for the Father’s Day cake he never received on the day he was murdered. Bathed in bright reds and blues, Nathan’s appearances look like EC Comics panels come to life, and the final reveal of the cake he ends up making for himself is as iconic as horror anthology segments get. Oh and don’t forget the Ed Harris dancing scene, which is the icing on this cake.
Trick ‘r Treat – “The School Bus Massacre”
Singling out one segment in Michael Dougherty’s Trick r’ Treat and proclaiming it the best is nearly impossible, because the collection of Halloween horror stories makes for what is easily the most perfect anthology in the genre’s history. Oozing with atmosphere and festive style, Trick ‘r Treat is all around the very best representation of Halloween that has ever been brought to the screen, but if forced to choose a favorite segment, “The School Bus Massacre” is the one I have to go with.
The segment tells of a local urban legend that began 30 years prior, when a school bus driver was paid off by parents to kill their mentally challenged children one Halloween. Shackling the kids to their seats, the man intends on driving the bus off a cliff and into a lake, and though the dastardly plan doesn’t go off without a hitch, he accomplishes the horrifying mission. In the present, a group of friends go to the infamous quarry on Halloween night to pull a prank on outcast Rhonda, but their plan backfires when the murdered children rise up from their watery grave.
Dougherty wasn’t afraid to head into uncomfortably dark territory to convey the importance of upholding Halloween traditions, which makes “The School Bus Massacre” an unforgettable horror anthology segment – and perhaps one of the best Halloween horror stories ever told on screen.
Tales of Halloween – “Sweet Tooth”
Like Trick ‘r Treat, last year’s Tales of Halloween was an anthology of stories set on Halloween night, though each of them were written/directed by different filmmakers. The anthology was book-ended by the two best segments, kicking off with Hills Run Red director Dave Parker’s “Sweet Tooth” – a cautionary tale about eating too much candy on Halloween night.
In the short, a teenage babysitter and her boyfriend tell young Mikey the legend of Sweet Tooth, a once-human boy whose parents would steal all the candy he collected on Halloween. Fed up, the boy killed his parents one Halloween and literally ate the candy they already consumed, digging it out of their stomachs, and the teens scare Mikey by telling him that the spirit of Sweet Tooth will come for him if he eats too much candy. As expected, Sweet Tooth does show up, and he’s hungrier than ever.
Out of all the segments in Tales of Halloween, “Sweet Tooth” is the one most ripe for a feature-length expansion, as it gives rise to a brand new holiday horror icon who could easily be the star of his own franchise. But even if it’s the only taste of the character we ever get, it’s sweet enough to satisfy.
Holidays – “Easter”
Eight different stories comprise this year’s Holidays, and the fun thing about the anthology is that the individual holidays are highlighted in the order in which they take place – it begins with a Valentine’s Day segment and ends with one set on New Year’s Eve, hitting every major holiday (aside from Thanksgiving) in-between. They range from truly bizarre (Gary Shore’s “St. Patrick’s Day) to absolutely bone-chilling (Anthony Scott Burns’ “Father’s Day”), and my personal favorite of the bunch is set on Easter.
Directed by Nicholas McCarthy (At the Devil’s Door), the film’s “Easter” segment is a truly unsettling examination of the titular holiday, centered on a young girl who can’t wrap her head around the idea that the day marks both the rebirth of Jesus Christ and the arrival of a giant bunny. McCarthy blends the two Easter tales together for a standout short film that is surprisingly (given its brief run-time) rich with mythology, and it’s also home to the most nightmarish depiction of a beloved holiday icon that you’ll likely ever see. Pure. Nightmare. Fuel.
Finally, Easter has an awesome horror film to call its own – even if it’s a short one.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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