There are tons of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween movies, but few of them are actually named after the holiday they're based around. However, there are so many films named after holidays that don't exactly have the best reputation. The movies tend to be overly schmaltzy, heartfelt, and based around families, but funnily enough, there's the odd action blockbuster and alien invasion movie in there too.
The quality of these movies ranges from being cloyingly manipulative to massively entertaining with groundbreaking storytelling. There are loads of movies that include a holiday in the title, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, but these movie titles are strictly the name of a holiday and nothing else.
Columbus Day (2009) - 5.3
While there has been a rise in opposition to celebrating Christopher Columbus in recent years, it's not so much of a problem when it comes to choosing whether or not to watch Columbus Day. Though it's named after the holiday, the movie is almost completely unrelated to it, and the day barely has any kind of effect on the narrative.
The thriller is about a thief who pulls off a heist of a lifetime but has a limited time to unload the merchandise and repair his marriage at the same time. It's comparable to the way that Die Hard is set during Christmas but is totally unrelated to the plot.
Mother's Day (2016) - 5.6
Jennifer Anniston has had some great roles, especially when acting alongside Jason Sudeikis in Horrible Bosses. But they couldn't repeat that magic in the 2016 film. Mother's Day was critically scathed and even general audiences saw through the narrative's manipulation.
The film is dated, way too schmaltzy, and very few of the jokes land. It at least made it easier for sons and daughters to figure out what to do for their mother on the day, but many regretted spending two full hours in the theatre watching Mother's Day.
Valentine's Day & New Years Eve (2010 & 2011) - 5.7
Mother's Day is actually the third film in a "trilogy" of sorts. The first two are Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve, both of which hold a 5.7 on the movie database. They are only marginally better than the 2016 movie and, for the most part, they try way too hard to pull on the viewers' heartstrings too.
The two movies borrow the Love Actually formula, as each film sports incredibly impressive ensemble casts and has a multi-stranded, overly sentimental narrative, but they don't land have as well as the Christmas movie. However, though Mother's Day was a huge bomb, Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve were both huge box office successes, so they do have a fanbase.
Ash Wednesday (2002) - 5.9
In 2002, Elijah Wood was one of the most popular movie stars in the world, as it was right in the middle of the string of The Lord of the Rings releases. But the actor has always seemed drawn to low-budget indie movies despite being in the most beloved blockbuster trilogy of all time. The 2002 crime drama follows two Irish-American brothers who inadvertently get involved with the Irish mafia in Hell's Kitchen.
There isn't much to do with the religious holiday in Ash Wednesday, but one of the brothers seemingly comes back from the dead on the day. The movie was criticized for being too melodramatic, but it's still suspenseful and has an unpredictable plot. There is also a movie from 1973 titled Ash Wednesday, which follows the effects that extensive cosmetic surgery has on a woman, and it has an even worse score on IMDb at 5.2.
Christmas Eve (1947) - 6.0
Christmas Eve is one of the oldest Christmas movies ever, but it doesn't exactly hold the same reputation as It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. It's more of an outright comedy and has almost none of the sentimentality that other Christmas movies of the time had in spades, but that's the 1947 movie's appeal.
In fact, not only does Christmas Eve lack sentimentality, but it's straight-up cold-hearted. The film is about a nephew who is desperately trying to declare his aunt senile so he can gain control of her estate. It almost sounds like one of the schemes the gang would get up to in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Mother's Day (2010) - 6.3
2010's Mother's Day is a very different movie to the 2016 film of the same name. It's far from schmaltzy, far from emotionally manipulative, and not romantic in the slightest. The film is a horror that follows three brothers after they botch a bank robbery, and they seek help from their mother in order to get away.
But in an interesting twist, the mother has moved out of her house and a new family has moved in. The brothers then hold the family hostage, and what follows is a surprisingly suspenseful and gripping horror thriller. The movie is massively overlooked, even by horror fans, and when it comes to films about home invasions, few are more terrifying.
Labor Day (2013) - 6.9
Before the newly released Ghostbusters: Afterlife, director Jason Reitman was very much a leading filmmaker in independent low-budget movies. One of the director's finest is Labor Day, a romantic drama that follows an ex-con and a depressed single mother falling in love. The film revolves around the titular holiday, as the two characters bond over Labor Day weekend, and the ex-con becomes a great father figure to the fatherless son.
The movie was criticized by critics for being too pallid and melodramatic. But though the only thing that separates Labor Day from TV soap operas is the strong performances from Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, it struck a chord with audiences, and it's more tasteful and poignant than most of its peers.
Independence Day (1996) - 6.9
For any fan of disaster action movies, Roland Emmerich is the reigning king of the genre, and the crown jewel in his filmography is Independence Day. There isn't so much commemorating the Declaration of Independence in the movie, as July 4th is simply the date that the aliens coincidentally attack Earth.
Though the movie has a 6.9 on the movie database, which is respectable enough, it's treated as a classic by many, has a huge fanbase, and is generally regarded as one of the best alien invasion movies. And though there was a sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, it didn't quite recapture the magic of the original.
Halloween (1978) - 7.9
When it comes to movies being titled after holidays, very few of the narratives are so tied to the actual holiday. The holiday generally tends to be a backdrop for a mostly unrelated narrative. However, Halloween is intrinsically tied to the holiday and not just because of its title. The movie follows a masked killer who goes around stabbing people in a small town, and it coincidentally enough all happens on Halloween night.
The movie is a classic, it has one of the best jump scares in film history, and it started a long-running franchise that has been going for over 40 years. However, it hasn't exactly upheld the same quality, and the most recent release, Halloween Kills, has been labeled as a movie that's so bad it's good.
Groundhog Day (1993) - 8.1
Where everyone knows when Christmas Eve and Halloween are, Groundhog Day is unprecedented. The film is actually better known than the holiday, and the only reason it's as well known as it is today is thanks to the exposure it got after the movie's release.
The holiday is ridiculous, as it takes place on February 2, and if a badger comes out of its burrow and doesn't see its shadow, spring will arrive early. Thanks to the strange holiday, audiences got a just as peculiar sci-fi rom-com. The movie sees a man stuck in a time loop on Groundhog Day, and he has to relive the same frustrating event day after day. It's Bill Murray's best movie and a '90s classic.