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Posts tagged Holidays in Movies

Holidays in the Movies: Schools Out

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I couldn’t resist a little AI generated assistive imagery; courtesy Dall-E

I may have mentioned before how our lives revolve around the academic year, so the end of schools is essentially our beginning of summer, even though it happens in May for us. Early May. In Florida, though, summer may have well been in place for months already, weather wise.

  • The Prowler (1981): This is only the first and not the last example that graduation parties are not a good idea.
  • Graduation Day (1981): we have many many movies featuring Linnea Quigley.
  • House of Sorority Row (1982): I’ve seen enough movies to know not to do pranks, ever.
  • Hide and Go Shriek (1988): For their graduation party, a bunch of goofballs decide to hide in a furniture store after closing and party all night. Thankfully, a deranged killer comes after them. Please note: This is not the same movie as The Initiation (1984).
  • Can’t Hardly Wait (1997): we revisited this a while ago when indulging in some teen movie nostalgia and have since added it to our shelves.
  • The Perfect Score (2004): ages since I’ve seen this.
  • You’re in Love Charlie Brown (1967): set on the last few days of the school year; there is a Charlie Brown for every holiday!
  • Dr. Giggles (1992): Beginning with the last day of school and venturing into the first days of summer break, an escaped sanitarium patient terrorizes teens and adults alike.

Holidays in the Movies: Earth Day

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Screenshot from Easy A

For Earth Day, April 22nd, we have a mostly thematic list. I’ve already talked about Aerial America, and it is a great way to be awed by the earth, and disturbed sometimes about what we are doing to it. If you are into apocalyptic futures then Water World (1995) and Mad Max (1979) might offer the right kind of vibe.

So far we have found one movie that specifically calls out Earth Day, and, yes, we will be watching it:

  • Easy A (2010): “Don’t forget, tomorrow’s Earth Day.”

Holidays in the Movies: Passover

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There are plenty of thematically appropriate and dramatic representations of Passover in the movies. We will be taking a slightly sleepier and round about approach with Phenomena (1985) because sometimes we just need a comforting and familiar horror movie. What? Didn’t know that a European horror movie set in a girls school had anything to do with Passover? It’s easy to miss.

We may also track down “A Rugrats Passover” (1995). I am a sucker for cartoon holiday specials.

Holidays in the Movies: Mardi Gras

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1898 footage of Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans
  • Mardi Gras Massacre (1978) : a serial killer roams the streets of Mardi Gras to make sacrifices to a Peruvian god. Not a repeater for the Schmidt house.
  • Dracula 2000 (2000) : the costume parade is not Halloween, it is Mardi Gras and the action takes place primarily in New Orleans when a recently re-awakened Dracula trails havok through the city with the colleagues of Van Helsing on his tail.
  • Mardi Gras (1958) : as yet unseen by us musical with Pat Boone
  • Interview with a Vampire (1994) : so natural and yet it almost slipped my mind
  • Flesh and Fantasy (1943) : provided we can get a hold of it, this occult anthology seems right up our alley at the Schmidt house
  • A Woman’s Secret (1992) – Italian thriller with Margeaux Hemingway.
  • Hatchet (2006) – gory slasher!
  • Death Spa (1988) – gory supernatural thrillery thing. Why does everyone keep going to this place?
  • “The Perfect Foil” Murder, She Wrote (S2.E21) – Jessica Fletcher is visiting a distant cousin during Mardi Gras when he is accused of murder during a costume party.

Holidays in Movies: Labor Day

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Labor Day is one of those holidays for which it is especially difficult to build a comfortable, celebratory, collection of watching. It is very close to the end of summer/back to school celebration, and also lacking in a dearth of movies taking place during or about the holiday.

  • 9 to 5 (1980) : this is more thematic than actually aligned with the holiday, but sometimes that is just how things have to be
  • Humongous (1982) : labor day weekend vacationers being stalked by a slasher/monster
  • Dirty Dancing (1987) : tells the tale of an entire summer adventure, but does actually culminate on Labor Day

Holidays in the Movies: Memorial Day

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When I initially embraced marking time and celebrating all holidays with movies, there were many holidays that I didn’t even consider. Memorial Day was one of those, along with a small handful of others that I plan to get to this year.

I have experienced the popular Memorial Day family barbecue, and I have also undertaken a road trip to the cemetery where my grandmother, grandfather, and great-grandmother are buried. Considering the sweltering heat in Florida by the end of May, both of these activities require a certain amount of psyching myself up each year.

