Vacation Movies on DVD

The Easter holidays are upon us; it’s a time when people are often drawn to the powerful call of the outdoors. They might pitch a tent in the bush, journey inland to hike mountain tracks or travel by car, road or rail to the family reservation at the seaside caravan park. If none of that sounds appealing there is a fourth option: take up a position on the couch and live vicariously through others watching the many Vacation Movies available on DVD..!

The most famous vacation movies have to be those produced by American "humour magazine" National Lampoon, beginning in 1983 with their first offering, National Lampoon's Vacation. Comedian Chevy Chase plays Clark, the head of the Griswold family. Annually Clark torments his family with laborious holiday whims and this year’s no different when he attempts to take them to theme park "Walley World in the trusty family station wagon. Only it all goes horribly wrong. Meeting relatives along the way, they manage to accidentally kill the family dog, have to deal with a dead body and a litany of bad luck that prevents them from having the "best holiday ever". This comedy of errors was so successful at the box office it spawned several sequels including European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989) and Vegas Vacation (1997).

Comedy peer Robin Williams dealt with his own disastrous family road trip in RV (2006). Like Chase, Williams also plays a suburban dad whose family has serious doubts about the holiday he has planned for them. Buying the ‘mother of all campervans’ dad Bob, mum Jamie (Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines), teenager kids Cassie (pop princess Jo Jo Levesque) and Carl (Zathura’s Josh Hutcherson) suffer through one humiliation after another en route to a rural country retreat – oh yeah, and a business meeting about which dad Bob has conveniently forgotten to tell them. The proverbial hits the fan several times, not the least of which when the Giant Van’s septic tank explodes, covering Bob in what no man on a holiday should ever be covered in… Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (The Addams Family), this is a surprisingly funny – and emotionally biting - look at family politics.

If you prefer holiday movies with a horror-comedy edge then Cabin Fever (2002) might appeal. While last year’s exercise in "torture porn" Hostel might have given director Eli Roth the kind of box office success and notoriety filmmakers dream of, his first feature Cabin Fever (2002) showed just what could be done with a decent script, a group of willing actors and a very funny horror premise. Set in “the woods”, a bunch of twenty-something friends get together on a vacation in a small country town. Their holiday takes an unexpected turn for the worst when a man stumbles into their camp, contaminated by a deadly flesh-eating virus… While at times horrifying Cabin Fever is also very playful, taking its time setting up its characters and the story at hand. It takes its cues from two other horror vacation classics that defined the 1980s: – Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981) and Sean Cunningham's Friday The 13th (1980).

The message here? Maybe its safer to forget going on holiday and stay at home watching DVDs instead..

- Megan

Ten Vacation Movies on DVD

Dead Calm (M)  1988 Available Saving Take an ocean voyage of full-masted fright with Dead Calm, "a spare, smart, seductive piece of moviemaking with enough tension to keep us all hyperventilating for hours" (Sheila Brown, Los Angeles Times). Thriller specialist Philip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Saint) directs three splendid actors - Sam...   more View trailer

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (PG)  1988 Long wait Saving One's got a sophisticated, suave and debonair con act. The other's got...well, an act. Together, Steve Martin and Michael Caine are Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , and they're absolutely ruining the Riviera in the "wonderfully crafted, absolutely charming, classy [and] consistently amusing" ( Vari...   more View trailer

Flirting With Disaster (M)  1996 Available Saving This sexy all-star comedy was cheered by critics and audiences nationwide! In a quest to find his biological parents, Mel Coplin - joined by his wife and a sexy adoption counselor - embarks on a cross-country search for his roots. Yet as he careens from one outrageous situation to another, Mel finds...   more

Groundhog Day (PG)  1993 Short wait Saving You'll love Bill Murray at his wise-cracking best in this romantic comedy about a self-centred TV weatherman who finds himself caught in a personal time warp. Suddenly, he's having the worst day of his life . . . over and over and over again! With no tomorrow to worry about and plenty of time on ...   more View trailer

National Lampoon's European Vacation (M)  1985 Available Saving The first time the Griswalds took a trip - in National Lampoon's Vacation - moviegoers everywhere went along for the ride...and went bonkers! Now they're into even zanier sightseeing in National Lampoon's European Vacation , directed by Amy Heckerling ( Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemo...   more View trailer

National Lampoon's Vacation (M)  1983 Available Saving The Griswolds have planned all year for a great summer vacation. From their suburban Chicago home, across America, to the wonders of the Walley World fun park in California, every step of the way has been carefully plotted. So what if they lose all their money when their new car gets wrecked. And it...   more View trailer

Permanent Vacation (PG)  1980 Available Saving The film that defined Jarmusch’s unique style, Permanent Vacation is an intimate study in the search for meaning in life. Suffering a bout of insomnia, sixteen year old drifter, Aloysious (Chris Parker), wanders through downtown Manhattan in search of some kind of cure for his loneliness. A c...   more

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (M)  1987 Available Saving Neal Page is an advertising executive who just wants to fly home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. But all Neal Page gets is misery. Misery named Del Griffith – a loud mouthed, but nevertheless lovable, salesman who leads Neal on a cross-country, wild goose chase that keeps Neal from...   more

RV-Runaway Vacation (PG)  2006 Available Saving On a family vacation, no one can hear you scream. In the family adventure comedy, R.V., an overworked Bob Munro (Robin Williams), his wife, Jamie (Cheryl Hines), their 15-year-old daughter, Cassie (Joanna “Jo Jo” Leveseque) and 12-year-old son, Carl (Josh Hutcherson) are in desperate need of some...   more

Wolf Creek  (R18+)  2005 Short wait Saving How can you be found when no-one knows you're missing A chilling, factually-based, story of three road-trippers in remote Australia who are plunged into danger when they accept help from a friendly local.   more View trailer

Megan's previous editorials...

• Sweet Tooth Movies on DVD April, 2007
• Vacation Movies on DVD April, 2007
• The French are coming to DVD March, 2007
• Take me back to High School March, 2007
• Oscar Mania February, 2007
• Summer Movies on DVD February, 2007
• New Year's Eve movies on DVD January, 2007
• Political Documentation on DVD January, 2007
• Christmas Films On DVD December, 2006
• AFI Films for 2006 December, 2006
• Horse Movies on DVD November, 2006
• Dads On DVD September, 2006
• Pirates on DVD August, 2006
• Breakfast At Tiffany's Anniversary Edition June, 2006
• Road Movies on DVD May, 2006
• Queer film classics April, 2006
• Monster mums February, 2006
• Comedians on film on DVD January, 2006
• Rock docs January, 2006
• Animated films December, 2005
• Comic Book Movies November, 2005
• Drug Movies Lined Up October, 2005