President's Day

At first it's not clear if this is an actual old movie which was just discovered or simply a parody. The way the wooden acting and ancient filter are used really emit the 80s slasher vibe, it's decent with the intentionally awful setting. However, while the spoof aspect or gore can be briefly comical, one can't really overlook the strikingly low production level.

Story is rather insipid and utterly straightforward. A killer dressed in bad Lincoln costume runs around killing candidates of school council election. The villain struts from victim to victim without care, and even when the rumor begins to spread the high school, or entire city population for this matter, doesn't seem to have any mean of defensive measure.

There's not much logic to be had here, even by the standard of slasher flick, so brace yourself for a lot of plot holes. Acting is not much better, it's almost like the director asked everyone to be as rigid or over-the-top as possible. If one is positive, this is an imitation of retro horror, although it's by no means a pass for the absurd acting for entire length of movie, some even look like bloopers.

Sound and visual can get choppy too since both aspect feel incredibly old. Many horror films try to reinvigorate the genre, but this movie simply regressed in hope that the nostalgia feel will kick in. Thankfully, if audience is coming for gore, it offers myriad of brutal executions and complete disregard of its characters' safety. Few of these are pretty good and the rest can be outlandishly silly.

The attempt for retro throwback might please the fans for a bit, although after the nostalgia or parody effect runs out, President's Day is nothing more than random mediocre gorefest.

I was introduced to writer/director Chris LaMartina through a few of his short movies in anthologies and decided to give this full length film a chance. Wow, I am glad I did! I was blown away by how well this was. The basic plot sounded a bit silly and almost clichéd but it was actually much better than expected. It's a slasher movie with the killer dressing up as Abe Lincoln and killing off students at Lincoln High School, focusing mainly around students involved in the student election. The main character is Barry, who only joined the student election to impress a new transfer student. He takes it upon himself to investigate the murders after his friend is implicated as the murderer.

The graphics in this are great, no CGI that I could see. There are loads and loads of dismemberments since Lincoln's murder weapon of choice is, of course, an ax. Majority of the murders are explicitly shown with buckets of fake blood used. I noticed that most micro-budget movies have really fake looking blood, yet here it truly looked like real blood! And not all murders were by an ax, there are a lot of unique murders. I guess the filmmakers didn't want to get monotonous with all the murders there are (more than the typical Hollywood slasher film).

A lot of the actors and actresses in the movie haven't been in a lot of other films. Going in knowing that, I wasn't expect the best acting. Once again, I was very surprised! I would definitely suggest this to anyone who loves slashers. It's also a great example of how micro-budget, non-Hollywood horror movies can also be top quality.

The film industry has taken the brunt of the economic crunch in past years, and with this comes the unfortunate bi-products like regurgitated plot lines, and unoriginal ideas. However, one sure bet for cinema lovers is that you can always count on the independent filmmakers of the world to make great and original movies. This is certainly the case with Ohio native Chris LaMartina who has proved time and time again, that he is a very smart and talented filmmaker who knows the worth of a dollar and can produce a really great horror film with very little money. His latest film, PRESIDENT'S DAY is horror at its finest! I haven't had this much fun at a theater in quite some time. The film boasts a great cast, and a really great plot, and the fact that Abe Lincoln is the killer in this film only adds to the originality of the film. I love independent horror and this is on the top of my list of great indie-horror films. I strongly recommend that as soon as this comes out on DVD that you pick yourself up a copy, and if you are lucky to see a screening in a theater in your area then I recommend you do it.

I don't know what the previous reviewer was talking about. I saw this at the premier in baltimore last month and loved it. it's a fun movie, with a funny premise, and tons of everything that makes people love these kinds of movies (scares, laughs, blood and boobs). what more could you expect in a movie about a loony dressed as abraham lincoln killing class president candidates? all the important stuff was good, the look, the music and even the acting. and whats more, the audience I saw it with seemed to have a great time! there were lots of jumps, and lolz, and they even cheered at one point. check it out if you get the opportunity, with a big bowl of popcorn and the attitude to have a good time.

I pre-ordered my copy off amazon a few days ago! I have been following Chris Lamartina ever since I saw his film "Eat Me" released under Freak Productions. Overtime I've enjoyed watching Chris develop his style and pick up Jimmy George along the way. I own and enjoy all of his films. This morning I got my copy of President's Day in the mailbox. I was very excited. I put it in the DVD player and began my day. The movie is great. Lots of gore and lots of laughs. All you could expect from Chris and Jimmy. I truly loved it. Will probably give it another viewing later on tonight. It's hard to say if I like Witches Brew or President's Day more. Both are great but I would have to say I am more partial to President's Day, being a huge slasher fan. The ending is great too. I had to boggle my mind to try and figure out who the killer was. I didn't even figure it out before it was revealed. All in all, I really loved the film and all the films Chris Lamartina has helmed. I can't wait to see more. Thanks for the awesome release!