After putting out the flag and thanking the soldiers who have died for this country, we in the Schmidt house will be watching:

note: post last updated 2025

Holidays in the Movies: May Day

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“May Day Celebration, 1937” by Duke University Archives is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

May Day, celebrating the vibrancy of spring, is directly preceded by Walpurgis Nacht. So our movie watching in celebration will be taking both of these holiday’s into account with a couple of pairs:

  • La Noche de Walpurgis (1971) – released in the US as The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman and also known as Werewolf Shadow, is the fifth in a series of movies about Waldemar Daninsky, played by Paul Naschy, a mysterious nobleman living under a curse.
  • El Retorno de Walpurgis (1973) – is the seventh in the same series about werewolf Waldemar Daninsky.
  • Ritual of Evil (1970) – sequel to Fear No Evil (1969) and following the supernatural investigations of psychiatrist Dr. Sorrell.
  • The Devil Rides Out (1968) – occultists are baptized into their new lives on Walpurgisnacht in the late 1920s.
  • Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) – Phil Lovecraft is the only detective, perhaps the only man, in L.A. who doesn’t use magic in a world where magic is infiltrating all aspects of life. He’s working a case on the last three days of April that could save or end the world.
  • The Wickerman (1973) – famous folk horror movie; there is nothing more to say.
  • The Wicker Tree (2011) – created as a companion piece to the 1973 The Wickerman.
Gorgon

Admittedly, the Wickerman and Wicker Tree movies do not get all that much play in our house, so to make up for that we look for comfortable filler like the Hetty Wainthropp Investigates “Widdershins” episode and Midsomer Murders “Straw Woman” (thematically appropriate, though not sure if it is actually based on May Day)

May Day also happens to be Gorgon’s birthday – decided by mathematical estimate, though not witnessed. Happy birthday Gorgon!

Holidays in the Movies: Arbor Day

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Title screen from It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63201079

I’ve said it before, Charlie Brown is the soundtrack to all holidays through my childhood. Though there are a few holiday’s that might not have gotten the Peanuts treatment, Arbor Day is not among them. It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown premiered in 1976 as the 15th Peanuts special premiering on prime time (Wiki). And so, this Arbor Day, we might plant a tree, we will beg all our baby trees to grow, and we will watch It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown.

And, for thematic watching, we will include some woods-are-alive, the-spirit-of-the-woods-is-going-to-kill-you movies:

  • The Woods (2006) – is well loved in our house and perfect for Arbor day.
  • The Guardian (1990) – shows serious promise!

Holidays in the Movies: April fools

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For most of my life, April Fools day would pass me by and I wouldn’t even notice. But, there is always a cause for celebration when you are celebrating with movies, and on April 1st we watch April Fool’s Day (1986). April Fool’s Day is a wonderful little mystery slasher featuring Deborah Foreman of Valley Girl, Real Genius, and a cart load of other films from my 80s childhood. Happy April Fools!

At the last minute we remembered that Killer Party (1986) should also join our celebration. Killer Party was originally going to be called either Fool’s Night or April Fool but was changed when April Fool’s Day was released by Paramount Pictures. Happy April Fools!

Spasmo

April 1st is also when we have estimated Spasmo’s birthday to be. So, Happy Birthday Spasmo!

Holidays in the Movies: Back to School

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Real Genius (1985)

It may be far from a holiday, especially for kids who would rather have another month of summer, but ‘back to school’ is a seasonal marker for many people, including those that work in the academic industries as I do. I’ve probably already intimated that summer can be a little tiring here in Florida. To me, the start of fall classes means fall is here even if the weather won’t change for months.

  • Real Genius (1985) – The movie for all those brilliant maladjusted youngins who enter college in their mid teens and find out that the world only wants to use their genius for profit, pollution, and evil. I may not be one of them, but I have loved this movie for ever.
  • Grease (1978) and Grease II (1982) – “The Board of Education took away my parole. We’re gonna go back, back, back to school again.” They both may encapsulate an entire year, but the back-to-school moment is so so extra.
  • It Was a Short Summer Charlie Brown (1969) – until this year (2023) we were missing a Charlie Brown special for this holiday. This one may reminisce about the whole of the summer, but it is firmly placed during the first week of school.

Of course, if you live within the world of college and university campuses, then rush week comes quickly on the heels of the start of the year. Its often hard to pick out the exact timeline of pledging so we have a selection of rush/hell week movies to fill out the watching.

