In the United States, we enjoy our fair share of holidays, and most if not all of them have at least one horror movie associated with them. One of the more obscure holidays that you would think couldn’t possibly have a horror tie-in is President’s Day, a day dedicated to two of the most influential men in United States history. It turns out there are quite a few horror films associated with the leader of the free world, but there is one that stands out mostly because of its rarity. The 2010 film President’s Day is the B-est of B movies, but it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
I think the most important thing you should know about this movie is that you are not going to find it through any normal streaming channels. The two ways to watch President’s Day are to buy it on Amazon or make friends with someone who has bought it on Amazon. While the casual horror fan may not think it is worth the price tag, some horror fans may find the investment worth it.
There is no easing into this film. It starts with almost immediate gratuitous nudity followed quickly by bloodshed. The Seniors of Lincoln High are getting ready to elect their class president, and the candidate pool is especially large this year. It turns out that at least one person will do anything to be the winner as other candidates begin to drop dead. It is up to the class clown and the new girl with a questionable past to solve the mystery and stop the murders before the whole school dies.
Given its profoundly poor production value and the difficulty I had finding it, I wanted to hate this movie so bad; instead, what I found was an obvious B movie that is slightly above par. The deaths in the movie were inventive, and I thought that, for a movie of this caliber, the writing wasn’t too bad. Many viewers may even be surprised by the unmasking of the Lincoln-faced killer. Even the makeup and practical effects were much better than I thought they would be. They put enough care into the effects that they used more practical makeup instead of throwing in blood with CGI like a lot of low budget films do now. Though the movie surprised me, there is still a lot of room for improvement.
The acting in President’s Day left something to be desired. It was quite obvious from the opening scene that this was not going to be a film driven by its acting. The movie takes place in high school, but the youngest of the actors were in their late twenties at best. Even the main characters, whose acting was markedly better than their co-stars, still served up wooden monologues devoid of tone and emphasis.
I would like to see what could be done with President’s Day if it had proper funding and a decent stable of actors, but I somehow doubt that will ever happen. For now, true fans of horror will have to settle with adding this film to their President’s Day horror movie marathon. If you are like me and can’t go a day without watching a horror film, then I promise you that this is not the worst movie you will ever watch and it may even be a point of pride for you to have seen this movie before your horror-loving friends.