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What about Carry on Abroad ?

On a darker note, what about Eden Lake, Straw Dogs, the recently released Inbred, or even Danny Dyer's Doghouse? An attempt to go to a ostensibly pleasant piece of the countryside only to find out, as Withnail and I did, that those who live there are... less than friendly. It might have more blood and guts than reality, but from a lot of my childhood experiences about the town/country culture shock it can chime true

By the way, Mark, your voice sounds pretty hoarse, hope it gets better soon!

You've already mentioned it, but for me Withnail And I... nails it. Not just the pointlessness and overcast gloom of the British holiday, but also when such a holiday is taken by two out-of-work and miserable buggers at the end of their friendship. It would be bleak if it weren't so funny.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles, because pray tell me which is worse? The holiday, or the journey getting there?

I'd have to go with Comment Number 2. Eden Lake is a classic tale of fear and terror combined. It feels and looks realistic and has a great short performance by Michael Fassbender. The way the attackers are portrayed is chilling because I tend to see a lot of these people in London and it makes me wonder what if these people gave you the holiday from hell.

Some of my childhood memories of holidays consists of being attack by wasps seagulls and other wild life harassing me for my ice cream and crisps. So I think Colin Egglestons 1978 movie 'Long Weekend' sums up the great British holiday for me.

Possibly one example of a British film depicting people thinking their going to have a nice, fun holiday and having the most miserable time imaginable for me would be Richard Attenborough's woefully underrated "Oh, What A Lovely War!"

Think about it, throughout the film it's shown that all the soldiers of the First World War signed up thinking they were going to have a jolly good time serving their country; they get to the frontline and all that waits for them is mud, miserable weather, disease, destruction and death.

And yet, for all that, in the final scene, the young men we follow sing about how they'll tell everyone they had a great time instead of distressing their loved ones with the horrors they suffered.

Not so much a 'british' holiday, but the Chevy Chase film 'Vacation' has always been one of my favorite comedies for the simple reason that it captures the highs and lows of a typical families' holidays.

Kevin and Perry go large, The films horrible and so are most teenagers holidays......

I don't know whether it counts as it is more of a trip than a proper holiday but The Descent includes falling outs, a horrible pool and a whole lot of mud which is in eccence the british holiday experience. I think the creatures represent bad weather.

Not a film per se but what about Only Fools and Horses: The Jolly Boy's Outing. Nothing shows the British summertime like a depressing trip to Margate.

Also we should feel for Elijah Wood; his experience of Britain was a world filled with violence, hooligans and bad dress-sense in Green Street. He's used to all those things in Middle Earth however...

The Wicker Man?

I'm not a Brit so not really sure what a British vacation is like ... all I know is that plenty of Brits decide to spend their time along the warm sunny shores where I live, it often turns into ...
Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000)
ugh.
Though at times there will be serene beauties taking a break and gracing similar locales ...
Morvern Callar (2002)
thank you Samantha Morton and Lynne Ramsay.

A 'Full Blown Mini-Break Holiday Weekend'. Because "a mini-break means true love". Where you, after doing stuff that is illegal in several countries end up alone on a tarts and vicars party while your bona fide sex god cheats on you with an American stick insect.

Glastonbury The Movie - covers all eventualities!

I thought The Inbetweeners Movie did well at capturing the highs and lows of a lad's holiday.

I must admit that Deliverence turned me off the whole 'adventure' holiday idea.

Carry on Camping - Quintessentially British. Surrounded by horrendous families, learing old men, terrible weather, constant bickering with loved ones, Barbara's Windsors... Also contains the immortal exchange:
Mrs. Fussey: Joan may think you're a gentleman but personally I've got sore misgivings.
Sid Boggle: You ought to put some talcum powder on them.

Mark, please do some responses to your old video comments. You haven't done that in ages.

Straw Dogs

No offence to the English readers of this blog, but the scene in Trainspotting where they attempt to go hillwalking reminds me of a typical Scottish holiday in the Highlands; one enthusiastic family member trying to drag the rest of us up hills we'd rather look at from afar, with plenty bad language and a cloudy sky thrown in as well.

Patience after Sebald, yes it's that depressing.

How about Alien.... it features a hostile foreign life form and food that gives you serious heartburn

Agree with 16 - The Inbetweeners hit the nail on the head for lad's holidays (what I can remember of them!)

Godard's Week End.
More the tracking shot of the traffic jam than the murder and hippie cannibalism, but then again, Youth Hostels do exist...