  • The Initiation (1984) – young pledges locked up in a mall with a slasher.
  • Initiation of Sarah (1978) – this is also going on the ultimate witch list I am curating.
  • Sorority Babes and the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988) – sorority pledges stay overnight in a bowling alley and unleash an evil imp.

If you are feeling like celebrating through movies like I do, check out the other Holidays in the Movies posts.

updated 4/2025

Holidays in the Movies: Christmas in July

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We don’t celebrate Christmas in July because we have an all encompassing love of Christmas and we just have to have it more than once a year. Our mini holiday is more because we need a little imagined cooler weather; would never turn down the opportunity for another present and some some mulled cider; and could use a reminder that the yuletide feeling of love and hope for humanity doesn’t need to only happen once a year. However, while we spend weeks immersing ourselves in media for Christmas, Christmas in July gets a couple days at most. We make a selection of absolute favorites, White Christmas, and select a smattering of other features. This year that list includes:

  • Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) – I have probably talked about Rankin and Bass before. Theirs are the holiday specials of my childhood, along with Charlie Brown. And, the title says it: Christmas in July.
  • Silent Night Bloody Night (1972) – I now believe that all mansions were once used as asylums or clinics of some kind.
  • White Christmas (1954) – This may be my favorite Christmas movie of all time, so of course, we watch it in July.
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) – Yes, Charlie Brown again.

Check out the other Holidays in the Movies posts.

Holidays in Movies: 4th of July

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US Post Office, Public Domain

I play the same record on every patriotic holiday: Timbuk 3’s Edge of Allegiance, because it starts with National Holiday. If we entertain guests, then perhaps I’ll bust out the Sousa, but Sousa takes a level of picnic commitment that is hard to rustle up in the heat of a Florida summer. Of course, like with many other holidays at my house, we get in the mood and stay in the mood with some carefully chosen movies.

Halloween and Christmas are extensive enough to warrant their own zines, but you can check out my previous posts on Thanksgiving, New Year, and Easter if you want more of this holiday moodiness, or check out all the other Holidays in the Movies posts.

4th of July

  • Music Man (1962): honestly, before checking the date on this, I had forgotten their was a 2003 version. I think I’m going to forget it again, because I love the 1963 film so much, no interlopers could infiltrate this relationship.
  • This is America Charlie Brown (1988-89): have I said this before: Charlie Brown means the holidays, any holiday, every holiday.
  • I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): This even has a parade it is so 4th of July. There are flags and pageants and fishermen and floats and everything patriotic.
  • Silver Bullet (1985): Yes, it is a werewolf movie; yes, it happens on the 4th of July.
  • Martha’s Summer Favorites (2006): Martha Stewart specials on DVD are featured in our house every Halloween season, they help us prep for Thanksgiving and celebrate for Christmas. So, of course, they’re going to help us prep for the 4th of July too. This set could be watched at the start of summer except for an extended sequence on celebrating America, so here it is.
  • Jaws (1975): How could we miss it?
  • Uncle Sam (1996): A soldier killed by friendly fire in Kuwait is returned to his family in time for Independence Day celebrations. He awakes as a revenant and goes on a killing spree dressed as Uncle Sam.

Holidays in the Movies: Summer Solstice

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Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Summer tends to feel terribly devoid of holidays, but there are some important dates to celebrate. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. Like sun lovers who celebrate the winter solstice as a lengthening of days from then on out, I welcome the summer solstice as a herald of shorter days to come. The sun in Florida is blinding and relentless, so the thought of it receding just a bit is a comfort by this time of year. At the same time the hottest and brightest days of summer are still to come. These are the movies we are watching to get in the mood and learn to love summer again:

  • Race for Your Life Charlie Brown (1977) – I’ve said it before, Charlie Brown is every holiday
  • Summer School (1987) – for everyone who no longer has summer breaks with no commitment, the feeling of being cooped up in class when you want to be out on vacation is real and familiar
  • Lost Boys (1987) – except for the fashion, this feels as though it is as hot and blinding as summers where we are
  • The Burbs (1989) – there is nothing that says summer so much as sitting around the house and indulging in conspiracy theories and paranoia
  • Sleepaway Camp (1983) – camp isn’t a break from school, its just more of the cliques, awkwardness, and bullying of school without the distraction of class work
  • Friday the 13th part VII: the new blood (1988) – as described by Richard, “Carrie vs. Jason,” but really, any Friday the 13th movie is appropriate as summer celebration watching
  • Hausu (1977) – A summer trip to the country complete with watermelon
  • Hiruko the Goblin (1991) – incredibly strange Japanese horror film with great summer vibes and plenty of school drama
  • One Crazy Summer (1986) – a silly slapstick comedy with some clever jokes, but not one we watch every year
  • Summer of Fear (1978) – also known as Stranger in Our House, this TV movie is full of witches and occult intrigue
  • Cheerleader Camp (1988) – more proof that all summer camps set in the woods are plagued by knife wielding killers

