Zombie Presidents reawaken to kill obnoxious teens…that seems like a premise that would be both deleriously fun and near impossible to F up, right? Well…
Presidents Day (yeah, no comma here) begins with your stereotypical teen cardboard cutouts (jock, nerd, strong woman et. al.) getting ready to head to a cabin in the woods™ (Jesus H. Christ…there has got to be a place to film as cheap as this hoary ol’ chestnut…). Before I continue with the story at hand, I have to mention that these folks play their roles so over-the-top that it becomes rather grating, rather quickly…just like the obvious “wink, wink, ain’t we clever” self aware film making present here as well. Anyway…kids arrive, zombie Presidents rise from their graves to kill them (why, who the F knows)…and that’s about it. Oh, John Wilkes Booth shows up, and if you have even a third grader’s knowledge of U.S. History you will be able to assess his role in the proceedings.
Amateurish and with the comedic subtlety of a jackhammer to the ribs, Presidents Day is by no means a great (or at times even “good”) film. Your mileage will no doubt vary wildly as you decide if you have the sack to endure lines shouted with nary a regard for the tenants of acting in the name of seeing zombified historical figures put the murder on generi-teens for an hour and a half. Also, this film has digital gunshot flashes…I really hate that cheap crap.
All isn’t negative however. I mean, c’mon…zombie Presidents is a fun and creative idea, and some of the performances of said zombies is rather solid (in particular Michael Minto as Booth is a good time) as is their undead make-up designs (the gore isn’t too shabby for what it is either). Additionally, I believe the film makers were earnest enough with their presentation of suck off-the-wall material, I just wish they had dialed back some of the pseudo-satirical nonsense and just delivered a straight forward zombie opus that just so happened to have a ludicrous conceit at it’s core.
Look, I certainly didn’t hate Presidents Day, but I sure as shit didn’t love it either. I’d say if you want a laugh, intentional or not, give it a shot…you don’t see films about zombie Presidents everyday, and that makes it worthwhile alone.