Some good choices,for me it's:

Weekend at Bernie's, no doubt!

Also, Magical Mystery Tour is an extremely psychedelic version of a traditional British summer holiday,it's like the Jolly Boy's outing on LSD.

A bad, bad summer holiday: Inbred & Dog Soldiers

Best British movies set during a summer:

Son of Rambow

The Go Between

Quadrophenia

Kidulthood

Best summer movie of all time? Summer of 42.

On the subject, I recently got my hands on the Polanski / Simon Hesera lost gem, A Day at the Beach. I think that it has a lot in common with Withnail and I; thoroughly recommend it. Incredible central performance by Mark Burns.

I would also suggest The Punch and Judy Man, starring the genius Tony Hancock. Nuts in May too.

Two films with campervan (RV) vacationers who wished they hadn't left their own neighbourhood: Race With the Devil (1975) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977, or the remake - surprisingly good).

Anti Christ or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre are also good examples of a pretty bad holiday outing

I've just returned from my holiday - camping, in the Lake District - and yes, there was rain, some of it torrential, but it didn't stop me and my family from enjoying ourselves tremendously and there was at least as much scorching sunshine as rain. In short, it was fun and I'd be there still if I didn't need to work for a living.

But a film that encapsulates my feelings about it? Probably Swallows and Amazons - not a great film, but then a feelgood flick about camping in beautiful scenery is unlikely to win oscars. OTOH it's cinamatography is about the best advert for the Lakes you could wish for.

I don't Know why, But Sweeney Todd. Being An American, Born in London, Going Back there every year to visit Relatives, It makes me think, London's Full of People-Pies (sorry, spoiler alert) and Murderous Barbers.

Or maybe, its just i was listening to the music of Sweeney Todd while writing this

Ones that capture the perfect English summer for me:

A Month in the Country
Close My Eyes
The Go-Between

(I thought The Railway Children too, but on watching it again recently it was clearly filmed in late spring as the leaves aren't out on a lot of the trees. Always seems to be summer in my memory though)

Initial thoughts: Cabin Fever and Hostel.

An American Werewolf in London

Er, the elephant in the room that is 'Jaws', anyone?

For me it also has to be Close my Eyes, particularly the final scene.

As the three protagonists (Alan Rickman, Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves) walk along the Thames the sun slowly sets, bathing the whole scene in the glorious glow of late summer.

Let me offer Guest House Paradiso. A film that reminds you just how bad the average British holiday is by being terrible itself.

British summers never deliver. Due to our temperate woes we look forward to blue skies and cream scones only to be delivered grey skies and soggy currant buns.

A film that starts off full of the joys of summer and ends with grey gloom should fit the bill. I go for Million Dollar Baby.

Withnail And I: So true, it's funny?!

Don't know if there is a British film which demonstrates the stuffiness and cheerlessness of Brits on holiday, but this French film,

I would be surprised if anyone remembers the 2001 film The Martins staring Lee Evens and Kathy Burke; a comedy film that begins on a dreary English council estate where a competition enthusiastic neighbour finally wins a holiday to only be tied up and robbed by our main character. In the end he is perused and arrested, but in the middle of the film is an all too familiar depiction of a family in a small car off on their holidays, stuck in motorway traffic; lost, bickering and uncomfortable.

It's got to be American Werewolf in London for me. Two americans going on a trip to discover the great British countryside only to be mauled by a werewolf and suddenly we go sightseeing and get to see London in the moonlight with a touch of red. It captures both the depressing and deadly nature of going on a holiday in Britain. Have a nice howliday.

Hopefully the good doctor will respond to this vlog, I've been missing his views on our views for ages :)
Anyway, Eden Lake was a film I recently watched that had me glued to the screen. I was constantly rooting for the main characters, played brilliantly by Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender, who only wanted a nice summer holiday by the lake, but ended up being terrorised by the most hateful (in a good way) hoodie characters I've ever watched on screen. The ending, of course, was the most horrifying scene in the film which, for those who've not seen it, I won't spoil.

Easy Peezy- the great british summer holiday-` By the Sea`by the Two Ronnies. as saucy as a seaside postcard and just as fun. Go down to Brighton and youll see em all for real.

Not strictly speaking a holiday film as such (but they do go to a tropical island, not exactly British I know) but in terms of the depiction of family bickering and stressful times spent in the car, Brad Bird's The Incredibles nails it.

For me and being British it has to be Guest House Paradiso or Withnail and I.Oh the countless hours of bad service,bad accommodation,bad food,with relatives you have avoided all years.,sums up holidays of youth.Oh what a happy ray of sunshine I am.I think I need a Holiday......wait a minute!