Don’t forget to check out all the other Holidays in the Movies posts.

*Holidays in the Movies posts will be treated like living posts and updated routinely. Last updated 6/28/2022

Holidays in Movies: Easter

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We are a movie watching household, so there is never anything quite so satisfying as being able to gear-up for and celebrate a holiday with some evening viewing. This is the second in a series where I pull out the movies we watch for those holidays that aren’t Halloween and Christmas. The first were Thanksgiving and New Year if you are in to this holiday thing.

Easter

  • The Being (1983): monsters, murder, green slime, and nuclear waste, what more can one ask for on Easter?
  • It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974): Charlie Brown = holidays, again and again and again.
  • The First Easter Rabbit (1976): I love Rankin and Bass productions. I love the animation and I love the clay-mation. Most of the specials I have collected are Christmas, of course, but Rankin and Bass hit all the holidays, or almost all.
  • Easter Parade (1948): I grew up with musicals, so of course they are prime for inclusion in holiday themed viewing.
  • Chocolat (2000): I think this movie gets over looked a bunch, and I over looked it too, even though the entire film is building towards Easter.
  • Critters 2-the main course (1988): there are eggs and there is an Easter egg hunt, so of course.

Holidays in the Movies: St. Patrick’s Day

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Some holidays are harder to curate watching for than others. St. Patrick’s Day is one such challenge. According to Wikipedia’s ‘list of films set around St. Patrick’s day’ there are plenty of titles to choose from – some I’ve seen, many I haven’t. But there aren’t too many that I would want to make part of my yearly celebration. Clearly, this list is going to have to evolve, but for now we will be enjoying:

Movie poster for Darby O’Gill and the Little People
  • Maniac Cop (1988): When you’re scared on the city streets at night, you’re in luck when you see a cop, right?
  • The Fugitive (1993): I am now wondering how many cop thrillers have a St. Patrick’s day parade in the middle of them.
  • Leprechaun (1993): I’d never thought I’d want to see it again, but hey, for St. Patrick’s day, let’s do this.

Now on revisit, I can’t say the above were all repeaters. But we are hurting for a selection of movies to celebrate with instead.

  • Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959): Where there is a lack of holiday-centric movies, there are thematic options with pooka, shillelagh, leprechauns and more
  • Leprechaun 3 (1995): this series gives plenty of selection and the bonkers Las Vegas sequel is just right.
  • God Told Me To (1976): which of course, since the main character is with the NYPD has a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

If you want to keep things simple, Murder, She Wrote has a whole day’s worth of Ireland or Irish related episodes thanks to Jessica Fletcher’s extended family connections.

  • “To the Last Will I Grapple With Thee” S8 E17: Jessica’s friend is hounded by an old enemy and ex-convict from Ireland who is intent on revenge. When the man winds up dead, Jessica must prove her friend did not murder the man.
  • “The Wind Around the Tower” S9 E4: Jessica Fletcher is researching a new book and staying at an old estate in County Galway where it is said the ghost of a killed seaman haunts the grounds and can be heard weeping to herald an impending death.
  • “A Killing in Cork” S10 E7: While visiting family friends that own a traditional blanket factory in Cork, Jessica must must help prove the innocence of a son suspected of murder.
  • “Another Killing in Cork” S11 E20: Jessica’s stay at a retreat for fishermen in Cork is wrapped up in local drama over a developer wishing to buy land.
  • “Nan’s Ghost” S12 E 6 & 7: Jessica arrives at the castle hotel of a friend just as the body of a missing girl is discovered. The ghost of the girl apparently haunts the castle as smugglers, murderers, and real estate developers creep around the scenes.
  • Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle (2003):  Jessica Fletcher travels to Ireland for a will reading and becomes involved with the other heirs in a hunt for a secret treasure.

Check out the other Holidays in the Movies posts.

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