‘Hail to the Chief… or he’ll hack you to pieces!’
President’s Day is a 2010 American dark comedy slasher horror film directed by Chris LaMartina (Call Girl of Cthulhu; WNUF Halloween Special; Witch’s Brew) from a screenplay co-written with Jimmy George. The Midnight Studios production stars Bennie Mack McCoy IV, Lizzy Denning, Nicolette le Faye and Ryan Thomas. Genre regulars George Stover and Shawn C. Phillips make an appearance.
Plot:
It’s campaign season, and the students of Lincoln High are buzzing about who’s going to be class president… But when a psycho dressed as Abraham Lincoln starts hacking up students, the candidates must run… for their lives.
One-by-one, the mighty Lincoln Lambs are being slaughtered by the merciless maniac in the stovepipe hat. Everyone is dying for a vote…
Reviews:
“While the film is populated with the requisite amount of blood and boobs, it’s a shame that some of the FX work comes off as even less natural than a certain pair of breasts in the film. Chris does a fair job at cutting around a few of the lesser gags, but, with a film that takes place mostly in broad daylight it’s hard to disguise all the flaws in the lackluster gore gags.” Bloody Disgusting
“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.” The Critic’s Den
” …the giddy splattery tone is set and stays on course for its swift, well-paced 81-minute running time. With a body count in the double-digits and several doses of busty top-popping, this is a tasty beer n’ chips programmer with a barrel of blood and a whole lotta heart.” Horror 101 with Doctor AC
“The acting ranges from pretty good, I really liked Paul Fahrenkopf as detective Kurtz, to pretty bad but I think some of the acting is somewhat intentionally campy […] The pacing is nice, it’s entertaining and quite funny at times but never really scary. There are a couple of gory kills, obviously, the makers of President’s Day ain´t afraid to show some carnage, there are some creative kills and I think it is all practical fx.” Independent Flicks
“President’s Day is a solid entry that deserves a place amongst the slasher elite. There are many new-age stalk and slashers that get lost in their attempts to either try something different or pay endless tributes to the hits of the eighties. Chris LaMartina proves here that all you need to do is include enough of the recognised ingredients and have a bit of a ball with them.” A Slash Above…
Cast and characters:
Bennie Mack McCoy IV … Barry
Lizzy Denning … Joanna
Nicolette le Faye … Chelsea
Ryan Thomas … Officer Kennedy
George Stover … Mr Wright
Shawn C. Phillips … Dennis
Ruby Larocca … Michelle
Paul Fahrenkopf … Detective Kurtz
Andrea Hearn … Jenna
Lee Armstrong … Janitor
Chris Magorian … Eddie Mills
Mary Jane Oelke … Mrs Frederica
Ron LaMartina … Mr. Roemer
Matthew Bowerman … Merv Perkins
Production:
Shot in 21 days on a budget of approximately $5,000 in the Baltimore area.
Release:
The film had a limited release on Presidents’ Day in 2010 and was released to DVD on April 9 the same year.
Film Facts:
Not to be confused with the 2016 movie of the same name which features past-presidents as zombies.
Related:
President Evil (2018)
The Tripper (2006)