The French do better at holiday films such as Monsieur Hulot's Holiday or for instance Eric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach but Mike Newell's Enchanted April seems worth a mention as regards British films.

Withnail is the best example of a rubbish British holiday and it doesn't seem to date ...for me, end of argument! Such a 'BRITISH' film and a cult classic! 'We've gone on holiday by mistake!!'

What about Billy Wilder's 'The Lost Weekend'? Unlike Withnail and I, Ray Milland's chronic drunk, Don Birnam, ends up NOT going on holiday by mistake. And what a weekend he has... he comes to the verge of selling the one thing he holds as dear as his dear, dear alcohol.
Thank God for Jewish holidays.

For me if it was a British holiday I'd have to say the painfully overlooked A Lonely Place to Die ...Mountain climbing in the highlands, think I'll give that little sucker a miss!!!!
On a wider global scale Paradise Lost.. the Brazilian Carnival atmosphere turns into a death march when a group of back packers wake up with the hangover from hell (literally!!).Put me off drinking for about three days I kid you not. :-)

Just remembered-How about the rarely seen, That Summer, starring a very young Ray Winstone and set in Torquay during the late 70's? very British and (some say) the unofficial follow up to Scum. Great little film.

I have to second many of the recent posts Mark. WHEN are you going to start posting responses to your Vlogs again? You only seem to respond to The Film Club posts nowadays.

I'm sure that I speak for many on here that look forward to your response to the varied and interesting responses from Jo Public to the interesting questions that you've posed over the last couple of months.

I'm sure I remember a feature length episode of "Are You Being Served" where they were on holiday on the Costa del Sol. Typified my memories of 1970's package holidays. Misery in the sun.

Dead Mans Shoes. Man goes for a walking holiday in the peak district in summer and does some revenge killing at the same time.

Another qusetion though is films that make you want to go places on holiday. For me it Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. Desolation and solutitude has never looked so beatifull.

Holiday Camp (1947) was a great comedy/drama. A hit in fact at the time in post-war Britain and filmed partly at a Butlins holiday camp in Yorkshire.

Every Day's a Holiday (1965) where Freddie and the Dreamers work at a holiday camp (like Summer Holiday, mainly to showcase the talents of the group).

And who could ever forget the excreable Holiday on the Buses (1973), the third movie to cash in on that Brit tv series.

And last but not least, Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), the last in a long line of the double entendre, nudge nudge, wink wink, saucy films that seem to epitomise British comedy, following on in the grand tradition of the Carry On films.

Mind you, the thought of a "Holiday Camp" fills me with dread and fear. One can only imagine the horror and tediousness of such places.

Swallows and Amazons for the rose tinted ideal of what we all used to think our summers were like. Withnail and I for the reality.
As usual youve picked the best one with Nuts In May, that scene where Ray has to accept a lift from Candice Marie and Keith after hes been rude to them sums it all up, soggy humiliation and social awkwardness with the people next door.

So glad I keep this page bookmarked, since this video is blocked on YouTube in the U.S. -- usually it's a rights issue, but I can't find anything here that's obviously the problem.

For me you cant beat a summer holiday with a group of your closest friends , getting the car all packed up and taking a nice long drive down to a creepy log cabin in the middle of nowhere that over looks a not so crystal clear lake. Maybe go to the local town and mingle with the friendly and quite crazy locals. Then its back to the cabin for some quick fooling around and some irresponsible drinking until we all slowly but surely get murderd one by one..........its got to be friday the 13th ( the original not the dung heap of a remake )

While not necessarily a film about the British holiday - I have to say the sequence in Trainspotting in which the group are dragged to the Highlands by the least detestable of them, Tommy. Beautiful landscapes combined with an incredibly small percentage of the holidaymakers in question displaying any pleasure in the trip - not to mention Ewan McGregors scathing review of Scottish life - all make for a very miserable, and very British, holiday.

"Tokyo Story" by Yasujiro Ozu - An ageing couple go to Tokyo to see their grown up children and grandchildren whom they hardly ever see - Neither their son or daughter can be bothered to spend any real quality time with them - Only their Daughter in law who was married to their other son who was killed during the war is welcoming and prepared to puts herself out for them - She is more a Daughter to them than their own offspring -

David Finchers' Se7en is an unintentional but hugely accurate portrayal of a British Summer.

