In a year with one of the grimiest Saw films yet, a blood-flooding entry in the Evil Dead franchise, and the notoriously nasty sleeper hit When Evil Lurks, you would think horror fans were full on all the brutal, mean-spirited kills they could get. But Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving is some of the best seconds, thirds, and even fourths we could have gotten in a landmark year for horror like 2023. It may have taken 16 years and some change to see a fictional trailer realized into a feature-length film, but the long cook time was worth it for the absolutely rich modern-day grindhouse feature that we got.
An Old Trailer Brought to Life
If you’re confused about what that last sentence meant, in 2007, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino made Grindhouse, a double feature of two throwback movies that evoked the old exploitation fare: Planet Terror and Death Proof. In the film were several fake trailers for exploitation movies that were never meant to be made, including one for a film called Thanksgiving, about a pilgrim-masked killer slashing through the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and leaving no leftovers (which is all the plot summary you need to understand this review). A few of these trailers were so well received they became real films, like Machete and personal favorite Hobo With A Shotgun, and Thanksgiving was set to become one of them too.
Despite the “Splat Pack” alum beginning a script in 2010, Thanksgiving was sidetracked by Roth’s other projects. And while it’s easy to say now that it should have come out sooner, I’m glad it came out when it did. Thanksgiving is rivaled only by Terrifier 2 as a snapshot of the great modern-day grindhouse revival that’s starting to warm up in American cinema as we get deeper into the 2020s. An original slasher with a simple plot and people being chopped to bloody bits is like a slice of warm pecan pie to horror fans; it’s comforting, it’s gooey, and it can get messy.
Eli Roth Brings Us a New Horror Classic
Roth nails the exploitation feel promised by the trailer, though, as anyone who has seen the promotional material will know, has abandoned the 70’s sepia aesthetic in favor of crisp digital cameras. Thanksgiving’s more familiar tones come from the original My Bloody Valentine most prominently, with colder undertones of 90’s slashers popularized by Kevin Williamson’s work on Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and it works well in calling back to them.
Roth paints that classic picture of a quaint small town with residents who are rotten to the core. There are sappy love triangles, greedy business people, obnoxious homecoming heroes, and deadbeat super seniors, all waiting to be run through by a vengeful killer like a turkey getting stuck with a meat thermometer. The citizens of Plymouth this time around are about as obnoxious as most of Roth’s characters; their idiocy is played up for humor that is not quite whip-smart, but still manages to be witty often enough to catch you off guard with plenty of great jokes.
Despite having character actor heavyweights like Gina Gershon and Rick Hoffman present, the onus of the entertainment provided comes from the younger cast. Nell Verlaque’s Jessica is a solid final girl surrounded by some very funny friends; Tomaso Sanelli was born to play the role of comedically evil jock Evan, a quarterback obsessed with going viral & prone to dragging his friends into trouble. And despite the love triangle having Verlaque’s Jessica at the center of it, the best moments involving that B-plot come from Milo Manheim’s Ryan and Jalen Thomas Brook’s Bobby, whose interactions where they constantly go tit-for-tat and bicker for romantic attention are incredibly funny. It really does seem like everyone had fun with the material they were given because the film gets laughs effortlessly.
Will The Carver Find His Audience?
But let’s talk about our butchering pilgrim, The Carver. He is every bit as evil as he seemed in his first appearance (sans that one bit of coitus with the cooked turkey, sorry if you were excited about that). Cutting a path through town as he looks for revenge, he serves Roth’s blood-soaked vision on a silver platter. The Carver would find a cozy home as Mortal Kombat 1 DLC character with the grotesque ways he takes out some of his targets, effortlessly cleaving through people and racking up not only a body count but several very memorable kills in the process.
Eli Roth’s commitment to creating a mean-spirited mise en scene is still unrivaled, with the nastier kills showing that undeniable finesse. Roth’s strong suit even in his less impressive films has always been setting up victims and teeing them off with the rawest deaths, which, when at his best, make you feel like you just got splattered in the face with their blood. And Roth is undoubtedly at his best in this film; one kill, in particular, got nearly everyone in the theatre to synchronize and let out one harmonious “Oh s**t!” like the world’s first swearing-only boys’ choir.
A Mostly Great Movie Let Down By a Less Than Stellar Soundtrack
That said, some aspects of Thanksgiving’s cinematography are more cold mashed potatoes than sweet cranberry sauce. The music is far and away from being the best I’ve heard this year, which is ironic since a lot of the worse-off exploitation films of the 70s did coast by having decent soundtracks. Most audience members will be too preoccupied wincing at where The Carver’s axe (and pitchfork, and hammer) lands to notice this, though. And I can’t lie, I didn’t notice it until later either.
When it comes to the story, the twist of who the killer is falls apart after one particular detail in the film, which is something Roth and company must have noticed since they included a throwaway line meant to dissuade audience members from guessing The Carver’s very clear identity. Chances are you will figure it out early on, so don’t sweat it, and try not to feel too insulted when they do that thing flashing back to the very obvious red herring lines throughout the film.
Why Thanksgiving Is a Must-See for Horror Fans
Roth’s work has always been a mixed bag for me. But when Roth has the sauce, he has it, and this movie is drowning in pure gravy. If you were waiting for a top-tier slasher packed with pitch-black humor and crimson blood everywhere, you’ll be pretty happy. If you were waiting for another one of those rare, legitimately great holiday horror films, you’ll be ecstatic. But regardless of what you’re waiting for, you should absolutely head to theatres to see Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving releases, exclusively in theatres, this Friday, November 17th!