The Plague of the zombies

A Cornish Romance

Malachi's Cove

Miranda (1948)

The Reptile

My Summer Of Love. Though the summer is hot - and that's not a reference to the teenage lesbians - there is still so much misery, tension and depression within the story to perhaps rival a Pinter play in a sense.

* is a 'nightmare' hiking holiday with a twist.

Two more classics-

That'll be the Day-Ringo Starr as a fairground hand and David Essex as a young guy who's left home to pursue his dreams and ended up as a deckchair attendant. Mainly filmed on the Isle of Wight,in and around a holiday camp, it's far better than it sounds, uber British and a minor rock n' roll classic. Even Ringo is good in this,basically playing his younger teddy boy self, and far better than he was as a caveman in er....Caveman. And any film featuring Keith Moon is always worth a watch.

Whistle and I'll come to you, one of my favourite horror films with Michael Hordern taking a break on the East Anglian coast, only to end up being haunted by a strange apparition........it's not easy having a holiday in Britain!

I agree with those contributors who cite Eden Lake (2008).

In the same year that he gave us a towering performance as Bobby Sands in McQueen's Hunger, Fassbender gives yet another compelling turn as the protective yet doomed boyfriend in this story of an upright and honest couple persued and ultimately destroyed by a group of feral youth.

What is so good about it is the story has a believability about it, we have all come across kids like these, but even more scary, their parents. Shaun Dooley is terrifying as the father of one of the kids and the final scene is a perfect ending to the relentless chase of the second half of the film.

Not strictly summer, but The Beast Must Die does feature a wealthy nutjob who invites a group of potential werewolves to his palatial estate for a weekend party. Their party filler: "Pass the Wolfbane" is surely one of those rubbish British holiday games for a rainy afternoon that just never caught on.

That Summer -- the Ray Winstone pic noted above is probably best remembered for its mostly Stiff Records artists soundtrack.

From the other side of the pond One Crazy Summer the second Savage Steve Holland / John Cusack collaboration is great fun, but only suits the American equivalent of the brief. I don't think you can top Withnail....

Actually, how do we even know it's summer in Withnail..., it's raining, obviously.

Also, for other non brit holiday fun: there's A Perfect Getaway, a good old fashioned B picture which even if you guess the twists is entertaining to watch play out. Great B cast including Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich, and Steve Zahn.

Holiday on the buses !!!!

Danny Boyle's Sunshine; a group of people trying their very hardest to reach somewhere hot, but having one of the worst road trips ever along the way.

Not leaving much for us Yanks to do, are you Mark ;-)?!

soon the darkness. pretty much sums it up

Though not British, Eric Rohmer's 'Le Rayon Vert' is perhaps the best example I can think of of a sad and dreary summer vacation. The central character Delphine is so hopelessly depressed at being alone and facing the long french summer, she embarks on a lonely vacation across France in search of love and a sense of belonging. It's a fantastic film and eric rohmer is a fantastic director. The final scene of that film is absolutely exquisite too.

On a different though related note, i think films which play on the seasons can be hugely satisfying. The film that springs to mind immediately in Britain is 'The Secret Garden'. This film revels in British weather; as Mary Lennox travels from boiling India to the grey and stormy British moorlands, the rain and gloom perfectly reflects her inner feeling and makes the transformation from winter to spring to summer all the more satisfying as we see her grow happier with the seasons. The depiction of british summer is admittedly a bit ideal (I seem to remember that Mary picks up an entourage of deers and bunnies!!) but as a film about the transformative power of the seasons and how they relate to our emotions it's pretty unbeatable.

'My Summer of Love' also works very well: heat haze...

As this is supposed to be about films that reflect how a British summer holiday can go wrong I would have to support the previous suggestion of American Werewolf in London - two American tourists on a the wind-swept, rain-drenched moor in the opening sequence; the cold stares and hostile "welcome" of the country pub; the grubby London cinema; and so on.

Its not British but suitably depressing; Funny Games

Tommy featuring "Tommy's Holiday Camp" -- Ken Russell's contribution to the 70's British Holiday experience ("...the camp with the difference, never mind the weather, when you come to Tommy's, the holiday's forever....")

I like the Martin Clunes vehicle "Staggered", full of paranoid, jealous, resentful locals who can't stand the fact you are actually enjoying yourself on Holiday. I also have a soft spot for the Are you Being Served spin-off movie!

Lord of the Rings. They start off not wanting to leave the house, eventually leave the house and wish they'd never left it. Then they spend the whole time wishing they were back at the house. The whole thing is one big reminder, that the best thing about going on a British holiday is coming back home again.

Given that the other nominations include Alien and Sunshine (why do people always mention Sunshine? It's not a road movie. Nor a holiday movie. It is a great movie though)...

I'd like to mention 28 Days Later. A family (well, bunch of survivors) escape the stresses of day-to-day life (well, the 'infected') to take a trip up the M6 to Manchester. A British family holiday if ever I saw one. They even get a flat tire.

Wolf Creek. Two English backpackers trading mud fields for The Outback. The best of British luck, right there...

For me it has to be Journey to the centre of the Earth (James Mason version please) A long journey, grumpy company, dodgy food, getting attacked by the wildlife... Bliss

Has to be Withnail. Walked the Pennine Way last year in July during thunder storms and driving rain and met guy who'd gone into the bog up to his neck and was lucky to survive. Quite a few of our group were Withnail fans and conversations consisted wholely of quotes from the film "we're not from London" "keep your bag up" "there's a man on the mountain- ***k knows what he's doing up there"

Not British, but The Vanishing (Spoorloos) seems like a good warning about stopping at service stations while holidaying. If the food doesn't get you...

Love films that capture the melancholy of the British seaside resort:

John Osborne's The Entertainer, Punch and Judy Man with Tony Hancock, Brighton Rock and Peter Chelsom's strangely underatted Funny Bones

SWALLOWS & AMAZONS...however this is a positive experience.

If you want doom & gloom then...THE WAR ZONE, as I'm from Devon and this is what it's like.

Island of Death... the most accurate portrayal of a cheap package holiday in Greece ever made.

* and without the mental scarring that comes with a viewing of The Inbetweeners movie.

How about The Comicstrips ..Five go Mad in Dorest? Murder, Mystery, Spies and Atom Bombs oh and lashings of Ginger Beer.

The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue

and Dolls as well...

Some may find this as an odd choice, but bear with me, Midnight In Paris.

Why?

Well, for me, Michael Sheen encapsulates the reality of being on holiday with someone completely pretentious and totally up themselves. I have been away, on day trips or on holiday, with a character like this and Sheen just captures it so well.

On the other side, 1920's Paris is the holiday we all wish we we have had and it is beautiful!

Not a movie, but Father Ted "Hell" episode - stuck in a caravan in the rain.

The cabin-fever rivalry in The Great Outdoors with Dan Ackroyd and John Candy reminds me of a lot of 'getaways' with my family, as does National Lampoon's Vacation. I can't really think of a British movie that gives me the same kind of nostalgia, apart from American Werewolf as mentioned by others.

I also quite enjoyed 'The Holiday' with Kate Windswept and Jude Bore, etc. Don't hate me for that.

I just do not see the point of holidays. The stress of planning for them, saving the money for them, then the added stress of just trying to get to your wretched destination and back again. Just a thoroughly pointless endeavour. And as someone once said, travel broadens the mind until you can't fit it through the door...

The only film I liked which was all about the holiday experience was THE GREAT OUTDOORS, with the late great John Candy. The scene with the bear at the door still makes me cry with laughter.

Independance day sticks out to me as being everything you want from a summer blockbuster. I was seven when it came out and admittedly too young to see it, although I remember being thrilled to recieve my set of the film's alien action figures that birthday. When I got it on video it was everything I wanted it to be; Is there anything more spectacular than an alien spaceship blowing up the white house? President Bill Pulman's "we will not go quietly into the night!" speech goes down was one of the most brilliantly funny moments in cinematic history. As far as the worst goes its hard to think of anything more boring than watching Shia Labeof and Megan Fox running away from explosion in the last hour of Transformers 2. P.S Mark, maybe answer blogs you've already made before starting a whole load of new ones!

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell basically are on holidays be default in In Bruges....and Colin's character aint a fan of Bruges: "Maybe that's what hell is, an entire eternity spent in f-ing Bruges".

I haven't seen many british Holiday films as they don't tend to attract my attention. But what I have seen, may contradict myself. I found Eden Lake, as mentioned by others to be a hideous, disgusting and frankly offensive film. Its predictable and stupid beyond belief. How anyone can find it realistic is beyond me, it makes th audience believe the working class are bloody thirsty animals. Which brings me on to Straw Dogs, which is probably more American than British. Its because it isn't presented that this could ever happen, and because it is not predictable, and it plays out wonderfully because it was directed by the brilliant Sam Peckinpah it becomes a classic, whereas Eden Lake ought to be burned for spare celluloid.